Books by Simon Cann

No one writes with the aim of being misunderstood. No one communicates without intending some effect. We write for a purpose.We write with the intent of bringing about change. That change may be small; that change may be significant. You may want to help your reader learn a new fact. You may be advising your reader on a course of action. Or you may be trying to encourage your reader to consider a different perspective and  revisit their opinions.Whether you're writing a short web post, a letter, an essay, a report, a thesis, an entire book, or anything in between, if you're writing to advocate for change, then you will want to maximize the effectiveness of your words.Write for Influence is your guide to framing your words in the most compelling manner to maximize the authority of your written message and to achieve the results you want.

Leathan Wilkey thinks he has been framed for murder by the victim's father.

Leathan Wilkey has been hired to babysit Clementina, a seventeen-year-old whose rich daddy is going through a messy divorce and is over-compensating. Leathan soon tires of her spending habits, her selfie obsession, and her social media preoccupation as his ward drags him from shop to boutique to jeweler, approaching each with the self-possession that comes from a lifetime of getting her own way and never once having to worry about money. But when Clementina snaps her fingers and her boyfriend doesn't come running, something is up. He doesn't appear because he's been murdered. When Leathan investigates, he finds that the boyfriend has no background and met Clementina through a connection made by daddy's business partner. Daddy's business partner who has been slowly and progressively putting daddy in a vice, grabbing more of the business, and who is now menacing Clementina directly to manipulate daddy.

The first Boniface knows about the dead body in the next room is when he is arrested for murder. The lack of evidence against Boniface doesn't seem to concern the police-they are sure they have the right man-they just need to prove his guilt, and while they do, Boniface is bailed allowing him to return to work with his client. His client, a shipping company, couldn't care less that Boniface is distracted. The client has its own problems: News is about to break that one of its ships dumped toxic waste in East Africa, leading to painful and lingering deaths, as well as widespread disability and illness. While the company privately acknowledges its role in the dumping-and its ongoing responsibility for the welfare of the victims-it is insistent that Boniface keeps the story out of the public domain until it has fully assessed how it can most effectively deliver support to those affected. Boniface knows he has been set up for the murder-and that somebody is trying to destroy him, his business, and everything he holds dear-but he doesn't know who has set him up, or why. He strips back the layers, discovering who the dead man was, why he was killed, why the body was dumped in his office, and why he was set up in such a clumsy manner until, he finds who has endangered his livelihood, his liberty, and his friends. This leaves Boniface with only one conclusion: He must neutralize the threat, permanently, while at the same time trying to protect anyone affected by the dumping.

As Boniface said when he took the job, how hard can it be to handle the press and publicity for the launch of a book about England's most famous Tudor monarch?But when the author is murdered, Boniface realizes the job demands more than he expected. And when the man he is talking with is shot, then he witnesses as a third person is forcibly drowned, and he finds he is being pursued by a former Russian Special Forces soldier, Boniface runs. He delays his death by trading the only thing of value he can offer his would-be assassin: proof of a 500-year-old cover-up. The only difficulty in making the trade is that Boniface can't prove what he knows is true-yet. If he finds and hands over the proof, the murderer has no incentive to keep him alive. If he lives, he has to explain the transaction for his life to his capricious paymaster. Boniface needs to unwrap what the dead author found, figure out why he was killed, protect his client's interests, and stay alive.

Although past his mid-thirties, the teenager that lives inside Boniface's head can't believe his luck when he is hired to help one of his rock idols, Danny Featherstone, and his ex-glamor-model wife, Dawn. Danny and Dawn are the target of an anonymous internet hate campaign that has led to poor ticket sales and lost television work. Broken contractual terms brought to light by the hate campaign have led the management to freeze the band's assets, cutting off the couple's source of income. And then Dawn disappears. Boniface searches for Dawn but uncovers small-time crooks looking for money and excitement who think Boniface has something they can extort. Making his search even more complicated is an angry son looking to destroy the parent he believes abandoned him, and embittered, poverty-stricken musicians trying to regain their former fame and get a slice of the income that was only ever theirs in their dreams. But most worrying, Boniface finds a husband who loves his wife, unconditionally, and who will do anything to protect her.