| A sneak peek at Minette's next book
As you may recall, in our last newsletter, Minette gave us a hint about what to expect from her next book: "I have long been fascinated by the link between Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and subsequent sociopathic behaviour. What happens to a previously pleasant person who suffers a serious impact to the head? Can their personality change to such an extent that murder becomes attractive...?"
Well, we will soon know the answer! The Chameleon's Shadow will hit bookstores later this year, but Minette has been kind enough to send us a brief synopsis of her 12th book.
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When Lieutenant Charles Acland is flown home from Iraq with serious head injuries, he faces not only permanent disfigurement but also an apparent change to his personality. Described as an outgoing extrovert by everyone who knew him before he was wounded, he becomes increasingly isolated and withdrawn as he undergoes reconstructive surgery in a military hospital in Birmingham.
Crippled by migraines, and suspicious of his psychiatrist, he begins to display sporadic bouts of aggression... particularly against women... and very particularly against his ex-fiancée who seems unable to accept that the relationship is over...
Rejecting medical advice to continue with cosmetic surgery, Acland discharges himself and makes a bid to return to active service. Devastated when the army refuses the request, he cuts all ties with his former life and moves to London. Alone and unmonitored, he sinks into a private world of guilt and paranoid distrust... until a customer annoys him in a Bermondsey pub...
Out of control and only prevented from killing the man by the intervention of a 250-pound female weightlifter called Jackson, he attracts the attention of police who are investigating three ‘gay’ murders in the Bermondsey area that appear to have been motivated by extreme rage...
Under suspicion, Acland is forced to confront the real issues behind his isolation and the self-denying Spartan existence that has brought him close to starvation. How much control does he have over the dark side of his personality? Do his migraines contribute to his rages? Has he always been the duplicitous chameleon that his ex-fiancée claims?
And why... if he hates women... does he look to a woman for help...?
 Time out for a degree
The new book has certainly taken up most of Minette's time these last few months. However, she did take a break here and there, first to receive an honorary degree (that makes two now) from
Southampton Solent University, and next to open the doors of
Bournemouth University's very own 'crime house'. She's pictured here cutting the police tape to celebrate the house's opening.
Minette unlocks new crime house > >
Honorary degree from Southampton Solent University > >
It seems that Minette is not the only prizewinner in the family. Regular readers know that no newsletter would be complete without a mention of farm  doings, so we're pleased to announce that Minette's husband Alec recently won an award for his lambs from the Dorset Down Sheep Breeders Association. Hopefully their new-found stardom will save them from an untimely meeting with a jar of mint sauce!
That's all for now - as always, we look forward to your comments and questions.
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