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She’s ex-MI5.
MI5 wants her dead.
Who can she trust?
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False Connections
by Steve Sheppard
Genre: Thriller, Action
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“Thriller addicts won’t be disappointed”
“Steve Sheppard has created another great character in Mel Milano.”
Three years ago, Mel Milano was an MI5 intelligence officer with a promising career. Then, during a routine protection and surveillance operation in Wales, things went drastically wrong and three people died, including Mel’s partner and fiancé, Liam Webster.
Drummed out of the service on trumped-up charges by MI5 Deputy Director, Sarah Brook, Mel lost her career, her self-respect, her confidence and her fiancé. Nothing made sense.
Three years on, she is rebuilding her life, working for a private security outfit.
But she’s never forgiven the way she was dumped by MI5. One day she’ll discover the truth about Brook and what was really going on.
Now, though, it’s clear that Mel’s not the only one still holding a grudge. Suddenly everybody seems to want her dead. But why?
On the run from MI5, is there anyone Mel can trust to help her uncover the past?
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The door opens noisily, bringing with it a gust of chilly air. I turn on my stool, expecting to see Adam. I’m formulating some sort of suitably sarcastic barb. It’s not Adam, however. Instead, two men have entered. Strangers. Adam once said he found it odd that so many people he didn’t know came to The Crown but the place is his choice and I don’t come here so often that I’m going to know all the regulars. I look away from the new arrivals but immediately feel a tap on my shoulder. I’m never happy when strange men think they have the right to touch me and I tense, my hand gripping the whiskey glass slightly more tightly.
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Still, it isn’t the time and place to make a scene so I relax again and look at the man who’s tapped me on the shoulder. He’s about forty, similar height to me, dark suit and tie, blond hair trimmed to within an inch of its life, and he’s holding a warrant card. I may not know all the regulars of The Crown but I thought I knew all the local coppers. There aren’t many and I’ve had dealings with most of them during the past year, one way or another. This guy is not an East Hampshire plod though. Behind him and to one side, his colleague, younger, bigger, also fair-haired, is staring at me with tight little eyes. A bully’s eyes. He looks like he’s itching for a fight. In other circumstances, I might have been happy to oblige but Kaylee had clearly been round the bar with a cloth and cleanser before opening and I wouldn’t want to bloody her handiwork. Nor would the subsequent paperwork have appealed.
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Detective Sergeant Aaron Walcott, I read on the warrant card. Metropolitan Police. He’s off his patch. He says nothing so I say nothing right back at him. It’s definitely up to Walcott to start the conversational ball rolling so I pick up my glass and drain it. I don’t want to waste any bourbon if this plays out as I’m beginning to think it might.
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Eventually he speaks. Maybe he was rehearsing his lines. ‘Miss Melanie Marie Milano?’ he says.
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Steve Sheppard was born and grew up in Surrey before moving to Buckinghamshire and then to Oxfordshire, where he spent a quarter of a century living in an idiosyncratic village that was the affectionate inspiration for his fourth book, Lazytown. He now lives in Hampshire. He spent forty years starting to write books but not finishing them, until belatedly realising that the key is not to give up. The other thing he has since learned is that he should have become a celebrity before writing a book, as this would have made selling it much easier.Â
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False Connections is Steve’s fifth book, but the first one written as a straight thriller and not primarily as a comedy, although it does contain humour. He hopes it will be the first of a series featuring feisty, funny but flawed ex-MI5 agent, Mel Milano. He also has three spy thrillers with laughs to his name, all published by Claret Press: A Very Important Teapot (2019), set in Australia, Bored to Death in the Baltics (2021), not set in Australia, and Poor Table Manners (2024), which takes place in Cape Town. These feature an initially fairly hapless hero, Dawson, and a considerably less hapless heroine, Lucy, together with varied supporting casts, most of whom are not who they claim to be. Steve’s fourth book is an out-and-out comedy-murder-mystery, Lazytown (2025).
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I enjoyed getting to know your novel, I hope to get a chance to read it.
Hi Lisa. Apologies for the delay in replying. Thanks for your comment. I also hope you get a chance to read it. Anything I can do to help in that, let me know. Best wishes, Steve Sheppard
This sounds like a really intriguing story. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Marcy. Thanks for commenting. I hope that, if you read the book, you will indeed find it intriguing. Best wishes, Steve Sheppard
Looks like a good read
Hi Alma
Thank you. I certainly hope so! I’m certainly looking for new readers of my work.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
Looks like a great book
Hi Michelle
Thank you. I certainly hope it is – I’ve aimed for a good, entertaining, twisty read.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
this sounds so good
Hi Wendy
Thank you! I’m aiming for action and entertainment with some wit.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
This is now on my TBR list.
