Summary

Investigator Sam Dyke has never met his son, Daniel. Until today. And then he wishes he hadn't.

Because Daniel has a girlfriend who isn't really suitable ... and, it turns out, is missing. In fact she's mixed up in a world of corruption and violence centering around the Ginger Twins - monstrous criminals who extend their crooked web from Liverpool to Manchester and all stops in between. Sam is determined to find the girl despite the odds against him - and also ignoring the fact that he's intruding on some apparently hush-hush police work ...

Trying to do the right thing, Sam does what he's good at. He irritates people, especially bad guys. And not surprisingly he soon finds himself on the Twins' hit list. What can a father do - except hit back?

The Private Lie pits tough private investigator Sam Dyke against a double-threat - the Ginger Twins, and his own inability to know what's good for him.

"I really enjoyed this. It grabs you right from the beginning you don't want to put it down. Sam Dyke is no pushover both tough and soft which ever is needed."
Susan Muscio

Extract

+++Mikey and the other man gripped my upper arms more tightly and led me through the house. We went from the tiled entrance hall, past a cloakroom and entered a large modern kitchen with an expanse of black granite worktop and white units lining three of the four walls. The fourth was largely taken up by tall windows that looked on to a neat garden where tidy shrubs and a perfect green lawn were visible. The single door in the wall of windows was closed. Its top half was also glass, so the view was unrestricted.
+++‘Stop a second, lads,’ Jimmy said.
+++The pain of his fist striking my stomach was more shocking because I wasn’t ready for it. I felt bile rise in the back of my throat and worked hard to swallow it.
+++‘You’re a big feller,’ he said, ‘but I’m bigger than most so let’s not have any mucking about. Who are you and why are you watching me?’
+++I panted for breath. ‘I like your colour scheme. I was going to ask for some swatches.’
+++The second blow was even more disabling. After I doubled over I found I couldn’t stand upright for, oh, a couple of centuries.
+++‘You don’t have to talk right now,’ Little Jimmy said. ‘You can save it for later, after we’ve got to know each other. Okay, lads, put him down.’