Dave Whellams – “Walking into the Ocean” Book Launch April 4, 2012, at Collected Works, Wellington at Holland, 7 p.m.

CCW member Dave Whellams will be launching his first novel Walking into the Ocean on Wednesday, April 4.

The first in a trilogy featuring semi-retired Scotland Yard veteran, Chief Inspector Peter Cammon, this murder mystery sends our investigator down to the Jurassic Cliffs of Devon and Dorset to investigate the killing of a local woman by her mechanic husband, who has thrown her off a cliff and then disappeared into the English Channel. The crime seems an ordinary one for the brilliant Cammon to bother with, but he soon learns that the region is plagued by a serial killer who has been abducting young women on these same cliffs. Cammon’s unflappable and manipulative boss, Deputy Commissioner Bartleben, realizes that Cammon indeed is the man for the job, for only the inspector is capable of perceiving the connection between the deaths of the wife and the young women. In figuring out the murders, Cammon ends up relying, unexpectedly, on a number of women, who include not only the beautiful local girl, Guinevere, but also Peter’s own wife and daughter. Ranging from the south of England to the island of Malta, and back again, Walking into the Ocean reaches its climactic confrontation on the rugged cliffs overlooking the Channel.

Dave is also the author of the short story collection Stories from the Criminal Code. In February, he published his novella Craxer Must Steal on the Smashwords e-pub site, the first of a series of humorous mysteries starring John Craxer, insurance investigator and thief.