Dead Ernest — James Mitchell

The unfortunately named Ernest Fluck is by all accounts a computer genius. He also has a reputation as being unpleasant, impossible to work with, a fanatical gambler and possibly a crook. Rather remarkably, he seems to be engaged to Irish socialite and racehorse owner Imogen Courtney-Lithgoe. He's also missing - and so is one of her racehorses. Then a potential witness disappears and a body turns up only to go missing almost immediately and the case develops into a search for a man, a woman, a horse and a corpse and private detective Ron Hogget has his work cut out. The search for answers takes Ron and his minder, former paratrooper and would-be philosopher Dave Baxter, on a dangerous journey to Ireland, to Spain and eventually Australia.