OUT NOW: Urban Myth by James Raven

James Raven was a journalist for most of his working life. After reporting for local, regional and national newspapers he moved into television in 1982 as a news scriptwriter with TVS television where he then worked his way up to become Director of News across Meridian, Anglia and HTV. When Granada took over most of ITV he became Managing Director of Granada Sport before setting up his own production company. James spends much of his time writing and travelling and also performs magic at various venues across the country. James has previously published four novels with Robert Hale, including Rollover.

Urban Myth by James Raven – Official Blurb

It’s the holiday home from hell, deep in an ancient English forest where no one can hear your screams. Something horrific is going on in the house – something that defies the imagination. Even hardened detective, Jeff Temple, hunting down a brutal killer, is shocked to discover the chilling secret.

When American Jack Keaton decides to take his family to the house on vacation, he gets a phone call from a mystery woman, warning him off. But Keaton ignores is. He brings his wife and two children over from Texas for what he hopes will be the trip of a lifetime. As soon as the family arrives, the nightmare begins….

Praise for the author:

“An excellent book. Extremely well crafted and readable. It has a real sting in the tale,” Fred Dinenage, one of Britain’s best loved TV presenters.

“Find a quiet corner and enjoy that rare thing – a tale that makes you hold your breath,” Nick Knowles, TV presenter.

“Extremely satisfying thriller and great entertainment,” Booksmonthly Review.

“Rollover is a cracking crime novel. The plot is pacy and compelling – the essence of the polished ‘unputdownable’ novel,” Hampshire View Magazine.

Urban Myth by James Raven is available to buy now with a limited time only discount of 30%

OUT TODAY: Identity Crisis by Bill Kitson

Bill Kitson, a retired finance executive, was born in West Yorkshire. He is an avid fan of cricket and cryptic crosswords and is also the former chairman of the Scarborough Writers’ Circle. Identity Crisis is the sixth instalment in the Mike Nash series, following Kitson’s gripping thrillers Depth of Despair, Chosen, Minds That Hate, Altered Egos and Back-Slash.

IDENTITY CRISIS BY BILL KITSON – OFFICIAL BLURB

Alone in an isolated cottage, a young housewife awaits the arrival of her sister, Jo. Outside, as storms lash the country, Dr Johana Grey struggles to reach the house, finding it deserted, and in darkness, when she eventually arrives.

With Mike Nash on leave, DS Miranova leads the investigation, which is complicated by the husband of the missing woman being unaccounted for. Is he responsible, or has she been abducted by the sadistic serial killer nicknamed The Cremator?

Before Nash’s return, a security van disappears along with its two-man crew. Further violent crimes are reported and, as the detectives try to make sense of the confusion, it becomes apparent that nothing is as it seems and no one is quite who they appear to be.

This is the sixth title in the intricately drawn series featuring Mike Nash and the Helmsdale police force.

Praise for the author:

‘Intelligent and complex enough to satisfy the most ardent of whodunit fan’ – milorambles.com

‘An author who has expertly carved himself a niche in the crime thriller marketplace…he knows how to twist the corkscrew’ – Scarborough Evening News

Identity Crisis by Bill Kitson is available to buy now with a limited time only 30% discount.

OUT TODAY: Gone Astray by Jean Rowden

Jean Rowden lives in Northamptonshire with her husband. She has two grown-up daughters and is also a grandmother twice over. Jean has always loved horse riding and she owns a horse and pony from the local rescue home. A keen gardener she loves home-grown organic food.

This is the fourth title in the Constable “Thorny” Deepbriar series.

GONE ASTRAY BY JEAN ROWDEN – OFFICIAL BLURB

It’s every policeman’s worst nightmare: a little girl has been abducted, and Falbrough CID can find no trace of her. The department’s newest detective, Constable “Thorny” Deepbriar, one-time village bobby, already has his hands full. He’s looking into a spate of robberies, he has two weeks to vacate Minecliff’s police house, and his wife, Mary, is expecting their first child – years after giving up hope of having a family.

