All posts by Sarah

From Chapel to Chief Constable – Memoir of a Policeman
Tony Leonard

From Chapel to Chief Constable
Principles, Politics and Public Service
Tony Leonard

Tony Leonard was born into a working-class family in Kirkburton in Yorkshire and grew up in a tied house in the grounds of a mental hospital. There he mixed with the staff of the hospital and with their children, encountering a far wider variety of nationalities, languages and political cultures than a working-class lad would otherwise have encountered in the locality.

Thiis memoir describes his personal and professional journey from that small, self-contained community, via the LSE where he was a sociology graduate and Hull University where he gained a Doctorate in Politics, into the national and international world of policing. He served in four diff erent police forces, rising from constable to Chief Constable.

Published: Jan 2021
Paperback: 117 pages
Price: £5.99
ISBN: 9-781913-425661


£5.99 (+ £2.50 postage)
Number of copies:



Available on Amazon

Uniting all aspects of a long and distinguished career has been his lifelong Christian commitment, also a commitment to equality and socialism, two moral positions that have guided his decision-making throughout. During the Miners’ Strike he maintained Derbyshire’s independence from external pressure through operational policies quite diff erent from those of the surrounding forces; as Chief of Humberside he repaired relations with the Police Authority and introduced widespread reforms in personnel policies, stressing the need for gender equality and insisting on high professional integrity at all times. He also successfully persuaded the Boundary Commission to retain the Police, Fire and Ambulance services on a county-wide basis after the abolition of Humberside County Council.

Tales of a Leicestershire Detective – Murder and the Golf Course
Simon Shuttleworth

Tales of a Leicestershire Detective
Simon Shuttleworth was a police officer in Leicestershire for thirty years. He investigated some of the most appalling crimes ever seen in the East Midlands. These included the grooming, rape and murder of fifteen-year-old Kayleigh Haywood, the horrific firebombing of an innocent family and the despicable fatal attack on a beloved Turkish family man in his flat in Leicester.
But even detectives engaged in the most serious cases need downtime and relaxation. In Simon’s case, this meant organising the annual police golf trip. That would be all very well for a good golfer but Simon, by his own admission, was no Nick Faldo.
Golf can be relaxing, frustrating, annoying and fun all at the same time but on those trips, playing golf was only half the story.
Published: July 2021
Paperback: 205 pages
Price: £8.99
ISBN: 9-781914-424120

£8.99 (+ £3 P&P UK only)
Number of copies:


Available from Amazon


Prince Charles, Leeds United, naked dancing, rancid chickens, broken windows, sleepwalking room-mates, a golf-course bugler, unrequited love, toilet-roll fires and Roy Chubby Brown don’t cover half the near-the-knuckle adventures of those cops on tour.
But the golf was just an escape from what really mattered: murder investigation.
Bringing to justice people prepared to commit the most heinous crime of all, people who thought they could, literally, get away with murder - that was something worth fighting for.
Reviews...

18.07.2021 - ★★★★★ A well written book with just the right blend of humour and sensitivity.
Amazon Verified Reader
Simon expertly conveys how murder detectives deal with horrific cases and then find distraction in that noble leisure pursuit that can be found on a golf course - plus the consumption of quantities of alcohol and plenty of funny antics along the way. He gives insight to some key investigations and the many people affected by a murder - and also introduces us to some of the varied 'characters' who are murder detectives. A well written book with just the right blend of humour and sensitivity.

24.07.2021 - ★★★★★ A varied read- funny and interesting.
Sophie Ferguson
A great book to read from many varied angles-interesting and funny. Some parts are thought provoking when you read about the impact of crime on not only the victim and their families but also in the families of police officers! There are also plenty of light hearted sections and insight into the actual world behind the public view of policing.

Barley’s Biscuit
Roy Bradshaw

Barley's Biscuit
Brosely, Benthall Edge
(Pattern's Rock Quarry)


Barley is a clever dog who loves a biscuit treat.
He feels that if a treat is earned it always tastes better.
Alongside his nephew Basil, and their human friend Mick, Barley always spots some sort of dangerous situation happening during their walks in and around the beauty spots of Shropshire.
Follow the adventures Barley and Basil go through during their walks, and the interesting facts they pick up along the way about the different areas of outstanding natural or manufactured beauty.
Enjoy the clever way Barley draws a solution and Basil helps to resolve the dangerous situation.
Published: Jan 2021
Price: £5.99
Paperback 28 pages
Illustrations: Full colour
ISBN: 9-781913-425715


Available on Amazon

This first book finds Basil accidentally becoming the dangerous situation at Pattern’s Rock Quarry and its steep cliff edge sides. During a rainy and stormy day, Barley has to be clever, sensible and brave to rescue his nephew from a fate too horrible to think about. During the two dog’s adventures, Mick their human friend, never knows what’s going on, but somehow, Barley always gets a biscuit… and so does Basil.

Teaching in primary, secondary and special educational needs schools gave Roy Bradshaw a broad experience in the joys that a good adventure story brings to young minds (and not so young minds). Coupled with a previous career in engineering, the teaching helped to gel a problem-solving mind with fun one. Growing up in the Black Country, then moving close to Ironbridge some thirty years ago has allowed him to discover many of the local beauty spots and to use them as a background for my children’s books.
Reader Reviews...

The Golden Thread of God’s Love
Gill Ganie

The Golden Thread of God’s Love
From South Africa to the UK and beyond,
A narrative of an ‘ordinary’ man with an extraordinary God

BORN IN OBSCURITY to a single Hindu woman in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1958 during the apartheid era, Omar was a charming, humorous individual. This poignant biography describes how he was relocated to the UK and through many challenges developed resilience and strength of character.

It tells how he experienced God’s presence from a young age and became a Christian as a teenager and how, from that, all else followed.
Omar’s unswerving faith in Jesus led him to believe with Him no problem is insurmountable. In later life, Omar returned to South Africa to retrace his roots and discover the truth about his origins – discoveries which caused him to re-evaluate his life and thank God again for his faithfulness throughout.

Published: Dec 2020
Paperback: 140 pages
Price: £5.99
ISBN: 9-781913-425180
Buy now from The Author

All profits will go to The Sozo Foundation – based in the impoverished Cape Flats community of Vrygrond, Cape Town, South Africa (www.thesozofoundation.org.za)

Gill Ganie is a part-time Health Visitor and has a degree in Public Health Nursing. She does not profess to be a professional writer but has, however, undertaken a writing course at City Lit College in London which at the very least spurred her on to write her first book. Gill has enjoyed being part of this story together with other members of the growing Ganie family. She is mother of three grown up children and has five grandchildren..