Constable on the Coast

The brilliantly entertaining and heartwarming books behind the hit 90s TV series Heartbeat, one of the top ten most watched shows of the decade.

From time to time, Constable Nick must leave his blissful rural beat at Aidensfield to assist his hard-pressed colleagues in busier places. At the height of the holiday season, therefore, he finds himself on patrol in the popular Yorkshire seaside resort of Strensford where a host of new problems await.

There are crimes to solve and criminals to arrest, but there are lighter moments. Why, for example, would a lone woman stand on the cliffs and gaze out to sea for two hours on every day of her life; why would a family of children ride donkeys at dawn - while facing backwards; and who owned a dinghy called Daphne which was marooned on the rocks and never claimed?

A message in a bottle washed up on the beach suggests a girl is being held hostage, so Nick must urgently find out where and why the bottle entered the sea and then he finds himself helping a film crew shoot scenes in Strensford market place.

Additionally, he finds a party of police officers trying to be anonymous whilst on holiday, helps a magician to entertain at a tea-party and assists in launching the Strensford lifeboat on a life-saving expedition.

It all generates yet more constabulary duties for Constable Nick of Aidensfield.

Constable on the Coast was originally published in 2006.