The Spark Meets His Match: The novel of the first radio serial featuring 'The Spark'

Originally heard in January and February 1957, The Spark Meets His Match was the first of a dozen eight-part radio serials to feature the adventures of amateur investigator, Sir Clive Bannister, alias 'The Spark', that enthralled the nation during the late-1950s and early-1960s. Broadcast on Wednesday evenings on the BBC Light Programme and repeated the following Sunday afternoon; the programme's theme music: Skyliner by Charlie Barnet and his Orchestra, introduced each half-hour instalment; a half-hour full of action, drama and mystery, which kept millions of listeners on the edge of their armchairs. Here, for the first time is that radio serial in book form.

The murder of a friend's father and the search for another's missing wife, send Sir Clive Bannister, Bt, MC, alias 'The Spark', gentleman, former soldier, and amateur investigator, on a chase from one end of the country to the other to find out the truth. A truth finally revealed on the coast of Cumberland on a damp October day. He is joined in the chase by Jennifer Weston, who is an attractive, forthright woman, a trained chemist, and also a crack-shot. As events unfold, a mutual attraction develops between them, but will this help or hinder matters?

The author, Nigel Thurlow, was born in south London in October 1956. After attending a local Grammar School, he worked for a number of years in West End shops before joining the Civil Service in the mid-1980s; where he worked in various posts in the Environment and Transport Departments. He has now retired. In addition to this, the first 'Spark' novel, he has written two novels featuring Detective Chief Inspector Davenport of the Bedfordshire Police. He is married and lives in Somerset.