Logs for sale, the sign said, so he stole a few and burned them on his open fire. Went back for more the following week, then the next and next again.

She watched him drive away the fourth time and smiled, confident the hidden gunpowder would end his brazen thieving.

Ben Westerham is in the midst of letting slip the chains of paid employment so he can spend ever more time writing, reading, gardening and uncovering fascinating nuggets about his criminal ancestors.