POVERTY LANE PUBLISHING
BOOKS
'A real page-turner from beginning to end!’ (Amazon)
‘Each step of the story is conveyed with an excellent set of characters deftly drawn. I feel like I’ve seen Penny, Dove and Periwinkle drinking in my local pub! The narrative is engrossing and the finale a satisfying conclusion. I’m very much looking forward to the next novel to reveal further exploits of Penny and co.’ – Mark Hadlett
‘An original and intriguing plotline with fascinating characters having you wanting more of Penny, Dove and Periwinkle.’ – D. Hudson
‘Excellent read. An elaborate plot that kept me guessing to the end.’ – Annie Milner
RESTLESS SOULS ISBN 978-1-80378-055-9
CRANTHORPE MILLNER (Publishers)
Unquiet Minds investigates the savage murder of a young woman, who in her last breath claims a werewolf had attacked her. But werewolves don’t exist.
As part of his recovery in therapy, former history lecturer R.I. Penny decides to write a novel. But as plot and subplot interweave, Penny and his fictional hero, Oldman, becomes inextricable, and Penny’s sense of reality starts to crumble around him.
With themes of trauma and mental health weaved throughout the plot, Unquiet Minds is a captivating mystery thriller that will keep the reader guessing until the end.
Waterstones/Amazon
UNQUIET MINDS ISBN 978-1-80378-193-8 Release date 28/05/2024
CRANTHORPE MILLNER (Publishers)
"Fragmented Bodies by Ronnie Brown is a gripping crime-mystery thriller that follows Professor Penny as he teams up with two friends to thwart a contract out on his life. In an intriguing twist, the hunted becomes the hunter, determined to uncover who is behind the threat and why."
From the very first pages, the book feels as if it has been written by the assassins themselves. The writing style is cold, calculated, pragmatic, and eerily detached, creating an unsettling atmosphere that sets it apart from other thrillers I’ve read. Initially, I found it challenging to keep track of the characters as the narrative shifts between them.
The unique approach to storytelling kept me hooked, compelling me to turn page after page. Once I settled into the rhythm of the book, I found the writing to be impeccable—intense and demanding of my full attention. While not a light read, Fragmented Bodies is a novel that rewards patience with a thrilling, thought-provoking experience. For those who appreciate a dark, cerebral mystery with a distinctive voice, this book is well worth the effort."
alisdiscovers - goodreads
FRAGMENTED BODIES ISBN 9781803782539 Release date 28/01/2025
CRANTHORPE MILLNER (Publishers)
Grass is an absorbing and intelligent read, packed with the humour and irony we now expect from Ronnie Brown.
It is certainly not a pre-requisite to be familiar with the R.I.Penny series to enjoy Grass. For those who have read Restless Souls, Unquiet Minds and Fragmented Bodies, Grass will not disappoint. For those who are not familiar with Ronnie Brown’s work, Grass is sure to whet the appetite.
The story starts with the grizzly death of one of Penny’s friends. At the funeral a stranger appears and very quickly the plot thickens and the action builds to a very unexpected and thrilling denouement.
Tackling social and political issues in a way that is both forthright and brave, Grass is an exciting crime drama that offers up fast-paced action and kick-ass characters familiar and new.
The book reflects a level of outrage at the socio-political landscape that is the UK, ‘a country that needs to grow up’. Brown skilfully exposes the darkness, corruption and insidiousness of the alt right through Penny’s parodying their weaponisation of humour to normalise discrimination, hatred, and racism.
Above all, Grass is a tale of friendship, trust and loyalty- often when it is not expected. The background is one of northern grit, courage and soul. A heartwarming read.
GRASS ISBN 9781803783680 Release date 28/05/2026
CRANTHORPE MILLNER (Publishers)
"The Art of Suicide" is a history of the visual representation of suicide from the ancient world to its decriminalization in the twentieth century. After looking at instances of voluntary death in ancient Greece, Ron Brown discusses the contrast between the extraordinary absence of such events in early Christianity and the proliferation of images of biblical suicides in the late medieval era. He emphasizes how differing attitudes to suicide in the early modern world slowly merged, and pays particular attention to the one-time chasm between so-called heroic suicide and self-destruction as a 'crying crime'. Brown tracks the changes surrounding the perception of suicide into the pivotal Romantic era, with its notions of the 'man of feeling', ready to hurl himself into the abyss over a woman or an unfinishable poem.
"A fascinating cultural history of images of self-murder from antiquity to the present...."
(Independent)
"Dr Brown's treatment of the subject is both scholarly and informative... and yet it is not a dry book, far from it". (Church Times)
Amazon Reviews
Reaktion Books (Publisher)
ISBN-10 : 1861891059
No Songs To Sing For Them - Co-authored by Jane Milsom and Ronnie Brown.
When Penny Brown, a young mixed-race social worker, returns to work after the Christmas break, she finds two new cases in her inbox.
With her festive spirit long gone, her partner having walked out on her, she isn’t exactly keen to get stuck in. The carer referral seems simple enough, but dealing with the case of a brutal sexual assault in a care home facility fills her with dread.
Nevertheless, she begins to dig deeper, unprepared for how these two seemingly disconnected cases are about to collide, with horrifying consequences.
Plunged into a world of child trafficking and on-line abuse, Penny struggles to stay afloat as both her work life and personal life spiral out of control.
With a target on her back, it’s not only her career that’s at stake.