Behind the Bottom Line

Find out the origin story of 'Seven Continents': Who were the real life characters the fictional ones are based on? Where is Kazbakistan and the other locations? How much of the background detail about the diamond industry is accurate? Learn something about the creation of this podcast, the creative process and what happens when characters start to develop their own ideas of what they want...

💎It's show-down time! Kirill, Irina and Macey have organised a meeting with Sir Gilbert Villiers and Roy Marsden, who has no idea what the three of them have found out about him and his connection with Piet Hoodjink, the London director of Durban Diamonds. But what on earth possessed Marsden to work with Hoodjink? And how is Villiers going to react when he finds his best friend has betrayed h...

💎 Kirill and Irina are now back in England. After comparing notes about what they have uncovered with Macey’s research in London, they are all now convinced that Roy Marsden, Head of ECO Warriors and Piet Hoodjink, Director of the London branch of Durban Diamonds, are behind the murder of Sergei Vasilyev in Dhosk. But why would Marsden and Hoodjink be working together? And can they prove it? This...

💎 Sergei Vasilyev, the source of the threatening messages and packages being sent to Gilbert Villiers, the CEO of Seven Continents, has been murdered, thrown off his 12th floor balcony by persons unknown. But before his killers struck, he sent Kirill Solokov an email. Could that contain a clue about who is behind his death? And could that person perhaps be Gilbert Villiers? Macey is also dealing...

Kirill and Irina have told Sergei Vasilyev what they found at the diamond mine at the Tuv oasis. His story of what happened to him and his family is going to shock the two of them - and provide an explanation for the sinister events that have been troubling Gilbert Villiers. In London, Roy Marsden is not pleased to find out that Macey has been visiting Piet Hoodjink, London director of Durban Diam...

Kirill and Irina head back to Dhosk and civilization after their adventures underground. Their next visit is to Sergei Vasilyev, a colleague of Irina's at the University of Dhosk who used to work at the mine. What has he got to tell them? Macey has decided to drop in and see Piet Hoodjink, the director of Durban Diamonds in London and a fierce business rival of Sir Gilbert Villiers. Could he b...

Kirill and Irina have to go down the stairs into the bowels of the deserted diamond mine to see if they can find anything there that could explain who is behind the campaign to smear Gilbert Villiers. But are they going to get out of there alive? Macey is also dealing with a tricky situation. How much can she rely on what Eamonn Fitzroy, the CFO for Seven Continents says? 🎧 To get the best experi...

Macey Church and Kirill Solokov continue to try to unravel what is happening at Seven Continents, the diamond mining giant. Macey has interviews with some of the directors at the London headquarters while Kirill and Irina, are following up clues given to them by the Kerkomen nomads in the other side of the world in Kazbakistan. 🎧 To get the best experience of this story, listen with headphones.  ...

Macey Church reports what she has learnt from interviewing Nancy Inovix to Dr Roy Marsden, director of ECO Warriors, and receives an unexpected invitation. Meanwhile in Kazbakistan, Kirill Solokov sets off across the desert with the anthropologist Dr Irina Kerkomenova to visit the Kerkomen nomads. Do they have some answers as to why Sir Gilbert Villiers is being smeared? 🎧 To get the best experie...

Macey Church and Kirill Sokolov set to work to uncover who is sending sinister messages to Sir Gilbert Villiers and the Seven Continents diamond mining company. While Macey begins interviewing Villiers' colleagues in London, Kirill is headed for Kazbakistan where he gets quite a surprise when he lands at the airport … 🎧 To get the best experience of this story, listen with headphones. Image f...

Roy Marsden has gone back to London and Macey and Kirill will start carrying out interviews in Seven Continents on Monday, to try to discover who is behind the anonymous messages threatening Sir Gilbert. So, maybe they can have a relaxing weekend first and renew old friendships? Think again - things are about to turn nasty. 🎧 To get the best experience of this story, listen with headphones. Image...

Sir Gilbert has introduced Macey and Kirill to his close associate Dr Roy Marsden, director of the environmental protection group ECO Warriors. But what is his connection to the diamond mining industry and what is it that Seven Continents is so worried about? 🎧 To get the best experience of this story, listen with headphones. Image from AI and author. Sound effects:  Pixabay  and  Freesound Music...

