Killer Lies (Reissue)

by Chris Collett

  Copper: police officer

  Coverall: coveralls, or boiler suit

  CPS: Crown Prosecution Service, decide whether police cases go forward

  Childminder: someone who looks after children for money

  Council: local government

  Dan Dare: hero from Eagle comic

  Deck: one of the landings on a floor of a tower block

  Deck: hit (verb)

  Desperate Dan: very strong comic book character

  DI: detective inspector

  Digestive biscuit: plain cookie

  Do a runner: disappear

  Do one: go away

  Doc Martens: Heavy boots with an air-cushioned sole

  Donkey’s years: long time

  Drum: house

  DS: detective sergeant

  ED: accident and emergency department of hospital

  Eagle: boys’ comic

  Early dart: to leave work early

  Eggy soldiers: strips of toast with a boiled egg

  Enforcer: police battering ram

  Estate: public/social housing estate (similar to housing projects)

  Estate agent: realtor (US)

  Falklands War: war between Britain and Argentina in 1982

  Fag: cigarette

  Father Christmas: Santa Claus

  Filth: police (insulting)

  Forces: army, navy, and air force

  FMO: force medical officer

  Fried slice: fried bread

  Fuzz: police

  Garda: Irish police

  Gendarmerie: French national police force

  Geordie: from Newcastle

  Garden Centre: a business where plants and gardening equipment are sold

  Gob: mouth/ can also mean phlegm or spit

  GP: general practitioner, a doctor based in the community

  Graft: hard work

  Gran: grandmother

  Hancock: Tony Hancock, English comedian popular in 1950s

  Hard nut: tough person

  HGV: heavy goods vehicle, truck

  HOLMES: UK police computer system used during investigation of major incidents

  Home: care home for elderly or sick people

  Hoover: vacuum cleaner

  Hula Hoops: potato-based chip shaped like a wedding ring

  I’ll be blowed: expression of surprise

  Inne: isn’t he

  Interpol: international police organisation

  Into care: a child taken away from their family by the social services

  Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher, applied to any strong woman

  ITU: intensive therapy unit in hospital

  Jane Doe: a person whose identity is unknown/anonymous

  JCB: a mechanical excavator

  Jerry-built: badly made

  Jungle: nickname given to migrant camp near Calais

  Lad: young man

  Lass: young woman

  Lift: elevator

  Lord Lucan: famous aristocrat who allegedly killed his children’s nanny and disappeared in 1974. Has never been found.

  Lorry: a truck

  Lovely jubbly: said when someone is pleased

  Luftwaffe: German air force

  M&S: Marks and Spencer, a food and clothes shop

  Miss Marple: detective in a series of books by Agatha Christie

  MOD: ministry of defence

  Mobile phone: cell phone

  MP: Member of Parliament, politician representing an area

  MRSA: A strain of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

  Myra Hindley: famous British serial killer

  Naff: lame, not good

  Naff all: none

  National Service: compulsory UK military service, ended in 60s

  Net curtains: a type of semi-transparent curtain

  NHS: National Health Service, public health service of UK

  Nick: police station (as verb: to arrest)

  Nowt: nothing

  Nutter: insane person

  Nursery: a place which grows plants, shrubs and trees for sale (often wholesale)

  Old bag: old woman (insulting)

  Old Bill: police

  OTT: over the top

  Owt: anything

  Pants: noun: underwear adjective: bad/rubbish/terrible

  Para: paratrooper

  Pay-as-you-go: a cell phone you pay for calls in advance

  PC: police constable

  Pear-shaped: go wrong

  Petrol: gasoline

  Pictures: movie

  Pillbox: a concrete building, partly underground, used as an outpost defence

  Pillock: fool

  Pips: police insignia indicating rank

  Piss off: as exclamation, go away (rude). Also can mean annoy.

  Pissing down: raining

  Playing field: sports field

  Pleb: ordinary person (often insulting)

  Portakabin: portable building used as temporary office etc.

  Post: mail

  Planning Department: the local authority department which issues licences to build and develop property

  PNC: police national computer

  PSNI: police service of Northern Ireland

  Prat: silly idiot

  Premier League: top English soccer division

  Proms: concerts held at the Albert Hall

  Public Analyst: scientists who perform chemical analysis for public protection purposes

  RAF: Royal Air Force

  Rag: newspaper

  Ram-raiding: robbery where a vehicle is rammed through a shop window

  Randy: horny

  Recce: reconnaissance

  Red Adair: famous oil well firefighter

  Resus: resuscitation room

  Right state: messy

  Ring: telephone (verb)

  Roadworks: repairs done to roads

  Rozzers: police

  RSPB: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

  RTC: road traffic collision

  RV: rendezvous point

  Royal Engineers: British army corps dealing with military engineering etc.

