Yearning Blue is the colour of distant hills. It's the colour of imagination.
It's also a line from one of my poems - 'The View from the Hilltop' - which, as near as I can, sums up who I am and why I write.
On this site you can find out (if you wish!) more about me, and more about my writing and publications, along with some samples of my work. You can also read my Blog, 'The Reality Escape Committee'.
My latest novel is out! 'Local Killer' is the fourth in my Local series and has been described by an advance reader as 'darker' than the previous stories.
As with all this series, 'Local Killer' takes a minor character from an earlier book and makes them the centre of the story. This time it's Alison Kepple, a Crime Scene Investigator who appeared in both 'Local Artist' and 'Local Legend'.
Being an ex-CSI myself, Alison's story is one that I particularly enjoyed writing - though my experience of the job was never quite as harrowing as hers!
Alison is used to seeing crime scenes, and sometimes very unpleasant ones. It goes with the job. But now she finds herself part of the crime scene as she witnesses a massive explosion - and the judge to who she had just been talking is killed. The Police are convinced that it's a terrorist action, but Alison starts to doubt that - especially as she's sure that someone was watching them just before the bomb went off. Someone she's almost sure she knows - if she could just remember who they were...
It's not much of a lead. But as she follows it, Alison starts to see a pattern forming. And, being the sort of person she is, she has to follow it through until the pattern is complete.
She's on the trail of a killer, she just doesn't know who it is yet.
But the killer knows her.
'Local Killer' launched on Saturday 20th May, under the banner of Resolute Books, a consortium of independent authors. You can find out more about Resolute on our website - https://www.resolutebooks.co.uk/
Local Killer is available both as a paperback and an e-book. You can read a sample here.
The first three books of the 'Local' series, published by Lion Hudson, are still available as e-books. All three are set in the same fictional English town, but with a different main character - though the stories overlap, and if you read through the whole series you get to see old friends from different perspectives.
The series begins with 'LOCAL POET' in which an apparent tragic accident leads van driver Rob Seaton into a dangerous world of drugs, murder and poetry. Read a taster on the Local Poet page.
The second book in the series, 'LOCAL ARTIST' was published in 2017. it takes some of the minor characters from 'Local Poet' and follows their story. Two murders, thirty years apart, linked by a painting.
The third book, 'LOCAL LEGEND' is a story of friendship, corruption and football - with what I hope will be some surprising twists. To read a short extract, go to the Local Legend page.
For a dark and edgy look at crime from a British CSI's point of view, try my earlier novel, 'Can of Worms'. For a taster, take a look at this video - www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLGlxegJWqs
Feel free to browse. I hope you enjoy reading, and I'd love to hear from you if you do! Comments, Critiques or reviews can be posted on the 'Contact Me' page.