Kirill Solokov and Macey Church, investigators for Capstan Consultants are on their way to meet Sir Gilbert Villiers, the chairman of Seven Continents, a diamond mining company, and his wife the former ballerina Tatyana Kerkomenova. On their way to the Villiers' country estate Ashdown Hall, Kirill shares a surprising piece of information with Macey. Will the fact that he was once engaged to Ta...

Seven Continents is a diamond mining company with a reputation for ethical and sustainable exploitation of natural resources. So why is the charismatic chairman, Sir Gilbert Villiers, receiving threatening messages? And what is the connection to Kazbakistan, homeland of his ballerina wife Tatyana Kerkomenova? Macey Church and Kirill Solokov, investigators from Capstan Consultants, are given the jo...

Clear your schedules now! September 13, season 9 of BBL is out. 'Seven Continents' is a 14-part thriller set in the diamond mining industry. Recordings are in progress now. Book will be available on my website: Behind the Bottom Line

This is the final episode of season 8’s story ‘The Impressions’. I talk about the City of London where the story takes place, the sources for the different characters and an interesting theory about what some people believe could explain ghosts. And finally I’m going to introduce you to my next project. 🎧 To get the best experience of this story, listen with headphones. Image from Edward Penfield...

Felicity Appleby's plan to have the building belonging to the London investment bank Ruff, Tumble and Bounderby declared a building worth preserving by the Historical Building Association means the re-entry into her life of Aiden Duchenny, an ex-boyfriend. Will he help her, or will that entail a price that nobody should expect her to pay? 🎧 To get the best experience of this story, listen with he...

Felicity Appleby has promised to help the Impressions, the peculiar inhabitants of the investment bank she works at near St Paul's Cathedral, find a way to stop the building they inhabit being torn down. But how will that be possible when other people hardly ever notice them? Could Felicity's old boyfriend Aidan Duchenny - also known as Aidan the Douchebag - help her find a way? 🎧 To get the best...

Felicity Appleby has a job she hates in the London investment bank Ruff, Tumble and Bounderby. The only plus side is the bank's beautiful 19th century building and its location in the City of London, near St Paul's Cathedral. However, after bumping her head on a cupboard door, Felicity finds that the building is home to a whole other group of people, the Impressions, who badly need her help. Can s...

DRAMA: Simon Cassandra is a fortune teller - not with a crystal ball or Tarot cards but with computers. He works for the government, trying to model future scenarios to help ministers make their decisions. There's only one problem - they don't like listening to experts. But perhaps Mr Camille, a barber working at the famous barber's shop Frederick Hobbs in London, will pay attention. His life coul...

Welcome to the 'Behind the Bottom Line' Summer Special 2022. Two great episodes to listen to on holiday. Today's stories are: ⚽ ‘The Debt’ – Jimmy King was once a prince on the football pitch, worshipped by thousands. Now, he’s just a bitter, old man in a care home, waiting to die. But not everybody has forgotten his glory days. Can someone bring them back for a moment? 💔 ‘Another death in Venic...

Welcome to the 'Behind the Bottom Line' Summer Special 2022. Two great episodes to listen to on holiday. Today's stories are:  👨‍💼 ‘The Interview’ – how good are you in job interviews? Cuthbert Trill wants to kill himself but is persuaded to apply for one more job. Will he get it? 🐺 ‘Full Moon’ – Topfoods plc chairman Jerome Jones is really into diversity for really bad reasons. But he’s i...

Thanks to his magnificent moustache, Wilhelm Adler has always managed to get his way in both the boardroom and the bedroom. But Candy Harding is disgusted by it and remains completely immune to his charms, which of course makes her doubly attractive.  How can he persuade her to think again? Music by JuliusH Pixabay Image by rawpixel.com

Sally King is shopping in Hal Mart Superstore in Portland. As always, her experience is made much easier if she follows the advice given to her by her shopping cart. Only this time, the shopping cart has one or two strange suggestions for her. What on earth was her husband doing the previous weekend while she was in Florida? Music by JuliusH Pixabay . Image by rawpixel.com This story first appeare...

Jack is a highly paid motivational speaker with a secret. Bibi is his coach and she has a secret too. What could be the key for both of them to tell each other their secrets? Could it be the catchphrase that Jack's old sheepdog Billy always said to Jack? 'Who dares, wins?' A transcript of this story is available on my website: www.behindthebottomline.com Music by  JuliusH Pixabay . Image by P...