The Characters
Meet the Characters from all the books (Daniel Whelan and Taz reside on their own page )
A small insight into the Heroes and Villains within the pages of the stories.
Ross Wakelin
Ross is 27, 6 ft 2in tall, lean and athletic with dark brown hair and brown eyes. He is an American, a professional Showjumper.
General Description – Lean and fit. Tanned and good-looking in a gypsyish sort of way. Ross limps due to a recent injury to his left knee, sustained in an horrific fall whilst showjumping in the USA. The injury happens before the story begins, but becomes more troublesome as his workload increases. When not riding he habitually wears Levi’s jeans, a cotton shirt and cowboy boots. He also has a favourite leather jacket, oiled cotton stockman’s coat and a wide-brimmed Australian style bush hat.
Nature/Temperament – Ross is a natural and sympathetic horseman with almost legendary “stickability” in the saddle. He has strong inner confidence which is tested to the limit in Cut Throat as everything and everyone seems to turn against him and he even begins to doubt himself. Although he has a good, if dry, sense of humour, he is a little hot-headed at times and can be sarcastic.
Lives – After moving to England to take up his new job, he lives in one of two flats upstairs in a converted coach house at the Oakley Manor yard, which is situated on the Hampshire/Wiltshire borders, not far from Salisbury.
Drives – A battered, second-hand military jeep.
Family – His parents live in the USA where his father makes a very good living as a lawyer and his mother is a socialite. Ross has a civilised, but not particularly close, relationship with them.
Romantic Connections – Ross falls in love with Lindsay Cresswell (blonde, shoulder-length bob, grey-blue eyes, classic features) who is the niece of his English employer, Colonel Preston. Unfortunately Lindsay is already engaged to her childhood sweetheart, James, the son of a business tycoon, so Ross keeps his feelings to himself.
Animals - Ross is adopted by a German shepherd dog who escapes from a local farm where he’s kept chained up, day and night. Ross buys the dog from the farmer to make it legal but never gives it a name.
Background – Ross was born in the USA and from the age of 12 was sent away to school. He spends the holidays with an uncle who is a horse dealer based in Indiana. This uncle (his father’s brother) is of the old school of horse trainers and taught Ross to ride the tough way. Ross tells Colonel Preston “He believed falling off was the best way to learn how to stay on.” Ross made a name for himself sorting out difficult horses. Whilst at college, he started out riding showjumpers for people and later, after starting law school, he took a year out to ride for a competition yard. One thing led to another and eventually he went onto the showjumping circuit, touring with a string of horses, which is where he met Lindsay. Just as it seemed as though his career was really taking off, he had a bad accident while competing, which left him hospitalised for several weeks and still haunts his dreams. Although he returned to showjumping as soon as he was able, he split with his former boss who, in revenge, started the rumour that he had fired Ross due to him losing his nerve after the accident. As a result of this, Ross finds no one else wants to risk giving him rides. In the end, bitter and depressed, Ross heads for his mother’s Florida beach house and hits the bottle, which is where Cut Throat begins…Ross
Gideon Blake
(Blindfold and Time to Pay)
Gideon is 34 at the start of Blindfold, he is 6ft 4in tall, broad and fairly athletically built, he has long, bleached blond on top hair, often worn in a ponytail. He has Grey-green eyes.
Occupation – Gideon is a portrait artist specialising in animals but his very strong affinity with animals has also earned him something of a reputation as a behaviourist and this has become his primary income. His talent for communication with horses and dogs borders upon telepathic and his friend, Pippa, calls him “The Witchdoctor”.
General Description – His long blond hair lends him a beach boy or biker vibe and in BF he’s described as having “strong regular features; pleasant enough, if not film star material.” He dresses casually in jeans, boots, leather jackets, etc.
Nature/Temperament – Very laid-back on the surface but tough and determined underneath. Honest to a fault and a gentleman, he has a wry sense of humour.
Lives – In the gatehouse to Graylings Priory, a sixteenth century manor house on the edge of the Cranborne Chase in Dorset. His landlord is his old university friend Giles Barrington-Carr, who has lived at the priory with his sister Pippa since the death of their parents in an accident.
Drives – In Blindfold, Gideon rides a classic Norton Commando motorcycle. In Time To Pay, he drives an old-style Land Rover.
Family – Mother is an artist, living in Sussex; father a renowned anthropologist who spends much of his time abroad studying indigenous peoples. Gideon’s sister, Naomi, is a dancer, currently injured and off-work. In Blindfold, Gideon finds Naomi living with a new boyfriend, Tim Reynolds – a vet running an animal sanctuary in Dorset.
Romantic Connections – In Blindfold, Gideon comes to realise that he is falling in love with his long-time friend, Pippa Barrington-Carr (tallish, well-built, hazel eyes and a mop of unruly curls that change colour as the whim takes her), sister of his best friend and landlord, Giles. As Time To Pay begins, Gideon is, instead, having a relaxed affair with exotic beauty, Eve Kirkpatrick (6’0” tall, slim, olive skin, long wavy black hair), a rich, art gallery owner.
