Time would tell.
A curious sensation crept over Jimmy Bliss.
A feeling of warmth, a kind of energy drawn from it.
He couldn’t tell for sure, but he thought it might just be hope.
Acknowledgements
First up this time around, I doff my cap in tribute to my four beta readers – Lynda Checkley, Maggie James, Dorothy Laney, and Kath Middleton. Each of you made a valuable contribution and helped to make this a better book than it otherwise would have been. I am truly grateful to you.
The same can be said of my editor, Alison Birch at ‘rewritten’, who once again did a great job with the edit and made some terrific suggestions and observations while keeping things light.
As ever I am grateful to my Facebook group and ARC readers, and to the bloggers who were generous with their time in agreeing to be part of the online tour for The Autumn Tree.
To Nicola Parkinson, who some time ago won the right to have a character named after her: I trust you approve.
Finally, a ‘thank you’ of course to my readers – your support is always greatly appreciated.
I hope you all like what I did with this one. Some of the scenes made me laugh out loud, some made me sad, some simply made me yearn for more Bliss and company in the future. Not all of you will agree, but as the author, I believe this represents my best work to date. At the very least, I hope you enjoyed the read as much as I enjoyed the write.
Tony
April 2021
Contents
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Thirty-Four
Thirty-Five
Thirty-Six
Thirty-Seven
Thirty-Eight
Thirty-Nine
Forty
Forty-One
Forty-Two
Forty-Three
Forty-Four
Forty-Five
Forty-Six
Forty-Seven
Forty-Eight
Forty-Nine
Fifty
Fifty-One
Fifty-Two
Acknowledgements
Landmarks
Cover
Copyright Page
Dedication
The Autumn Tree (DI Bliss Book 8) Page 38