News and Views
The fifth Lake District Mystery, The Hanging Wood has received great reviews in both the US and the UK. The paperback edition is due in May. I'm just starting on the next book in the series. Meanwhile, in the US, Take My Breath Away has been published by Five Star.
The Serpent Pool
My fourth Lake District Mystery is currently in paperback in the UK. It has been extensively reviewed - see the Lake Disctrict Mysteries section of this site.
Anthologies
I've edited the latest CWA anthology, Guilty Consciences, published in hardback and paperback by Severn House and featuring some great authors, including Peter James and Ann Cleeves, as well as Best Eaten Cold and other stories, the new Murder Squad collection.
Events
In addition to my Victorian Murder Mystery event, I recently premiered a new 1920s event at the Newcastle Winter Books Festival.
Harry Devlin
I'm delighted to say that my very first book, set in Liverpool and introducing Harry Devlin, will be republished in March. All the Lonely People is to be published by Arcturus in its series of Crime Classics.
Reg Hill
The year got off to a sad start with news of the death of one of our finest crime novelists, Reginald Hill. I will miss him a good deal, as well so his many friends and fans.
Writing about crime fiction
I'm currently working on a number of articles, and I'm also contributing a monthly column to the Bookdagger site, www.bookdagger.com.
New Reading
I've enjoyed The Sommnambulist by Essie Fox, and an older novel, Murder in the Maze by J.J. Connington.
TV, DVD and Film viewing
I watched the movie Black Swan, which was very well done, and the DVD Cry of the Owl. On TV I enjoyed Sherlock. especially the third episode in which the great man encounters Moriarty.
Crimefest 2012
I'm due to moderate the Forgotten Authors panel again at Bristol in May.<>p>
Harrogate
I had a great time on the 'Legal Eagles' panel at the Harrogate Festival last year. It's a great event.
St Hilda's
I hope soon to publish on this site a paper about lawyer-crime writers such as Cyril Hare and Michael Gilbert, which I delivered at St HIlda's College in Oxford in August.
The Detection Club
I'm researching the history of the Detection Club, and I'd be glad to hear from anyone who can cast fresh light on its early days .
Best Mysteries
I'm delighted to say that Maxim Jakubowski included 'Clutter' in the latest volume of Best British Crime.
Dancing for the Hangman
The US edition of my novel about Crippen was given a rave review by Jon L. Breen in 'Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'. More reviews and much more info on the Crippen page of this site. <
British Crime Writing: an encyclopaedia
Barry Forshaw's monumental two-volume reference work has been published by Greenwood. My work is discussed at length in an essay by Mike Jecks, and also touched on in an article about rural crime by Philip Scowcroft.
Great British Fictional Detectives
Russell James' entertaining survey of detectives past and present was published by Remember When. He includes an essay about Harry Devlin and has just inscribed my copy of the book to me and to Harry!
Website
I've continued to revamp the site, and there are now sections, on the relevant pages, covering my series characters Harry Devlin, Hannah Scarlett and Daniel Kind. The three characters also have their own Wikipedia pages.
Magazines
A January 2011 issue of Cumbria Magazine featured my writing and this is reproduced with their kind permission on the Interviews page. A while back, Mensa's UK magazine has featured an article about my writing by the editor, Brian Page.
More about short stories
David Stuart Davies' recent anthology Crime Scene includes two stories of mine: 'Eternally' and 'Melusine'. I also contributed a story called 'Mindstalker' to an anthology in support of a breast cancer charity, published recently by Creme de la Crime.
Collecting Crime Fiction
I've acquired one or two interesting inscribed books, including a twice-signed copy of Christianna Brand's Death of Jezebel, which will, in the not too distant future I hope, feature on this website along with the other rarities and oddities on the Collecting Crime Fiction page.
Meanwhile, in Germany..
The German translation of The Serpent Pool has just been publishedPetra, one of Germany’s biggest selling magazines, describes Luebbe’s translation of The Coffin Trail as ‘A great book for all England fans who prefer the not so gory crime novels with drive and a lot of atmosphere.’
True Crime
I have enjoyed Judith Flanders' book about 'the invention of murder' in the nineteenth century.
This page was last updated on 19 January 2012