This is a spin off from my novel, Murder in the Climate Assembly (previously called The Philosopher and the Assassin) which I have just completed.
I’m excited to report that a loose adaptation of the story for TV won the the Writing Climate Pitchfest, 2024. There are three series in production from last year’s competition, so fingers crossed! The TV series The Assassin fuses legal/political thriller and family drama. It follows Robert Beech, Director of Public Prosecutions from his journey from pillar of the legal establishment to jail awaiting trial for murder. The story grapples with the most pressing question of our age – what do we do when our current systems are leading us to planetary destruction? The TV series had episodes stretching out over three seasons – too much for one book. The novel version, The Retirement Project focuses on the first part, and develops characters introduced in Murder in the Climate Assembly.
At the heart of The Retirement Project are Robert and Mary, a married couple trying to find their way back to each other. Robert is Director of Public Prosecutions. Robert wants to uphold the law and repair his relationship with his wife and daughter. Unfortunately, he can’t do both. His job is requiring him to make decisions that go against what feels instinctively right, making him unpopular with both the public and his family. His wife, Mary is increasingly attracted to the wildlife gardener, and all he represents. She’s learned to see her backyard in a whole new way. She sees the bigger picture and wants a future safe for grandchildren. She may not get any because their daughter’s biological clock is ticking but she’s too scared of the climate crisis to have children.
Family, friends, colleagues and public opinion turn against Robert as he jails a charismatic, elderly environmental protestor while turning a blind eye to a climate change villain and politician.
In the background, citizens’ assemblies are on the brink of gaining full legislative authority which could be a climate game-changer for long-term decision-making. But many want to see them fail – and the victim is a climate assembly member who voted against the proposed climate solution.
Robert knows to prosecute will jeopardise the proposal to replace the House of Lords with a House of Citizens. More personally it will be one step too far for his wife Mary, who is getting perilously keen on the wildlife gardener. Robert is persuaded there is insufficient evidence to prosecute. At his retirement party he receives an anonymous note showing the death was not the accident he thought. For the first time in his life, he abandons his legal duty and he and Mary mount a private investigation. They grow closer as they work together to find the truth, and discover the killer wasn’t who they’d assumed.
The next novel planned to follow this is Mary Macbeth which approaches the issues more from the perspective of Mary, Robert’s wife, and is more of a courtroom drama.
