Gervase Phinn

A summer cruise should be just the ticket for a few weeks of luxury and relaxation - but for the passengers and crew of the Empress of the Ocean, the sights of the Mediterranean are nothing compared to the excitement on board...

For bickering couple Albert and Maureen, the trip might prove a much-needed escape - or the final straw. Elegant Frances de la Mare is determined to hobnob with the right kind of people - but her penthouse suite proves lonelier than she ever imagined. Meanwhile, precocious twelve-year-old Oliver discovers that guidebooks don't teach you everything, sparks fly when the port lecturer finds himself upstaged by a popular author, dancers Bruce and Babs can't keep in step, and cruise expert Neville just wants someone to speak to.

Change is afoot in the usually sleepy village of Risingdale. Gerald Gaunt, headmaster of the primary school for over 30 years, is retiring. He hopes that his replacement will work with him to secure a bright, happy future for the school. But Mr Smart has his own ideas about how things should be run. The teachers have plenty of other dramas to contend with. Tom Dwyer is pining over Janette, his one-that-got-away. His colleague Joyce Tranter's new marital bliss is shattered by the arrival of her husband's scheming nephew. And elsewhere in the village, Sir Hedley's long-cherished plans for his future are jeopardised by his ex-wife's arrival. Can the residents of Risingdale pull together and achieve happiness against the odds?

The new school year gets off to a bad start when Gervase is called in to see his new boss and then given  ‘little job’ by the Chief Education Officer. As always this means liaising with the infuriating Mrs Savage. Life at home with Christine and their new baby son is blissful until they start to hear noises in the attic.  Book 5 of series.

Love is in the air in the little village of Barton-in-the-Dale. Anyone can see that Ashley Underwood and Emmet O'Malley are made for each other. But as the saying goes, the course of true love never did run smooth. Meanwhile, an angry young boy struggles to believe in love. But when tragedy strikes, he learns that comfort and care can come from the most unexpected of places. Book 4 of series.

Newly qualified teacher Tom Dwyer has been given his first post in Risingdale, a sleepy little village at the very top of the Yorkshire Dales. Unsure if he'll ever fit into this close-knit community, Tom joins a motley staff at the village school. With pupils who know more about sheep than they do arithmetic, Tom has his work cut out for him...

As a new term begins at the little primary school in Barton-in-the-Dale, head teacher Elisabeth Devine has her work cut out for her. A disruptive new pupil arrives, set to cause trouble, and there's a big school production of The Wizard of Oz to organise, as well as an impending visit from the Minister of Education. Book 3 of series.

In the little village of Barton-in-the-Dale, long hidden secrets are bubbling to the surface. The town's resident nosey-parker discovers some juicy gossip about the primary school's dishy new staff member, and head teacher Elisabeth Stirling has a very special secret of her own. Book 5 of series.

After an eventful start to his first ever teaching post in the sleepy village of Risingdale, Tom Dwyer is hoping for a bit of calm. Nursing a broken heart after a romantic disappointment, he just wants to keep his head down and get on with his job. But it is not to be. A beautiful London artist sets tongues wagging when she moves into the village, and her precocious yet frail son is in Tom's class. On top of that, his colleague's malicious ex-husband is back and a tragedy on one of the winding country roads sends the village reeling. And all this alongside a class of children who still seem to know more about farming than fractions.

Another humorous volume of exploits in the life of a schools Inspector in North Yorkshire. When he leaves work he goes home to the peace of his cottage and his wife who is expecting their first child. But things change when their local school is threatened with closure and he and his wife have differing views!  Book 4 of series.