When 10 year old Davey's mum dies he has to live with his dad, step-mum and his step-brother and sister. They make it clear he's not wanted and life gets worse when he starts senior school and is bullied. When Davey is excluded for fighting his dad has the perfect excuse to pack him off to boarding school. But far from being a punishment, The Grey House is just about the best thing that ever happened to Davey. He makes new friends. His new history teacher, Mr. 'Spotty' Watty, takes a shine to Davey and reveals the school's secret; The Grey House is a refuge for ghosts stuck between this world and the next. Davey takes it upon himself to help the ghosts find eternal peace by going back in time with them to put right whatever it is that prevents their spirits from moving on. Davey goes back to 1803 serving as an 11 year old Midshipman on HMS The Spitfire - a British Navy brig of war. His mission is to help his ghost friend - Midshipman Peter Wright - put right the injustice that torments his soul. What follows is a tale of ghosts, pirates, buried treasure and adventure.
About the Author: Richard Edmund Saunders was born in the English village of Twyford in the royal county of Berkshire in 1967. His enthusiasm for writing was ignited at the age of seven when his dad rescued a Remington manual typewriter from the office skip and brought it home. His first almost-published work was 'The Bootleg Rogue Mail' - an alternative school magazine that failed to pass the staff room censors. His parents Mike and Jane - a sales rep and dinner lady - sacrificed summer holidays and many of the other finer things in life to send their only son to public school. The Reading Bluecoat School (RBCS) in Sonning-on-Thames provided much more than an education to a naturally shy boy of 11 years. Looking back, Richard realises how the seven years he spent there shaped the rest of his life. It is no coincidence that many of the characters in The Grey House, Davey Dobbs's school, are named after real teachers at RBCS. Upon leaving school, Richard bucked the trend set by most of his peers and shunned university - a decision he suspects was a disappointment to his parents. Instead he started work as a trainee reporter and then journalist for seven years. From there the poacher turned gamekeeper and he moved into public relations, working for clients ranging from paint makers to antivirus software vendors. An enthusiastic player of most sports in his youth, Richard now satisfies himself with a few games of darts for his village pub team. His one claim to fame is that he twice held the Guinness World Record for playing non-stop darts, raising money for Cancer Research and The Multiple Sclerosis Society. Today Richard lives in Charvil, just a few miles from the house where he was born, with wife Jacqui, his two daughters - Hannah and Jemma - and their Labradors, Charlie and Poppy.