Paraffin Winter is a murder mystery available as an ebook - on this page you'll find descriptions of some of the principle characters in the novel.


Ronnie Delaney

A man in his mid-thirties, Ronnie comes from Silvertown, London, close by the sugar works. He's an ordinary working-class bloke, making a living delivering paraffin door-to-door. He lives in a small, terraced house by the gasworks, close to Poole Quay, where the coal boats unload. He moved to Poole when his aunt died, and left him the house. He's trying to get by, and trying to forget his past as a small-time villain in London's East End, in his younger days. Cynical, disillusioned, and misanthropic, Ronnie's relationship with the bottle is rather closer than it ought to be. But he's a decent sort when all's said and done, and he's devoted to Jenny. He'll do the right thing by her. At least, he'll try to.

Jenny Delaney

Not really Jenny Delaney at all, she's Jenny Miller, a railwayman's daughter, pretty, if a little thin. But she lives with Ronnie, and you have to be a bit careful, living in sin isn't approved of. Jenny is twenty-five, and doesn't have much of a past, she works at the pottery and lived with her mum and dad in a railway cottage all her life. Apart from that year she went away, of course, and she's a bit cagey about that. She's not short of ideas though, an ex-communist, she still has a good sense of what's right and wrong. And given her head and a fair wind, she can take control, sort things out. She's quite fond of Ronnie, she'd tell anyone that. And she'd do almost anything to defend him, if it was the right thing to do. Doing the right thing is important to Jenny. That comes first. Come the revolution, she knows what side of the barricades she'd be on.

Paul Stanton

Labour councillor for Harbour Ward, on Poole Borough Council. he's one of a small group of Labour councillors, they can't do much, just make a fuss and hope they get noticed. He comes from Stoke-on-Trent, son of a potter, but went to a good school after he won a scholarship, and then to Cambridge. He's on the left of the Labour Party, and has links with Tom Driberg, through his partner Benny, who lives in Barking, to the east of London. He's a decent man. Too decent for his own good, really.

Albert Miller

Jenny's dad. A railwayman, trade unionist and communist, he's an uncompromising sort of chap. He stood up for Khrushchev when he invaded Hungary, even though it lost him a lot of friends after they left the Communist Party in disgust - including Jenny. But he's still there, waving the red flag. And he's no time for these Trotskyists that are trying to get into the Labour Party. The Soviet Union is the true workers' state, he believes. Either you're with that, or against it.

Inspector Parker

An honest copper, at heart. He used to work the East End, back in his days as a sergeant. But he didn't have much success, what with the gangs and senior coppers all being freemasons, and he wouldn't have anything to do with that. They stuck together, and kept him in his place. So when he got the chance of promotion in a south coast town, he jumped at it. And who should he find down there but his old adversary Ronnie Delaney, who he'd been chasing round the East End for years. What a weird coincidence. Just his luck. Still, maybe he'll be able to get him this time. Once and for all.

Veronica James

Married to Alderman James, a wealthy timber importer, they live in a posh house in Canford Cliffs, on the Diamond Mile. Alderman James is a rich and powerful man, chairman of the harbour trustees, influential on the council. Up to a point. Veronica is elegant, beautiful and fashionable, she turns heads. She turns Ronnie's head. But like Ronnie, Veronica has a past too, she isn't quite what she seems. Jenny does for her, runs her duster over the onyx cigarette lighter and gardenia vase in Veronica's office. But in spite of their social class differences, Veronica and Jenny have something important in common. They would make a good team.