Rosemary Westwell

John's Shadow Rosemary Westwell

The sequel to 'John, Dementia and Me' is a fictional whodunit set in the '90s in Cambridgeshire. Mark King, headmaster of Sally Wilk's school, dies in suspicious circumstances. Sally is alone after her dementia-suffering husband, John, is sectioned into hospital. She tries to cope by keeping to her usual routine at school: marking books, taking lessons and attending the cream teas given by the Anthea, the headmaster's widow. While the mystery of how Mark was killed and who was responsible remain unresolved, Sally is haunted by the uncertainty of her husband's possible role in the death. Meanwhile, she struggles to get good care for him as she contends with the greedy, insensitive Tamara Dyson, chair of John's case committee. The hospital closes each ward in turn and John's care declines. At school further unease develops as poison pen letters start appearing. Sally survives with the support from close friends: her drinking buddy, Gale and her lawyer husband and most of all from her close friend and colleague Henry. Sally is driven to take action and after unnerving clandestine activities, the truth is finally out.