title: A Fine Pair of Shoes and Other Stories
author:  Clare Flynn 
description: Clare Flynn lives in England on the Sussex coast, where she can see the sea from her windows. She lived there during her teenage years and returned to be close to the sea and the South Downs after twenty years living in London. She is the author of five historical fiction novels and a small collection of short stories.
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  # Defective for Hire
  
  
  ## A Nigel Comedic Mystery
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## D. R. Lowrey
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![Late Bloomer Books](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Dedicated to my mother, Mary Ann Lowrey, who thinks that by writing this book
  I’ve accomplished something.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Prologue
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Pure and Unadulterated
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “Those are quite the flashy shoes you’re wearing. I would admire them more if
  they were not on my desk.” Having voiced his disapproval, the man leaned
  forward and spat on them.
  
  
  “What do you think you’re doing?” shouted the shoeman, wiping away the spittle
  with a handkerchief. “I’ll have you know that each of these shoes costs twice
  as much as your desk.”
  
  
  “Really?” said his tormenter with an acidic huff. “They must have come with a
  bowling alley attached.”
  
  
  “Bowling?” said the indignant shoeman. “I’ll have you know these very shoes
  were worn by Taps Henderson in the 1931 production 