However, when Deepbriar discovers a possible connection between the disappearance of Janey Smithers and an incident that his colleagues have swept under the carpet, he can’t resist investigating. Without the approval of his superiors, he’ll either crack the case, or, more likely, get himself into serious trouble.

Praise for the author:

‘I hope this series runs for a good long time’ – MyShelf.com

‘A really entertaining read’ – The Bookbag

‘Period details abound but are used carefully so that they add to the story’s pleasure, rather than distracting’ – Mystery Woman Magazine

Gone Astray by Jean Rowden is available to buy now with a limited time only discount of 30%.

Crime Writer Bill Kitson, Author of the Mike Nash Series, on Becoming a Serial Killer

Credit: J. Brian Beadle

Bill Kitson, a retired finance executive, was born in West Yorkshire. He is an avid fan of cricket and cryptic crosswords and is also the former chairman of the Scarborough Writers’ Circle. Identity Crisis is the sixth instalment in the Mike Nash series, following Kitson’s gripping thrillers Depth of Despair, Chosen, Minds That Hate, Altered Egos and Back-Slash. Here, Kitson talks about creating a serial killer and keeping up interest for a book series.

With the sixth book in the Mike Nash series, Identity Crisis, due for release at the end of May, I’ve had time to reflect on the advantages and disadvantages that surround writing a series. There has always been a great demand for detective series, from Conan Doyle, Dorothy L Sayers, Agatha Christie and John Creasey to Ian Rankin and Val McDermid. Nor is it solely a British trait. American, Italian and, most recently, Scandinavian crime writers have all been highly successful. They also transfer well to film and TV – increasing their popularity.

I joked once that my advantage was in not having to invent as many characters, but I found there are risks attached to maintaining the same ones. An obvious one is to make the regular characters mere observers. Unless the characters’ life experience is reflected in the books, they become two-dimensional, caricatures, and ultimately, unsatisfying. I have a life outside the books, why shouldn’t my detective? Events should touch them just as they touch the writer. They should age, get married – or divorced, have children, lose family and friends. Anything less, and the books become little more than an extremely wordy cryptic crossword. A well-known novelist once told me, ‘Your characters should be so believable you would recognize them if they knocked at your door’. However, if they did – I’d have a problem!

Naming characters is very important, in several ways. The name should ‘fit’ the part. I’ve changed several names, usually in my first draft, because they didn’t feel right. They should also be right for their origin. To help with that, I use http://www.behindthename.com/ which gives origin and meaning of first names from anywhere in the world, and from different religions and ethnic groups. This has to be correct, or the author loses credibility. I once heard a TV detective asking a Muslim what his Christian name was. Woops!

I also avoid similar sounding or looking first or last names. If a reader has to stop every time they see the names Michael Roberts or Martin Robins to decide which character I’m referring to they will eventually lose patience. This is particularly so with thrillers, where I’m striving for pace. If a reader has to stop, it takes several pages for them to pick up speed again. A chart is probably the safest way to prevent this happening, especially the longer the series goes on. When I get a minute I WILL do one!

Along with reflecting changes in the characters’ lives, fashions dictate the subject matter of books set in any particular era. Unless the story is set before the war – the days when the detective gathered all the suspects together in the library to unmask the killer are long gone. Many small towns are without libraries nowadays, let alone most houses! Writing present day crime books and striving for realism can be uncomfortable, particularly when real life imitates fiction. Only three days before I wrote this article, a tragic event locally mirrored something I wrote a few months ago. This is by no means the first time I’ve written about crimes that later became headline news.

Having the same detectives throughout enables me to indulge in a little office banter, humour that lightens what are sometimes fairly grim scenes. The humour, sometimes black, is a natural reaction to some of the horrors that police and forensic officers, plus pathologists encounter. Once more, it reflects real-life reaction along with realism and accuracy from my research into the subject matter of the plot.

Credit: J. Brian Beadle

The setting for a series is almost like having an extra character in the books. I borrow scenes from real locations adapting them to my fiction world, amending them to fit the plot. In Depth of Despair, the template for Desolation Tarn is in fact two lakes that are fifty miles apart. Similarly, in Minds That Hate, one of the characters walks out of a house (in Northallerton), down a ginnel (in Thirsk) and fifteen minutes later is in woods alongside a river (near Ilkley). In real life that is about a seventy mile journey.

