Where There's A Will

Robert Cox's debut novel. Henry Scroggins is a man tired of life. Unloved and unworldly, his one vice - a 'flutter' on the wrong horses - keeps him trapped within the malevolent web of his bullying mother and boss, until shortly after his fortieth birthday when the underdog decides to fight back. Arrested after his first small act of defiance, Henry meets Millicent Carter - a beautiful, sophisticated 'escort' to London's elite echelon - who through a catastrophic misunderstanding takes Henry under her wing. The odd couple grow close, then inseparable, and hatch a plan to rid Henry of his mother, until the will of his millionaire father emerges from Australia. On discovering why his father left a five year old boy in the hands of a woman he knew to be evil, Henry gains strength from his father's spirit and Millicent's tender nurturing. Locked in a battle of wits with his desperate mother and her devious solicitor (both harbouring dark secrets) the couple discover the essence of true love for the first time, whilst hanging over Millicent is the dread of one day revealing her former life and its influence on events. Set in London, Brighton and Queensland between Christmas 1980 and July 1981, it is a tale of two wills; a will of the mind and a will of money - ultimately bringing out the best and the worst in human nature.