My Life of Crime — Judy Ford

These short stories have previously been published as individual e-books. This compendium brings them together and makes them available in paperback for the first time. Peter Johns grew up in a children's home. On leaving school, he entered the police force. A chance encounter led to his transfer to CID, after which he began slow but steady progress up the promotion ladder to Detective Inspector. Reaching the heights of Detective Sergeant gave him the courage to propose to the love of his life, Jamaican nurse Angie Wheeler. Their long and happy marriage was blessed with two children: Hannah, who followed her mother into nursing, and Edward, who chose a career in computers. Tragedy struck shortly before their silver wedding anniversary when Angie was knifed and killed in a racially-motivated attack â€" an event from which Peter never fully recovered. Three years later, he married his friend of more than twenty years, Bernie Fazakerley, and moved in with her and her young daughter, Lucy. His new family was later augmented by the arrival of DCI Jonah Porter, a disabled colleague and long-standing family friend. These memoirs are Peter's attempt to make sense of his eventful life and unconventional family.