A local author’s debut mystery novel for children aged from 8 to 88, “The Mystery of the Old Orphanage,” will raise funds for Nottinghamshire Hospice and the Motor Neurone Disease Association.
Beverley Fairbanks created many exciting stories when her son Samuel was young. But when, in 2017, spinal fusion surgery forced her early retirement, she combined her fascination for old buildings – including her present home – with serious historical research to create her first book.
Sadly, two years later Beverley was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. Illness gave her a fresh determination to see her book in print.
Daughter of Jamaican parents of the Windrush generation, Beverley was born in Nottingham in 1960. She trained as a teacher in Newcastle upon Tyne and taught in Avon, Buckinghamshire and Nottinghamshire for over 34 years.
Ruddington residents may remember that Beverley held a fund-raising coffee morning in the village shortly before lockdown, which raised around £1,000 for Nottinghamshire Hospice.
Beverley will be sharing 50% of the royalties on the sale of her book between the Motor Neurone Disease Association and Nottinghamshire Hospice. These two fantastic charities have given her the most wonderful care and support since she was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease.
About “The Mystery of the Old Orphanage”
Someone was trying to tell him something; voices, strange noises and a mysterious figure seemed to haunt Lewis in his new home. The old Victorian rectory and the deserted orphanage had a shared secret. In 2019, Lewis finds himself on a journey into the past to right a wrong committed in Victorian England.
In what had seemed a sleepy Nottinghamshire village, a chance discovery of an old newspaper leads Lewis, his new friend Lupin, and his cockapoo Truffle, to unearth the mystery of what happened to James Cooper, a 14 year old Victorian orphanage boy, whose disappearance is not as simple as it seems.
150 years later the old orphanage is being searched, but for what and by whom? Together Lewis, Lupin and Truffle solve the sinister link between the run-down rectory and the abandoned orphanage.
Unravelling the mystery demands detective work, relies on youthful friendship and loyalty, and needs the special senses of the cockapoo puppy. There is suspense and danger before the three friends can unearth the truth and settle a troubled soul.
You can find “The Mystery of the Old Orphanage” on Amazon here. The book costs £8.99 for a printed copy and £3.99 for the Kindle edition.
For further information, please call Marion Edwards on 0115 939 2459 or 07977 818 854 or email mimsie19052017@gmail.com.
Marion Edwards