Death of a Scientist

A Time for War
When a President and a Prime Minister want to go to war to remove a dictator and gain control of his country’s vast reserves of oil, they must gain public support. A threat from the dictator President to use chemical and biological weapons gives them their reason. But the weapons inspectors just can’t find the evidence that the country has such weapons. To counter this, a political dossier is created claiming the existence of weapons of mass destruction.

A Time to Die
Dr John Finch, the world-renowned British specialist in chemical and biological weapons, is a member of a UN inspection team. He discovers that no such weapons exist, that the dossier is misleading and refuses to toe the political line. His actions do not stop the war, but results in him becoming a target for a political assassination. Chuck Cornell, a member of the ultra-secret ‘Black Eagles’ is assigned the task, and Dr Finch is his victim. When Dr Finch is found dead in a wood it looks like suicide, but somebody has tampered with the crime scene, unidentified men are seen in the area and unusual activity at the scene is observed.

A Time for Justice?
To halt the media frenzy a formal inquiry is set up, but vital witnesses are not called and a political cover-up looks likely. The Excalibur Foundation, an organisation that seeks justice for political victims, decides to take up the case. They propose to hunt down Chuck Cornell themselves and former French Foreign Legion sniper Dan Pierce is hired for the mission. During the operation to eliminate the Black Eagle however, a political target comes into Dan’s sights. Dan now holds the power to bring justice to the world, it’s just a matter of squeezing the trigger…

‘I wanted to write a novel about something that intrigued me. My previous books have been about politics, justice and conspiracy – and it was great fun to weave these themes into a novel,’ observes the author. ‘I am hoping that some of the novel’s context will resonate with readers – especially in relation to what really goes on in the world of politics.’

Mike Welham was a magistrate for sixteen years and a chairman of the Bench for most of that time and he is also the author of 'The Crabb Enigma' (the true story of the life of Commander ‘Buster’ Crabb, a frogman who ‘disappeared’ in mysterious circumstances) and 'Crime Pays'. Now he brings his investigative skills to 'Death of a Scientist', his first novel.