Animals – In Blindfold, Elsa, an Abyssinian cat, and the use of a temperamental horse called Blackbird, whose ownership has come to Pippa by default due to non-payment of training/livery fees. In Time To Pay, he also has Zebedee, an exuberant young Lab-cross, given to him by Pippa at the end of Blindfold.
Background – Gideon and his sister were brought up by their mother in Sussex. His father had, on occasion, taken the teenage Gideon with him on research trips to remote places but more often he stayed at home and, as Gideon tells Pippa, the family once went more than a year without seeing Professor Blake. After becoming firm friends with him, at University, and spending his holidays at Graylings Priory, Gideon doesn’t see Giles again until he meets him, by accident, at Salisbury races. Gideon is there to see a customer about a commission to paint a racehorse and, learning that he is temporarily homeless, Giles offers him the use of the Priory’s gatehouse. Life is uncomplicated until one, cold February night, two thugs break into the gatehouse while Gideon is out and are waiting in the dark, when he returns…
Lincoln (Linc) Tremayne
Linc is 28, just short of 6 feet, lean and muscular with short mid-brown hair and Grey-green eyes.
Occupation – Heir to a viscountcy and the Farthingscourt Estate, for which at present he works as the estate manager.
General Description – In the likeness to the painting of his ancestor (in Deadfall) he is described as “if not exactly handsome, his features were at least regular and strong enough to be considered good-looking.” He wears jeans or corduroys, etc, on estate work but scrubs up well when the occasion demands.
Nature/Temperament – Fairly placid by nature, he has learned tact and restraint through dealings with his father, but those who are deceived into thinking he might be a pushover are quite wrong, he is very strong-willed and focussed. His philosophy is to choose his battles, hence keeping his horse stabled away from Farthingscourt.
Lives – In an attic apartment of Farthingscourt, a stately home owned by his father in the Cranborne Chase in Dorset.
Drives – A Morgan Plus Eight, and various estate vehicles.
Family – Father, Sylvester, the Eighth Viscount Tremayne, with whom his relationship is strained, and younger brother Crispin.
Romantic Connections – None at the outset, but then he begins a relationship with Josie Hathaway (tall, slim, golden-tanned flawless skin and long brown hair), a model and eldest daughter of the family from whom he rents stabling.
Animals – A horse called Noddy’s Friend (a name that alludes to the animal’s particularly long ears). Known as Noddy, he’s a brown gelding that Linc hopes will one-day become a top class three-day-eventer.
Background – Linc had a privileged upbringing at Farthingscourt, surrounded by horses and ponies until, when he is twelve, his mother is killed in a three-day-eventing accident and his father, stricken with grief, bans all horses from the estate. Linc loves riding and is determined to continue, which he does by sneaking rides on friends’ horses. After studying business management at university, Linc hopes to be given the position of Estate Manager at Farthingscourt when the previous holder retires, but his father doesn’t feel he is ready for it and gives the job to an older man. Twenty-two and feeling hurt, Linc packs his bags and leaves. After two years working in an eventing yard and buying his own horse, Linc gets a job as an assistant estate manager on another estate, where he stays for the best part of five years. On one of his infrequent trips home he takes a friend with him – a girl called Nikki, who his brother Crispin subsequently marries. As Deadfall opens, Linc is finally working as manager of the family estate and keeping his horse stabled with friends in a nearby village. On a late visit to the stables one April evening, he is shocked to find one of the teenage daughters of the family unconscious on the tackroom floor, having apparently disturbed tack thieves. Linc is determined to find those responsible and see that they are brought to justice…
Ben Copperfield
Ben is 32, 6 ft 1in, fairly lean but strong. He has slightly spiky mid-brown hair, cut short, curls if allowed to grow. Grey-green eyes.
Occupation – Ben is a freelance journalist, specialising in matters equine.
General Description – Ben is tall and lean, he has a pleasant face with a slightly quirky smile and sometimes wears “designer stubble”. Normal casual dress: jeans, jumper, leather or fleece jacket, etc.
Nature/ Temperament – Ben is a fairly impulsive character with a tendency to wade into tricky situations where more prudent souls might hang back. This has generally proven to be a positive in his career, but has on occasion landed him in trouble. In his dealings with people he has an innate honesty and a conscience, which is not always convenient in his line of work.
Lives – Dairy Cottage; part of a complex of rented-out, converted outbuildings arranged around a courtyard in the grounds of a farmhouse. His landlord is Mike, a mountain of a man who is rumoured to be ex-SAS.
