A SALISBURY author has released a new book which follows a textile factory workers’ mission to uncover a conspiracy after a colleague goes missing.

Richard Trahair’s latest book begins as a true-life account before taking a darker turn when an unusual delivery sparks an investigation that uncovers sinister secrets.

Where is Francis? follows an amateur sleuth’s journey through political intrigue, sinister secrets, and bittersweet revelations.

The novel is inspired by Richard’s own experiences working in a textile factory in Essex when he left University.

As a colleague vanishes, the police uncover a disturbing conspiracy involving child abductions and political intrigue.

Undeterred by the authorities’ warnings, the author, his friends, and his courageous girlfriend press on, even as danger closes in.

When a haunting incident from a decade earlier resurfaces, the author’s life is thrust into sudden peril, leading to a gripping and bittersweet conclusion.

Richard studied textile management at the University of Leeds in the 1970s before qualifying in rural estate management as a chartered surveyor and agricultural land agent.

Retiring in 2011, he has written four novels and a light-hearted memoir about property management in the Church of England.

Richard said: “I began to write a short, private account of my first job after university for the amusement of my family, but this gradually morphed into another fictional detective story along similar lines to my previous novels.

“I decided to train in factory management largely on the prompting of my father who, with his brother and cousin, ran an old family firm in Plymouth that was at the time well-known around the world.

“I did not want to disappoint him, but did not much enjoy shop-floor factory life, in the event.

“The plot of this novel veers from truth to fiction and back again in several places, but the key fact of my delivery of a curiously heavy package from the shirt factory to an address in Hertfordshire is true.

“Likewise, the circumstances of my welcome onboard a Soviet-era Polish sail-training ship in Plymouth is also true.

“The plot is partly inspired by the current rise in extreme right-wing politics in the Western world, with a plot-link back to the British fascism of the 1930s.”

Where is Francis? can be preordered now by clicking here and is set to be released on June 28.