
by John Gardner
Just when Boysie Oakes thinks he is out of the liquidating business, he finds himself on the sunny shores of Lake Maggiore. His task? To make sure that a Member of Parliament breathes his last breath. But a straightforward mission start to go awry when his mark turns up dead without Boysie lifting a finger. Who killed him? And why? It is only when he is introduced to a sadistic finishing school, run by the mysterious and dangerous Doctor Klara Thirel, that the mystery starts to unravel. Surrounded by troubled girls galore, including a certain Petronella Witching, Boysie is pulled into the biggest espionage foul-up of the century. With the help of Petronella, as well as a handful of self-important, and at times incompetent secret agents, Boysie dives into the mysteries behind the dead Member of Parliament, the sexually charged finishing school, and – most of all – who and what is behind the top-secret Amber Nine.



John Gardner
Just when Boysie Oakes thinks he is out of the liquidating business, he finds himself on the sunny shores of Lake Maggiore. His task? To make sure that a Member of Parliament breathes his last breath. But a straightforward mission start to go awry when his mark turns up dead without Boysie lifting a finger. Who killed him? And why? It is only when he is introduced to a sadistic finishing school, run by the mysterious and dangerous Doctor Klara Thirel, that the mystery starts to unravel. Surrounded by troubled girls galore, including a certain Petronella Witching, Boysie is pulled into the biggest espionage foul-up of the century. With the help of Petronella, as well as a handful of self-important, and at times incompetent secret agents, Boysie dives into the mysteries behind the dead Member of Parliament, the sexually charged finishing school, and – most of all – who and what is behind the top-secret Amber Nine.
John Gardner
Boysie Oakes, ex anguished agent, ex defective private eye, and greying horrifically at the temples, is facing the wilderness of middle-age supported only by the Welfare State. At long last Boysie Oakes has reached seedy maturity - and he plans to grow old quietly without any more dangerous missions. Until, like an evil genie, up pops his oily old boss, Mostyn, offering a life of renewed luxury. Boysie is to become the sole British Director of Air Apparent, an airline which operates from one office, has no aircraft, yet, by juggling with officialdom and illegally chartering aeroplanes, manages to transfer its customers to their destinations at half the scheduled fares and still makes a vast profit. But when Boysie discovers that Air Apparent is being used for more nefarious purposes, such as the shipment of arms to third world nations, he is forced to call in his old shooting partner, Charlie Griffin. Events crowd in, culminating in a hijacking, hilarity and, naturally, hectic hedonism.