Drives – A 4x4 Mitsubishi
Family – Ben’s twin, Alan, died in an accident when Ben was fourteen and his parents divorced less than a year later. He has little contact with his father, John, who remarried, but is very close to his half-brother Mikey, who is a promising young jockey, and whose slight learning difficulties make him a little vulnerable.
Romantic Connections – Live-in girlfriend, Lisa Nelson (“on the rounded side of slim”, shoulder-length, dark blonde hair and “a dazzlingly sweet smile”) with whom he has a loving but rather casual relationship. She would like more commitment but is reluctant to say so, in case she loses what they have. Ben is completely unaware of how she feels.
Animals – Ben has a smallish, grey, Whippet x Bedlington Terrier lurcher called Mouse. Although she goes everywhere with Ben, she likes her creature comforts and looks after No 1, making herself scarce if danger threatens.
Background – Twins, Ben and Alan, were the sons of high-class horse dealers John Copperfield and his wife, Nell. The boys would help school the ponies and smaller horses, and then compete on them to showcase them for sale. The accident that killed his brother has left Ben with psychological issues where horses are concerned but he still finds himself drawn to be around them, if not actually in contact. At age sixteen, Ben left home to escape the unpleasantness as his parents’ marriage fell apart and went to France where he found work in a vineyard. Two more years travelling and then he returned to resume his schooling, eventually going to university. After graduating he started a career as a reporter working for various publications before going freelance. Some investigative journalism led him to expose a racecourse betting scandal, and when the Cheltenham Gold Cup favourite is kidnapped from Mikey’s yard, Ben sets about trying to track the horse down…
Matt Shepherd
Matt is 5ft 9in tall with mid-brown short cut hair, hazel eyes with a lean but strong, athletic physique. He is 26, he is English although his mother heralds from New Zealand.
Occupation – National Hunt jockey (racing over hurdles and fences).
General Description - Attractive rather than handsome, Matt has a lean face with a slightly bent nose due to a racing fall, and a wide smile. Extremely fit, he has to watch his weight as is normal for his profession, so he’s lean but well-muscled. He is educated and well-spoken.
Nature/Temperament - Very determined, astute, loyal and principled. He comes across as cool and calm which has earned him the nickname Eskimo Joe (Mojo for short).
Lives - Spinney Cottage in the village of Norton Peverill, Somerset. The cottage is old and undergoing restoration and extension, some of which Matt is carrying out, himself. There are stables and five acres of land. Matt bought the cottage three years ago and shares it with a variety of dogs and, lately, with his fiancée Kendra. They also have a part-time lodger in the shape of Matt’s friend and fellow jockey, Irishman Jamie Mullin.
Drives – Toyota MR2
Family – Parents and elder brother, Luke, living and working in New Zealand for the family company, Q&S Holdings International.
Romantic Connections – Engaged to Kendra Brewer (slim, fine-boned features, hazel eyes and elbow length, pale gold hair) the 21yr old daughter of the man who owns many of the horses Matt rides as well as the yard where he is stable jockey.
Animals – Matt is a dog lover who has a German shepherd bitch called Sky, and two collie-cross dogs called Rocko and Patches, adopted from a local rescue centre. There is a fourth dog in the house – a little Shetland sheepdog bitch called Taffy, who belongs to Kendra. Matt also owns a couple of thoroughbred yearlings which he hopes he may one day ride in races.
Background – Sent from New Zealand to an English boarding school, Matt only ever wanted to be a jockey and ran away, aged 16, to the racing yard of Doogie McKenzie, who recognised his talent and determination and took him on as an apprentice. Combining riding with a day-release to college, Matt managed to obtain decent qualifications but any thought of returning to work for his family’s company was put aside as his career took off. In due course, Matt moved to a bigger yard at Rockfield Farm, owned by businessman Charlie Brewer, and it was there that he met Charlie’s daughter Kendra. Charlie isn’t particularly happy with the match but although he’s accustomed to controlling his family and employees, he finds that Matt is a different proposition. Over time, they settle into a relationship based on a reluctant mutual respect, but then good-time-girl Sophie Bradford is killed and Matt’s friend, Jamie, is the main suspect. As Matt tries to clear Jamie’s name, Charlie makes it clear that, in his view, Matt’s first and only allegiance should be to him, his yard and his horses…
Mouse
Mouse is a Whippet cross Bedlington Terrier bitch. Whippet-sized & around 15kg, Grey rough coat with brown eyes.
General Description – Very pretty, Whippet cross Bedlington Terrier bitch. Very athletic and fast running. Feels the cold and doesn’t like wet weather.
Mouse first appears in Outside Chance and is devoted to her master, Ben Copperfield, but will always look after herself first and foremost, running for cover if danger threatens. She likes her home comforts and generally keeps herself to herself where other dogs are concerned, however, she will sometimes flirt with the most unexpected of acquaintances.
©Copyright 2024 by Lyndon Stacey. All rights reserved.
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