The Brackenford Cycle Series by Nick Moseley

"Trev Irwin didn’t believe in ghosts, which made it something of a shock when he saw one."Working as an estate agent in the town of Brackenford isn’t the hardest job in the world – just ask Trev Irwin. He knows the market inside out, house prices are steady, and the only competition in the office is Barry, who has all the wit and charm of a mouth ulcer... more"Trev Irwin didn’t believe in ghosts, which made it something of a shock when he saw one."Working as an estate agent in the town of Brackenford isn’t the hardest job in the world – just ask Trev Irwin. He knows the market inside out, house prices are steady, and the only competition in the office is Barry, who has all the wit and charm of a mouth ulcer.But there are other forces at work in Brackenford besides the unquenchable desire of grannies to buy bungalows, as Trev discovers when he witnesses a shadowy entity possess a man in a local café. A man who goes straight home and murders his wife and her lover. With a cricket bat.A lifelong sceptic of the paranormal, Trev is still trying to rationalise these events when he discovers that his own grandfather is rather more than the curmudgeonly whisky-enthusiast he appears to be. The old man is also Brackenford’s Custodian, a role which requires him to keep the peace among the town’s supernatural residents, and he believes that Trev can help him.Trev disagrees; but when he inadvertently foils an assassination attempt on Brackenford’s most famous resident, the slick supermarket tycoon Alastair Kolley, he finds that he’s upgraded his status from “potential collateral damage” to “target” in the eyes of the bad guys. But who are the bad guys? Is it the tabloid-reading ghouls who live in the sewers? The werewolf self-help group that meets in the church hall? Or the local lord of the manor, who looks pretty sprightly for a man who’s over 150 years old? Trev hasn’t a clue, and the only help he’s got comes from a septuagenarian, a puritanical Victorian ghost, and the world’s most sarcastic cat.Yep – he’s basically screwed. less

Sunday: traditionally a day of rest. For estate agent Trev Irwin it’s a day for recovering from hangovers; watching TV in just his underpants; and pretending that his latent psychic abilities haven’t ruined his life. This Sunday is going to be different. For starters he won’t be doing anything in just his underpants... moreSunday: traditionally a day of rest. For estate agent Trev Irwin it’s a day for recovering from hangovers; watching TV in just his underpants; and pretending that his latent psychic abilities haven’t ruined his life. This Sunday is going to be different. For starters he won’t be doing anything in just his underpants. For a devout sceptic like Trev, there’s nothing worse than finding out that all the supernatural beings whose existence you’ve denied for years are not only real, but are mostly trying to kill you. He’s lucky to have his Granddad for support; the old man is affiliated to the Custodians, a clandestine group whose role is to keep the peace among Britain’s supernatural creatures, as well as keeping them out of the newspapers. However the Custodians’ resources are spread thinly and Trev finds himself roped in to help. The job seems simple: investigate a suspected supernatural incident in a graveyard and report back. He’s even got company, in the form of Oscar, Granddad’s sardonic possessed cat. No problem, then. Go in, have a look, get out. No way that can go horribly wrong, right? Right? “Deceased Estate” is a standalone novella set in the Brackenford Cycle universe, taking place between the events of “Location, Location, Damnation” and the upcoming sequel “Hangman’s Pond”. less

“Typical Monday,” Trev Irwin thought. “I spilled my breakfast, my car wouldn’t start, and someone’s trying to kill me...” If you think YOUR life is stressful, then spare a thought for Brackenford’s number one estate agent, Trev Irwin. Two months have passed since he managed to survive a demon trying to steal his soul, which isn’t one of the more common hazards of the property business... more“Typical Monday,” Trev Irwin thought. “I spilled my breakfast, my car wouldn’t start, and someone’s trying to kill me...” If you think YOUR life is stressful, then spare a thought for Brackenford’s number one estate agent, Trev Irwin. Two months have passed since he managed to survive a demon trying to steal his soul, which isn’t one of the more common hazards of the property business. He’s still none the wiser about who was responsible for summoning the creature, but at least things are beginning to get back to something that resembles normality. His injuries have healed, he’s selling more houses than his arch-rival Barry, and there’s the possibility of romance with Sarah, the new girl in the office. Even the continued scrutiny of the Custodians, the United Kingdom’s supernatural police force, can’t dampen his spirits too much. What can, however, is an attempt on his life at a property viewing, and that’s just Monday. Things go further downhill when a trip to a spooky local landmark, Hangman’s Pond, leads to him finding out that he’s going to be dead by the end of the week…but not when or how it’ll happen. There certainly seem to be plenty of candidates for the role of executioner: a Victorian hit-man, a group of zombies and a vampire Colonel all have bones to pick with Trev, and if he’s to have any hope of staying alive he needs to deal with them. It’d be useful to have a team of kick-ass allies to rely on, but all Trev’s got is his seventy-eight year-old Granddad, a haughty ghost called Agatha, and Oscar, a sardonic possessed cat. There’s also a mysterious woman in a mask, but who is she and whose side is she on? Trev hasn’t got long to figure things out, so he needs to work fast. After all, there are worse things than just being dead… HANGMAN’S POND is the second book in “The Brackenford Cycle” series. less