Hi Carol
Thank you so much. I really hope you enjoy False Connections when it reaches the top of your TBR pile. If you do, I’m planning a sequel in due course.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
What an exciting book! Great excerpt. I’d love to read more.
Hi Bonnie. Sorry for delayed reply. Thanks for your comment. I’d be very happy to help you read more of False Connections. New readers of my work are always welcome. Best wishes, Steve Sheppard
This sounds like an interesting book.
Hi Jodi
Thank you. Acton, intrigue, twists and humour. What more you could you ask for?
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
I love the cover and the excerpt.
Hi Sherry
Thanks. I can’t claim any credit for the cover design (although I took the original photo on which it’s based). I let someone who knows what they’re doing design my covers! The content is all mine though. If you liked the excerpt, you’ll like the rest of the book.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
Looks very exciting
Hi Heather
Thank you. My main aim is to entertain, so yes, if it’s excitement you’re after, False Connections may be for you.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
Murder in the woods time
Hi Jon
Thanks for your comment.
Maybe… You’ll have to read the book to understand the relevance of the cover pic.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
Sounds like a great book.
Hi Shelly
Thank you. I hope you get to read it. I aim to entertain.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
This sounds like a real page turner and the cover is great!
Hi Heather
Thank you. I aim for all my books to be page turners. The story moves along very quickly. And there are twists. As for the cover, I did take the original photo but I’m not a cover designer – I get someone who knows what they’re doing to design my covers.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
Do you have a prefer space to do your writing?
Hi Tracie
Thanks for the question. I’m rather dull I’m afraid (unlike my books, hopefully). I tend to write at home in my living room. Although I have just spent a month in France with another author pal, mainly holiday but part writing retreat and did quite a lot of writing (a possible sequel to False Connections) whilst there.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
Thriller, Action – I love this genre.
And could really get into this read!
Thank you for the excerpt.
Hi Barbara
Thank you. I’m so glad you enjoyed the excerpt. As you did, I’m pretty confident you’ll like the whole book.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
Murder and mayhem makes for a good read
Hi Linda
Thank you. Yes it does. I particularly like the word “mayhem”.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
I like the book details.
Hi Stephanie
Thanks for the comment. The blurb, cover and excerpts reflect the book, so I think you’ll enjoy it.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
Sounds like a really good book
Hi David
Thanks for taking the time to comment. My aim is to entertain so I hope you enjoy False Connections if you get to read it.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
This sounds like an interesting book and I also like the cover.
Hi Ann
Thank you. I hope the book is entertaining – perhaps you’ll get the chance to find out? As for the cover, although I took the original photo, I leave cover design to someone who knows what they’re doing. I like it too.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
I like book details
Hi Angela
Thank you. If you like all the info, I’m confident you’ll like the actual book too.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
Loving the cover
Hi Terri
Thanks. I can claim no credit for the cover apart from the original photo on which it’s based. I get someone who knows what they’re doing to design my covers. But I love it too and it certainly reflects the story.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
The cover is great-makes me want to read the book! Thank you for the giveaway!
Hi Debbi
Thanks. This is exactly why I get someone who knows what they’re doing to design the cover! Hope you enjoy the book as much as (even more than!) the cover.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
The excerpt is interesting. Thank you for sharing it.
Hi Cynthia
Thank you. I hope you get the opportunity to enjoy the book.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
This looks like a fun, action-packed read! :-)
Hi Art
Thank you so much. That is EXACTLY what I’m aiming for.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
This sounds like an exciting read with interesting characters!
Hi Jeanna
Thanks for your comment. That’s just what I was going for! Hope you read the book and enjoy it.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
This sounds like an exciting read. Love the cover!
Hi Karen
Thank you. I certainly hope so and I hope yu get to read the whole book. As for the cover, although I took the original photo, I got somebody who knows what she’s doing to design that.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
Sounds like an interesting read
Hi
Thank you. Interesting and exciting too, I hope!
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
This sounds like a great thriller. I like the cover.
Hi Susan
Thank you. It is a great thriller! I hope you get to enjoy it. And I agree the cover is good too. Apart from taking the original photo, I claim no credit for it. I have someone who knows what she’s doing to design my covers.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
I love this book cover. It sounds like a great read
Hi Robin
Thank you. I’ll be honest – I get someone who knows what they’re doing to design my covers, but I agree, it’s really good. As for the book, I hope you get the chance to discover exactly how good a read it is.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
Looks interesting!
Hi Randi
Thank you. Not only interesting but hopefully exciting and entertaining!
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard
Sounds like a great book!
Hi Sand
Thank you. I hope you enjoy it if you read it.
Best wishes
Steve Sheppard