Graham Donnelly, born in Homerton, London, later lived in Suffolk and Mersea Island, Essex. He holds an Economics degree from the University of London and has a professional background in government service, banking, and lecturing in economics, politics, and management. While lecturing, he published several economics books. His novels reflect his deep interest in political and socio-economic history, a passion shaped by his varied career and academic pursuits.
In the mid-1970s, a rapidly growing college becomes a playground where young lecturers, barely older than their students, balance ambition with maturity. The competitive atmosphere, marked by jealousy and corruption, blurs the lines between innocent play and darker rivalries.
Lecturers, seen as professionals with full control over their classrooms, usually uphold their responsibilities. However, one day, indulgence and recklessness lead to a situation spiralling out of control, putting two lives at risk. The identities of those in danger and those who have endangered them remain a mystery, until two lecturers, the eager Gillian and the hesitant Roger, embark on solving it, leading to a scandal that will affect the futures of both lecturers and students, guilty and innocent alike.
As the Second World War nears its end, the great economist John Maynard Keynes is at the peak of his career, despite failing health, and is seeking to establish a new international financial and currency regime for the post-war future. However, his assistant, Alec Harborough, discovers there is a plot to blackmail Keynes over events in his private life, the revelation of which could ruin Keynes’s career and destroy his life’s work.
Keeping the threat secret from Keynes in fear of his health, Harborough enlists Lewis Durrington to help him, a friend of Keynes and other members of the Bloomsbury Group. There follows a gripping race against time to track down the blackmailer and prevent him from carrying out his threat, a race beset by a series of failures, frustrations and dangers. But they must succeed, for it is not just Keynes who is in danger – world economic order is at stake.