  Rugger: rugby (posh American football)

  Sarge: sergeant

  SCO19: Specialist Crime and Operations Specialist Firearms Command

  Scrote: low life

  Section: to have someone committed to a mental hospital under UK mental health laws

  Semi: Semi-detached house, house with another house joined to it on one side only

  Shedload: a large amount

  Shop: store

  Shout the odds: talk in a loud bossy way

  Sickie: day off work pretending to be ill

  Sixth-form college: school for high school students in final two years.

  SIO: senior investigating officer

  Skip: a large open container used for building waste

  Slapper: slag

  Smackhead: heroin addict

  Snout: police informer

  SOCO: scene-of-crime officer

  Sod: an annoying person

  Sort: to do or make

  Solicitor: lawyer

  Sparky: electrician

  Spook: spy

  Spuds: potatoes

  Squaddie: a soldier of low rank

  Stunner: beautiful woman

  Super: superintendent (police rank)

  Surveyor: someone who examines land and buildings professionally

  Sweeting: endearment, like sweetheart

  Tabloid: newspaper

  Tea: Dinner (Northern English)

  Tea towel: drying cloth

  Till: cash register

  Tip: a mess

  Tipsy: a bit drunk

  Top himself: commit suicide

  Torch: flashlight

  Tutor: university teacher

  Tower block: tall building containing apartments (usually social housing)

  Upmarket: affluent or fancy

  Wacky baccy: cannabis

  Wally: silly person

  War Cry: Salvation Army magazine

&
nbsp; Wash: the washing machine

  Water board: company supplying water to an area

  White van man: typical working-class man who drives a small truck

  WI: Women’s Institute, organisation of women in UK for social/cultural activity

  Widow’s weeds: black clothes worn by a widow in mourning

  Wilco: will comply i.e. yes

  Wrinklies: old people

  Yellowbelly: native of Lincolnshire

  Yob: a rude or aggressive youth or person

  CHARACTER LIST

  Detective Inspector Tom Mariner is, on the surface, an average dedicated policeman, but his experiences as a younger man have given him an insight into life on the dark side, and a clear sense of right and wrong. Not a rule breaker, he is prepared to work flexibly within their parameters, striking out on his own when deemed necessary. He is meticulous and systematic, and professionally and personally contained and self-reliant, though he cares deeply about his team. Mariner has little interest in material things. He lives in a modest canal-side cottage, enjoys the occasional (real) beer and game of dominoes and drives an average car. He is most at home in the outdoors, with an OS map and a compass, and in times of crisis, will take off and walk for miles in any weather.

  Detective Sergeant Tony Knox has recently and suddenly transferred to the West Midlands force and finds himself back in uniform following an undisclosed transgression. A scouser with the gift of the gab, and an irrepressible ladies’ man, Knox is initially wary of the inscrutable DI Mariner, but, when a need arises, is grateful for his unquestioning support and the lack of curiosity about his personal life. Knox shares Mariner’s passion for the job, ensuring that justice and fairness are served and (though he would never admit this) that the correct procedures are followed.

  Detective Chief Inspector Jack Coleman: Mariner’s boss at Granville Lane police station, who encouraged him to join the police in the first instance, and has continued to mentor him ever since, often providing a much-needed father figure. An old-style copper approaching retirement, when Coleman joined the force, he fought against a culture that was frequently brutal and corrupt, and has welcomed more enlightened attitudes that he believes to be both more civilised and more effective.

  Anna Barham: Mariner has been seeing Anna since their paths crossed during the investigation into her older brother’s murder. Following Eddie’s death, Anna has taken on responsibility for her younger brother Jamie, who has severe autism, and so her relationship with Mariner must be fitted in around Jamie’s needs.

  Bill Dyson: a Scot who has moved to the Midlands to establish his security business in the area, and becomes Mariner’s latest lodger.

  Detective Inspector Dave Flynn: an officer formerly of the London Metropolitan Police, now working for Special Branch, who Mariner met on a training course several years previously. The two men bonded over a shared liking for proper beer and an aversion to corporate bullshit.

  Sir Geoffrey Ryland: lawyer, former Member of Parliament and current chair of the Judicial Review Commission (JRC), a body set up to investigate alleged miscarriages of justice, following the wrongful convictions of the so-called Birmingham Six and Guildford Four.

  Diana Ryland: wife of Sir Geoffrey Ryland and eldest daughter of the late Lady Elizabeth and Sir Reginald Fitzgibbon.

  Felicity Fitzgibbon (Fliss): sister of Diana Ryland and younger daughter of the late Lady Elizabeth and Sir Reginald Fitzgibbon. A widow, she resides in Switzerland where she runs a fashion business.

  Eleanor Ryland: the widowed mother of Sir Geoffrey Ryland, who lives in rural Oxfordshire. Her husband Charles Ryland was a businessman and local councillor.