Villa Plot, Counterplot

Alistair Duncan Thriller #2

by Douglas Stewart

In this, the second Alistair Duncan story, the Bristol solicitor is instructed by local publican Martin Harper to help with his problems involving a Spanish villa plot which he has purchased.

Unknown to both solicitor and client, they are taking on a ruthless and unscrupulous trio of international con-men who have been playing on the stupidity and greed of purchasers like the publican.

Traps for the unwary in buying property in Spain are spelt out in stark terms.

The story takes Alistair Duncan abroad once again, this time to Spain and France, in his attempts to help a client who, at times, seems more intent on helping himself to the dolly birds than in sorting out his problems.

Villa Plot, Counterplot is the second of three novels involving Bristol solicitor, Alistair Duncan.

167 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 24, 2017

About the author

Born in Scotland, Douglas was brought up in England and became a London based international lawyer, later living in Las Vegas. In tandem, he developed a successful career as an internationally read author of mystery thrillers and non-fiction with a chart-topper and a W H Smith Paperback of the Week to his credit.

He is now writing a series of international mystery thrillers based on Det. Insp. Todd "Ratso" Holtom, a London detective. Ratso also featured in a short story contributed to Capital Crimes, an anthology, which became a number one bestseller.

Douglas is a member of International Thriller Writers (ITW) of the USA and the Crime Writers Association (CWA) of the UK. His true crime book Terror at Sea was hailed as the benchmark on modern day piracy and crime at sea. His series of three mystery books originally published under the pen-name of Cameron Ross are now being released under the name of Douglas Stewart. He is married with three children and is once again living in Europe.

Reviews

[Liz Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having now read all three Alistair Duncan mysteries, I enjoyed stepping back to the 1980s – a different era with smoking prevalent and no internet or cellphones. All three stories are fast-moving and excitingly different with ingenious twists. I was disappointed to find that the author only wrote three. Time for Douglas to return to the nostalgic 1980s with another story of this inventive Bristol lawyer?

[Lindsey Blair · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very muddled plot and two dimensional writing which was a disappointment as the synopsis seemed to offer an internationally set thriller. The settings were ignored and the suspense non existent.