Ann Granger: Keeping Bad Company (UK 2010)

From the Publisher:
Buying a coffee for down-and-out 'Alkie' Albie at Marylebone Station is Fran Varady's good deed for the day. But when the grateful Albie takes her into his confidence, Fran suddently finds herself launched on her second investigation. For Albie, though obviously fond of a drink and none too familiar with soup and water, is absolutely clear about one thing - he claims to be the only witness to the violent abduction of a young girl.Although the police scornfully dismiss Albie's story as alcoholic hallucinations, Fran is determined to follow it up. And her suspicions seem to be spot on when she is warned off by her old sparring partner, Sergeant Parry, and then approached by a boyhood friend of her late father's, distraught over the kidnapping of his daughter. But this is only the beginning of Fran's investigation - days later, Alkie Albie is found dead...

Ann Granger: Keeping Bad Company. A Fran Varady Crime Novel. Headline eBook, ISBN: 9780755377244 (December, 2010), 769 KB (324 p.), £5.99.

Ann Granger: Keeping Bad Company (UK 1998)

From the Publisher:
Fran Varady knows that making friends with down-and-out Alkie Albie Smith on Marylebone Station concourse is probably not a wise move. But Fran, who knows what it's like not to have the price of a cup of tea, is a soft touch - and anyway, apart from his personal hygiene, he's an entertaining enough companion to pass the time of day with as she waits to meet her friend's train. But Albie has a disturbing tale to tell that has an unnerving ring of truth: he claims to have witnessed the violent kidnapping of a young girl. He can even describe the car - a blue Cortina with a scrape down one side. Like Albie, Fran can't get the image out of her mind, so much so that, despite her reluctance to cross its threshold, she goes to the police station to report what she's been told, only to be met with aggressive ridicule from her old sparring partner Sergeant Parry. Then, outside a nearby pub she spots a blue Cortina with a white scrape - and seeing its owner does little to allay her fears. Two days later she is approached by an old friend of her father, distraught because his daughter has been kidnapped, and things begin to add up. Then Alkie Albie is found dead...

Ann Granger: Keeping Bad Company. A Fran Varady Crime Novel. Headline, ISBN: 0747255768 (February, 1998), 311 p., £6.99.