AustLit

'The Charity Cases of Neptune King is the twentieth book in the series. While Shark prefers to have paying customers, Neptune, always the soft touch doesn't mind undertaking investigations for those that can't pay. The first case, The Money Trail sees pathetic little Nancy Potts come to them willing to pay them her entire life savings of 20 pounds to find the unrequited love of her life, Jim Rudford, who quit his job after being tricked into thinking he was dying of a rare disease. She is afraid he will do something drastic, which he does. The same day he gets his death sentence he also learns he's inherited 100,000 pounds. Thinking he's dying he decides to give it all away to deserving cases. Can Neptune and Shark find him before he's broke or worse, robbed and killed for the money?

'In Half a Man, they almost hit a body on the highway. They think it's a dismembered body until it moves and proves it's well and truly alive. Oscar Barnett, a victim of a landmine has suddenly become suicidal. Shark believes the reason for this is more in their line than a psychiatrists, which proves to be the case.

'In The Case of the Desperate Movie Star, Neptune's boyhood fantasy comes to life when the old time famous movie star, Vivienne Hart walks into their office. He'd had a crush on her when he was a boy. She claims she is receiving obscene letters and is being stalked, and that someone broke into her home. She's been out of the limelight for a great many years, and now, just as she is about to stage a comeback, she's being terrorized. Shark is not quite so enamoured with her and hopes Neptune won't let his admiration for her cloud his judgement.' (Publication summary)