Goodbye, Sean

Michael Oliphant spent many years building up a reputable antiques business in Derbyshire but a telephone call in the early hours catapults him to a different direction when he becomes a member of parliament, hilariously by default. He takes well to his new profession and works assiduously through the ranks to become a cabinet minister. However, the disappearance some years previously of a shady antiques dealer comes back to haunt him. Oliphant is sent down a road which gets increasingly complicated and the plot involves the Prime Minister, his new bride, a ‘Knocker' and a professional assassin of the IRA. There are complicated insights into the work of the Forensic Division of New Scotland Yard and great good humour as the squad narrow their search for the assassin.

JOHN SIMMONS is a Londoner who came to Barnsley in the 1960s to manage the Civic Theatre, run a cinema and write for the Council Newspaper. He left after twelve years to set up ‘Charisma Antiques', a successful business with his wife Christine... a business which was patronised by dealers from all over the world. He traded at a former Methodist church which he sold... and it is now a nightclub. John Simmons' first novel was ‘The Town Clerk' which was well received and caused a furore at Barnsley Town Hall where many of the councillors alleged that certain characters were based on the former colleagues of John Simmons - who refused to comment on the speculation. It has taken John some time to come up with ‘Goodbye Sean' but it has been scrupulously researched and dedicatedly written.