While on a holiday Detective Inspector "Sarge" Downs, his partner Sarah, their daughter Katie and Sarge's Uncle Ray accidentally come across a drug trafficking business that has links back to Cairns where Sarge is in charge of the Criminal Investigation Branch. Unwittingly caught up in the delivery of drugs around New Zealand, they continue their journey and seek help from the New Zealand police and the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service who also become involved. As they explore man...

Coral Voyager, a large cruise ship, is confronted by a storm just of the north Queensland coast. It finally runs aground just south of Cairns. A massive rescue effort gets underway and all passengers are safely taken by a flotilla of small boats to Cairns. Due to the brilliant seamanship of its captain, the Coral Voyager sustains very little damage except for its steering. Two ocean going tugs arrive from Townsville and the ship is refloated. As it heads out to sea under tow, two crewmen a...

Twin brothers on two sides of the world are kidnapped at the same time sparking investigations in both Cairns in Northern Queensland and Inverness in Scotland. Two police forces are joined in trying to solve the crime. During the investigation, Sarge (Detective Chief Inspector) Downs and his two colleagues discover that the supply and distribution of narcotics are involved and the twin brothers' business is not all that it seems to be. Sarge and Detective Sergeant Liz Rhodes fly to Scotlan...

A private jet crashes into the hillside above Cairns. Bodies are retrieved and the plane contents are examined. All is not as it should be and Detective Chief Inspector "Sarge" Downs and Detective Sergeant Nat Johns of Cairns CID are called in to investigate. There are a whole lot of anomalies and this pair call in support from others including the AFP, ASIO and the defence force. Piece by piece the puzzle is put together, but not before Nat's and Sarge's families are targeted. Investigati...

In late 2012 I bought an Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite in poor condition, rusty and in pieces. Most of its parts were there. Most of my brain cells weren't for then I spent lots of money, time and effort doing a ground up rebuild. In 2017 I finally got to drive it. This is a humorous look at what insanity follows restoring a sixty year old car. The different people you meet, the strange things that happen, the realisation that you have no skill and that this type of tiny car has an ego the s...

Just after the birth of his second child, Detective Inspector "Sarge" Downs of the Queensland police based in Cairns receives a mysterious parcel. In it he finds various accounts of the role his grandfather, Wilfred, played during the Second World War. Sarge had inherited his middle name from his grandfather and only seen him as a withered old man who didn't seem to be able to do much. However Sarge learns that he was very much mistaken. In his youth his grandfather had volunteered into th...

An action that former Chief Inspector, now retired Sarge Downs, had done many years before came back to haunt him in a deadly way. With his family in danger, he contacted Cairns police station's CIB and enlisted the help of the person in charge, Nat Johns. They were baffled as to who was behind a whole series of incidents that took place in Cairns that could have had fatal consequences. A special unit was set up to investigate what was taking place. The naval base offered help and the army...

Detective Inspector "Sarge" Downs of the Queensland police was returning to Cairns when he was witness to the horrific slaying of a young motorbike rider. Cradling the dying young woman in his arms he made a silent vow to find the assassins. In investigating the death with the aid of colleagues, Acting Detective Sergeant Nat Johns and Constable Liz Rhodes, he finds an extraordinary web of criminal activity hiding just below the surface. Real estate fraud, extortion, prostitution, money lau...

Retired Detective Chief Inspector "Sarge" Downs is contemplating how boring his life has become when he is disturbed by flashing lights of the Cairns police. A friend of over thirty years is delivered on his doorstep. George "Willow" Williams formerly of Coober Pedy is now the South Australian Police Commissioner and he needs some assistance.Someone is undermining efforts to recruit more police officers in South Australia. Willow has no idea who and why, but would like an independe...

Dominated by a federal government, in a three-tier system of government, Australian politics is based on a constitution written in the 1890's that is extremely difficult to change via referendums. It is a Westminster system of government that has two separate chambers that are dominated by two major parties whose ideologies differ and both the sides are very combative to the extent that agreement on issues except politician wage increase, are hard won battles. If one side thinks of an idea...

Parents are their child's first teachers and their involvement in their child's education shouldn't, and indeed, doesn't stop as their child starts school. Enrolling their child for the first time at school or transferring their child to another school, parents can often find things very strange and daunting, perhaps even more so than their children do. This book is a guide for parents about what takes place inside the school gate. Topics that are discussed include: Being a Parent, Choosin...

Dominated by a federal government, in a three-tier system of government, Australian politics is based on a constitution written in the 1890's that is extremely difficult to change via referendums. It is a Westminster system of government that has two separate chambers that are dominated by two major parties whose ideologies differ and both the sides are very combative to the extent that agreement on issues except politician wage increase, are hard won battles. If one side thinks of an idea...