“My name is Agatha Cragton. I have been dead since the year eighteen seventy-nine.” As Agatha might tell you, being dead isn’t much fun. The hours are long, the benefits non-existent, and she regularly has to suffer the company of Trev Irwin, Brackenford’s number one estate agent, part-time demon-slayer and full-time cynic. A man with all the subtlety and sensitivity of a motorway pile-up... more“My name is Agatha Cragton. I have been dead since the year eighteen seventy-nine.” As Agatha might tell you, being dead isn’t much fun. The hours are long, the benefits non-existent, and she regularly has to suffer the company of Trev Irwin, Brackenford’s number one estate agent, part-time demon-slayer and full-time cynic. A man with all the subtlety and sensitivity of a motorway pile-up. With friends like that, who needs exorcists? It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that Agatha’s kept the details of her life – and perhaps more importantly, her death – from Trev’s ears until now. But when they’re stuck with each other for an evening and the small talk runs short, it’s almost inevitable that the subject arises… “The Ghost’s Story” is a standalone novella set in the Brackenford Cycle universe, taking place after the events of “Hangman’s Pond”, the second book in the main series. less

It’s been a stressful few months for Trev Irwin, number one estate agent in the town of Brackenford. He’s had to contend with the discovery that he has latent psychic abilities, the revelation that Britain has a hidden community of supernatural creatures, and the inconvenience of repeated attempts on his life... moreIt’s been a stressful few months for Trev Irwin, number one estate agent in the town of Brackenford. He’s had to contend with the discovery that he has latent psychic abilities, the revelation that Britain has a hidden community of supernatural creatures, and the inconvenience of repeated attempts on his life. Having survived – barely – the machinations of a megalomaniac Victorian scientist and his urbane assassin, Trev’s hoping for a quiet return to selling third-rate houses to first-time buyers. No such luck. The Custodians, the clandestine supernatural police force of the United Kingdom, have been trying to recruit Trev into their ranks for some time. He’s reluctant, not least because he knows that there’s a mysterious traitor in the organisation who’s been trying to get him killed. But when a high-profile fugitive is captured and offers to trade some information for a lenient sentence, it looks as if there might be a chance for Trev to unmask the traitor and protect himself. All he has to do is go to the Custodians’ prison, Spectre’s Rest, and interview the prisoner. It seems like a simple enough task. However Spectre’s Rest is dilapidated, on the verge of being closed down, and running on a skeleton staff. The remaining prisoners are the worst-of-the-worst, though they’re only half as frightening as the food in the staff canteen. Trev wants to get the job done and get out, but the death of an inmate leaves him trapped in a prison on lockdown with a killer on the loose. Worse still, the prison staff seem to think Trev is the number one suspect, and with a shortage of both time and allies he’s got a job on his hands to convince them not to lock him up. Wrongful imprisonment might be the least of his worries, though, because Spectre’s Rest has its own secrets. Secrets that stretch back through the prison’s dark and violent past. Secrets that can no longer remain hidden. Secrets that might mean the death of everyone inside the prison’s walls… less

Getting a well paid nine-to-five job is pretty difficult when you’re over a hundred and sixty years old, your CV is a list of noteworthy murders and you shot your last boss. Which is why Ezekiel Barker is spending most of his time hiding in a draughty flat in Whitechapel, consuming gin at a rate that would make even Oliver Reed raise an eyebrow... moreGetting a well paid nine-to-five job is pretty difficult when you’re over a hundred and sixty years old, your CV is a list of noteworthy murders and you shot your last boss. Which is why Ezekiel Barker is spending most of his time hiding in a draughty flat in Whitechapel, consuming gin at a rate that would make even Oliver Reed raise an eyebrow. He’s a wanted man, and it’s a race against time to see what’ll kill him first, the booze or the Custodians, the United Kingdom’s supernatural police force. They’d like a quiet word with him about the whole “noteworthy murders” thing. But he’s not as well hidden as he thought, because one night the telephone rings and an anonymous caller offers him a job. It’s an offer he can’t refuse; fail to complete the job and his location will be revealed to the Custodians. At first glance it seems quite straightforward – travel to a remote Cornish fishing village and retrieve a stolen artefact. But Barker quickly discovers that he hasn’t been given all the details. The thief is a man with homicidal tendencies, an unusual talent for disguise, and a ridiculous name: Gary Lazarus. He knows all about Barker, and has very specific reasons for wanting to meet him. He wants to play a game. A game only one of them can possibly survive… less

It’s the New Year and the whole world seems to have taken a resolution to make Trev Irwin’s life a misery. He’s trying to hold down two jobs, one of which involves dealing with dangerous, immoral and evil creatures of darkness. And if working in the property business wasn’t bad enough, he’s also got vampires, werewolves and angry elementals to deal with in his other job helping out the Custodians, the United Kingdom’s supernatural police force... moreIt’s the New Year and the whole world seems to have taken a resolution to make Trev Irwin’s life a misery. He’s trying to hold down two jobs, one of which involves dealing with dangerous, immoral and evil creatures of darkness. And if working in the property business wasn’t bad enough, he’s also got vampires, werewolves and angry elementals to deal with in his other job helping out the Custodians, the United Kingdom’s supernatural police force. Turning up to work tired, battered and bruised isn’t conducive to good performance, and Trev is on his final warning at SmoothMove estate agents. He’s been given a short time in which to convince the management he’s worth keeping on, and he can’t afford any distractions or slip-ups. Such as his ex-girlfriend Sarah calling him out of the blue to tell him that she’s being held hostage and needs his help, or a psychotic zombie with a soul-sucking lantern ambushing him in an alley. Sadly both those things happen within the space of twenty-four hours, and neither can be ignored. Trev needs to figure out a way to find Sarah, who’s been caught while trying to steal a dangerous item from its owner. But there are a number of other parties who also want the item, and they’re looking for Sarah too. To get to her first, Trev’s going to need the help of all his allies: his Granddad, a veteran Custodian; Oscar, the sardonic possessed cat; and Agatha, the prudish Victorian ghost. Against his better judgement, he’s also going to need the help and resources of the Custodians themselves, which presents a problem. There’s a traitor in the organisation who wants Trev dead. And this might just be the opportunity they’ve been waiting for. less