Using real places can have disadvantages. At a speaking engagement last year I let slip the true location of the alley where the victim was abducted in Chosen. One member of the audience reacted with horror. ‘I’m never going to walk down there again,’ she told me. Fact and fiction had collided.

The beautiful and diverse scenery of North Yorkshire is the greatest inspiration for me, and I hope it provides scope to describe settings that the reader will enjoy. Sadly, I know I will never be able to do them complete justice. But then, I doubt if there are many authors who could.

Above all, with both the challenges and disadvantages, I’m pleased I decided on a series. It’s been a lot of fun – and it isn’t over yet, by a long chalk.

Identity Crisis by Bill Kitson is scheduled for publication on 31 May 2012 and is available to pre-order now.

OUT TOMORROW: Twist of Fate by Avery Taylor

Twist of Fate by Avery Taylor is out tomorrow and available now to pre-order with a limited time only 30% discount.

TWIST OF FATE SYNOPSIS

It seemed like a dream ending to an arduous trip across far north Queensland but Joanna Denning’s overnight stay at a seemingly prosperous cattle station proved to be just the beginning of a nightmare that threatened her life.  Her only hope of survival lay with a total stranger, yet how far could she trust a man who was a self-confessed murderer? And when the chase was on who was the real target?  Had a strange twist of fate allied her with a man whose death was even more vital to their pursuers as they battled their way to safety across a wild and untamed land?

OUT TOMORROW: Scent of Madness by David Wiltshire

Scent of Madness by David Wiltshire is out tomorrow and available to pre-order now in hardback with a special 30% discount for a limited time only.

Praise for the Author:

‘Oh Joy! A properly constructed and satisfying story’  -  Historical Novels Review

‘Wiltshire tells the tale with great sincerity, and with occasional unexpected turns in the plot, so that one is made a believer’  -  Historical Novels Review

Here is the official synopsis:

SCENT OF MADNESS SYNOPSIS

As Lieutenant Tom O’Hara investigates several gruesome murders in a large teaching hospital a wave of terror about the escalating severity of the situation is sweeping through the nursing staff. Despite the obscene dissection of the victims’ bodies there are still forensic clues which point to the killer. O’Hara has one suspect, a soldier brought back from Afghanistan in a coma, the victim of a torture he associates with the scent of roses worn by a sinister and unseen woman. The very same scent which is unfortunately worn by Dr Jean Hacker, who works at the hospital…

OUT TOMORROW: Malice in Mind by A.V. Denham

Malice in Mind by A.V. Denham is out tomorrow and available to pre-order now in hardback, with a special 30% discount for a limited time only.

MALICE IN MIND SYNOPSIS

When Harriet escapes with her daughter, from the abusive Paul, she runs to South Wales where she is taken in by her friend Florence. In her new surroundings Harriet is introduced to James, home from fighting in Afghanistan and owner of a newly inherited garden centre. Attracted to him, needing work, and deciding to settle there, Harriet invests in his business. When a series of unexplained incidents threatens the viability of the centre and Harriet’s cottage is set on fire, there are questions to be answered. Is there an unknown arsonist at work, or someone closer to home? With James’s divorced wife and anorexic daughter still living close by and the very real threat of Paul returning, Harriet is determined to banish her fears and solve the mystery, putting herself in deadly danger…

OUT FRIDAY: The Cheshire Cat Murders by Roger Silverwood

The Cheshire Cat Murders by Roger Silverwood is out this Friday and available to pre-order now in hardback, with a 30% discount for a limited time only.

