When the Dresden Text – a treasured fragment of medieval illuminated manuscript – is stolen from a prestigious New York gallery, its loss hits Tim Lacy hard. For his firm, Lacy Security, was responsible for the safety of the exhibits but – more devastating – a colleague and friend was killed during the break-in. Within days the police, acting on an anonymous tip-off, have traced the armed robber. There is a shoot-out and the criminal is killed. ‘Case closed’ for the New York Police Department.
But not for Tim Lacy. The suspiciously swift wrapping-up of the case leaves too many questions unanswered. Why was the Dresden Text stolen when other rarer, more valuable exhibits were on display nearby? For what reason was an ageing though once notorious terrorist chosen for the job? Why have the police been ordered to close the file? And where now is the Dresden Text?
Convinced that only the answers to these questions will lead to those responsible for his colleague’s murder, Tim sets out to unravel a mystery the police refuse to explore further. His investigations take him, via Geneva and Vienna, to Bonn, Berlin and Gdansk – as Tim and his new wife Catherine uncover a bewildering, convoluted trail leading ever deeper into a dark morass of high-level politics and big business in the new Europe, where cynical and sinister forces are at work.
But there is a deeper mystery – the Dresden Text itself. What is its connection with the dramatic conflicts and burning ideals of a small band of medieval knights? And how can their vaunting ambitions reverberate down the centuries to strike sinister echoes in the present?
Three decades ago, at the end of a seven year stint teaching, travelling, broadcasting and writing text books in Kenya, Derek bundled his wife and three small children into a car, journeyed by ship to Karachi and then drove overland back to England and a new life as a full-time author. Since then he has devoted himself, as he says, to 'telling stories'.
There have been several kinds of stories and several kinds of telling. Some have been factual – biographies and studies of intriguing past events. Some have been fictional – for the most part crime stories. Some have been tales told on radio or television in the form of plays and documentaries. Others have been presented to live audiences – narratives that have kept hearers enthralled and often challenged their preconceived ideas. In whatever medium Derek works his objective is always the same: 'My attitude is "Hey, folks, I've discovered something fascinating. May I tell you about it?"'
Because Derek's interests and enthusiasms are wide the subject matter of his stories is diverse – the sagas of fabulously wealthy families, 18th century witchcraft, the building of the Channel Tunnel, murder in Renaissance Florence, the love affair of Robert Dudley and Queen Elizabeth I. His varied projects have given him and continue to give him a great deal of fun. He has interviewed the Prince of Wales (for a programme on adventure training), sailed on a tall ship (for a book on Drake's circumnavigation), wined and dined at Bordeaux chateaux and Parisian mansions (for his study of the Rothschilds) and been admitted to the secret archives of Interpol.
Today he lives in Devon and makes frequent forays to a secluded retreat in Normandy. These locations enable him to indulge his sundry passions – riding on Exmoor, French food and wine, helping new writers ('because I've been there and I know how tough it is'), speaking at literary events, driving old 'character' cars, travelling, and full involvement in the life of his church.
Derek Wilson has scripted and presented scores of dramas and documentaries for BBC Radio 4. He has also contributed to several television programmes including "Drake's Last Voyage" (BBC2, Timewatch) and "Pirates" (Discovery Channel).
Paul Mould Publishing will be releasing paperback editions of Derek's "Tim Lacy" series of artworld mystery titles, which have previously been available only in hardback from Headline Books.
Tim Lacy is a security expert and denizen of the art world which teems with dubious dealers, unscrupulous collectors, fraudsters, crime bosses and bona fide connoisseurs, all in pursuit of the rare, the beautiful and the valuable.
