Jayne Gooding makes a fictional debut with her hard hitting account of Lucy Penfold, a woman police officer, during the 1970’s and 1980’s. A time of mass unemployment for the young, serious economic crisis, strikes, sexism, homophobia, racism and hairy chested medallion men. A period of political and social change with free contraception and the Sex Discrimination Act leading to a new sense of liberation for woman although balanced against a backdrop of inequality. Can Lucy endure the events of her past? Will she survive the male dominated police force while discovering her own sexuality?
Jayne Gooding’s harrowing, painful, empathetic and remarkable fictional sequel continues into the 1980s and 90s. A time of rave culture, football hooligans, hard drugs and the AIDS epidemic. Lucy Penfold, now a Police Sergeant, transfers from Devon to Sussex following the breakdown of her unexpected, vibrant, delightful yet intense relationship with Pippa. Can Lucy deal with the deeply rooted sexism and overcome the belief, by some of her Senior Officers, that female officers were there to simply make up the numbers? Will Lucy survive her battle to do the right thing and break the unwritten code amongst police officers while discovering that Pippa, now bitter and resentful, is in Sussex and plotting against her?
Jayne Gooding’s conclusion of the fictional Thick Blue Line Trilogy continues with Sergeant Lucy Penfold into the 1990s. It is a period of political idealism, freedom for Nelson Mandela and the fall of the Berlin Wall. However, just below the surface lies an underbelly of increasingly violent crimes, major credit card fraud and razor slashing hooligans.Lucy continues to battle with her conscience and strives to do the right thing, both in her professional and personal life, but nothing can prepare her for the devastation that is about to occur...
Following the tragic loss of family, haunted by painful memories of what might have been and retiring after thirty active years in the police force Lucy Penfold, lost and without direction, moves overseas to the coastal town of Fethiye Turkey. Grieving and believing that the sun would never shine for her again she is befriended by the charismatic, cockney wide boy, Larry. Alone in a foreign country, exposed and vulnerable, Lucy’s new life is blown apart!
