Malcolm Rhys-Jones
property litigator
Combative; knows boundary law cold
The Hedge
Notes through the door escalate to solicitors’ letters. Brenda learns boundary law, nuisance rules and mediation, and discovers that being right is expensive — and that her neighbour has troubles of his own she had never asked about.
Planned · not started yet
Law & your rights Ethics & integrity Hard choices Small town Lightly witty Tense
The premise
Notes through the door escalate to solicitors’ letters. Brenda learns boundary law, nuisance rules and mediation, and discovers that being right is expensive — and that her neighbour has troubles of his own she had never asked about.
The protagonist
Brenda Collier — Retired postmistress whose new neighbour’s hedge, dog and extension plans arrive in one summer
The council
Every council member is an original fictional character. None represents, quotes or is endorsed by a real person.
Ella Yamamoto
community mediator
Patient; most disputes end with a cup of tea
Dariusz Nowak
environmental-health officer
Procedural; legal thresholds, not feelings
How the story moves
A single summer’s escalation and an autumn of resolution; the comic warmth grows as Brenda learns her neighbour’s story.
What readers take away
- How boundaries are determined from title plans and evidence
- High-hedge complaints to the council
- Statutory nuisance and noise thresholds
- Party-wall procedures
- Objecting to a planning application
- Community mediation
- Costs of litigation versus settlement
- Keeping evidence diaries
- Read a title plan and its limitations
- Use a surveyor for boundary disputes
- Respond to party-wall notices
- Draft a neighbour agreement
The books
- 1The hedge Planned
- 2The dog Planned
- 3The extension Planned
- 4The tea Planned
Book titles are working titles and may change before publication. No book is on sale until the complete series is finished, checked and released.