Praise for the author:

‘Solid plotting, unpretentious writing, thoroughly reliable entertainment’  -  Morning Star

‘Silverwood combines a classic mystery plot with well-developed characters’  -  Publishers Weekly

THE CHESHIRE CAT MURDERS – SYNOPSIS

Detective Inspector Michael Angel and his team are desperately searching for a wild cat on a killing spree in the South Yorkshire town of Bromersley. It appears that the cougar is under human control and is trained to kill to order. Retired schoolteacher and well-known cat enthusiast, Miss Ephemore Sharp, becomes the prime suspect, but Inspector Angel is unable to prove her guilt. Matters take a decisive turn when she is found in possession of the antique pot figure of a famous performing cat called ‘Pascha’. Angel is greatly tested and the investigations become more mystifying and dangerous, as he races to find the explanation to stop more mayhem and murder. This is the 18th in the highly successful Inspector Angel series.

To find out what Roger Silverwood thinks makes great crime fiction, check out his author post.

The Snuffbox Murders is out now in ebook.

David Hodges on the Importance of Location in Crime Writing

For me, the ever changing moods of the Somerset Levels have provided the ideal inspiration and my last three crime novels have been ‘penned’ in the six years I have lived with my wife, Elizabeth, on the edge of this beautiful, haunting semi-wilderness in the south-west of England.

The glorious sunsets, which touch the lattice-work of rhynes with glittering shards in the autumn twilight, the spectacle of thousands of starlings weaving their weird, intricate patterns across the darkening sky before vanishing mysteriously into the waterlogged fields like smoke returning to the Genie’s magic lamp, the heron rising like a ghost through the swirling dawn mist towards the dismembered, phallic-like symbol of Glastonbury Tor.

Sights and sounds that cannot fail but to awaken the primeval spirit in all save the most insensitive observer, harking back to mankind’s very beginnings – thrilling the senses and firing the imagination.

Small wonder then that I have chosen this wonderful evocative landscape as the backdrop for my latest novels – what crime writer could resist that captivating influence?

Setting a crime novel in an identifiable location, rather than some fictitious place that is the product of the author’s imagination – as I did in my earlier novels – has its advantages too. Not only does it project the illusion of reality by blurring the distinction between fact and fiction, enhancing the credibility of the plot, but it tends to heighten the interest of the reading public as well.

People enjoy stories about the places in which they live or work. They get a kick out of being able to recognize this or that street in this or that town or village, which, in turn, has the effect of drawing them into the action of the story to the point where they can begin to feel personally involved.

When living in Oxfordshire, prior to moving to Somerset, the exploits of Colin Dexter’s celebrated fictional detective, Inspector Morse, in and around the dreaming spires of Oxford certainly had that effect on me and I am quite sure Ian Rankin’s Rebus novels, set in Edinburgh, and those featuring Peter James’s Roy Grace in Brighton work the same way for their resident readerships.

So the local touch is certainly popular, which is why I have now gone down this route with my own novels. ‘Slice’, my first crime thriller with Robert Hale, may not have actually named names, but it was primarily set in the Bridgwater area and I chose my own local church in Mark village for the grisly climax. With my current novel, ‘Firetrap’, however, the local connection is very evident and the sequel, ‘Requiem’, due out later this year, follows the same line, as my feisty woman detective, Kate Hamblin, and her public school boyfriend and colleague, Detective Constable Hayden Lewis, pursue ruthless psychopathic killer, Larry ‘Twister’ Wadman along the mist-shrouded droves of the Levels and the shadowy urban streets of Bridgwater and Highbridge.

Twister could still be out there too, hiding in the gloom and flexing his powerful hands, as those cold dead eyes of his search the neighbourhood for his next victim. Time to lock those doors and windows, pour a stiff drink and keep the poker handy. And above all, don’t answer the door!

- David Hodges

Slice and Firetrap by David Hodges are available to buy in hardback now. 

Slice is also available to buy in ebook format from all good ebook retailers, while Firetrap is scheduled for ebook release in August 2012.

Requiem is scheduled for release in hardback October 2012.

Crime Writer Roger Silverwood on How to Plot a Thriller

Roger Silverwood is the creator and writer of the Inspector Angel mysteries. The eighteenth book in the popular series The Cheshire Cat Murders is out this month in hardback.

The only valid reason to write is because you want to. There is no golden way to success. It is not a luxury hobby or something to pass two hours on a wet Sunday afternoon. It is hard work, but persist, find the right market, and you have a chance of success.

