Charlie Smithers: Adventures Downunder (The Charlie Smithers Collection Book 3)

After his last adventure in India, having dodged death in more ways than you can imagine, one might think that our hero, Charlie Smithers – loyal manservant to the dunderhead, Lord Brampton (with five lines in Debrett, and a hopeless shot to boot) – would have earned a long respite from the perils of the world, wouldn’t you? Alas, it was not to be, as you will soon find out for yourself. What’s more, with its wide-open spaces, vast tracts of arid desert populated by hardy individuals, exotic creatures, and enough venomous spiders and snakes to sink a battleship, the Outback of Australia is the perfect place for it all to happen.Be that as it may, however, through the course of researching a project, there comes a time when I know whether or not I have a feel for the land where the story occurs. After pouring over tome after tome, map after map, and wearing the search engine of my computer to a frazzle, I finally had to admit that this all important, indefinable quality, was still eluding me, and that a road trip to ‘Oz’ was in order. I wanted to see it all for myself – to walk over the same ground that Charlie walked, rode and crawled in his latest, and strangest, adventure, for – knowing our Australian cousins as I do, and open and friendly as they are, I harboured no doubt that, if there were any inaccuracies, they would waste little time in tearing this work to shreds, in a frenzy of justifiable indignation. Being the serious writer that I am, I’m sure you will accept these very plausible reasons at face value, and that venturing into a land rich with sunshine, vineyards and breweries had nothing to do with my decision, whatsoever...