Below I show you how you might structure (or plot) a story that could be quite chilling. This plot idea of mine was first published in WRITING NEWS and shortly afterwards in RED HERRINGS, the Crime Writers Association’s house magazine. Perhaps it might help you.

Firstly, I need a super ending; one that has to have lots of opportunities to produce chilling/interesting/mysterious/entertaining reading.

‘How about an amateur taxidermist who adores his dog so much that when the old pet dies, he stuffs it? Then his grandmother dies … He adores her too, so he stuffs her and puts her down the cellar. Then his mother, then his wife … It becomes so intriguing that he might (or he might not) go out at nights looking for subjects. Say the girl next door brings a parcel of cosmetics that the postman left, sees the light in the cellar and goes down there … he sees her looking … what does he do? The taxidermy is starting to get out of hand. I’d already decided that if I wrote this, it would be from my pet policeman character’s point of view.

‘The next important thing is to look for a motive. I wouldn’t pursue a storyline if I couldn’t find a strong, valid motive. A history and a fear of loneliness … can’t be away from his loved ones … memories of a super caravan holiday in Mablethorpe … it might work. I would need to fill out the storyline with more nostalgic reflections …

‘Then I’d add a subplot … say there is a woman, Nerissa, who fancies him. One afternoon he gave her a lift to a shop or paid for a cup of tea, or she tripped and dropped her shopping and he helped picking it up … momentarily touched her arm … something trivial. She thinks it’s serious. She cooks, brings him cakes, apple pies, offers to cut his hair … she’s always at the door … in the house …she won’t go away. She mustn’t discover his secret, how can he get rid of her? Is there only the one way?

‘I’d complicate the narrative by having another plot running. Say he used to be a policeman. The regular coppers will talk shop to him about the missing people, confide in him a little maybe … he can “help” them.

He realizes he’ll have to move the bodies, his house might be searched – very dangerous – he has to take them somewhere. It’ll have to be at night …

‘I would introduce another crime. Something close by, so that the “investigation” around him (or of him) possible. A serious traffic offence, fiddling the firm’s petty cash or something … also to provide red herrings.

‘Then I’d want a running tag. He’s driving the neighbours potty learning to play the violin. He keeps taking the exam and failing. Or he’s in the Slim Quick Slimmer’s club, competing hard to lose two stones and become slimmer of the year.
‘All that, is what I know as the writer. Now I have to look from the perspective of the reader (and my pet policeman character).

‘The plot would be fed out to the reader in dribs and drabs … people keep disappearing, lots of chemical, wax, cosmetics and unusual substances are being delivered to number 17 Cheyne Walk. A man annoying his neighbours by playing the violin. Funny smells from the cellar. He says he’s varnishing his violin to improve the tone. Neighbours say they saw his wife in the front seat of his car. He says she’s gone back to her mother.

‘Although they can’t find a single body, the police interrogate him … the answers are not acceptable. They interrogate him again. He can’t answer them satisfactorily. He is arrested. He is eventually tried and found to be insane and sent to Broadmoor. Then the authorities learn he has passed the violin exam, or won the Slim Quick prize.

‘The last lines of the final page of the book might read like a newspaper report:

A Mablethorpe caravan site owner was treated for shock after he found five dead bodies and a dog in a static caravan round a table like a family tea party; they were all wearing excessive make-up.

Will it work as a book? Is it too far fetched? Would it make a good read? I wonder … There is still a lot of work, research and rewrites to do before I finish, celebrate with a bottle of champagne and vow it’s the last book I’ll ever write.

The next day I’ll start another. It’s agony, but I like it.

Actually, after much deliberation, I decided not to go ahead with this plot because I couldn’t make an Inspector Angel story out of it, and everybody wants me to write about him. I gladly forsake the copyright to any reader who wants to take the plot and write a book round it. Why don’t you have a go?

- Roger Silverwood

Previously Published in: Red Herrings/Writing News

Copyright: Roger Silverwood

The Cheshire Cat Murders is available to pre-order now in hardback.

The Snuffbox Murders is out now in ebook.