'Limelight' is the fourth of the Enora Andressen thrillers. For newcomers to the series, here’s the plot so far. Now in her early forties, Enora is an Anglo-Breton actress who’s made her name in the world of art-house movies. The launch title, Curtain Call, found her beset by the ugly collapse of a seventeen year-long marriage to Berndt Andressen, a Sandi screenwriter, and by the near-terminal diagnosis of an aggressive brain tumour. She emerged intact from both these traumas, and journied onwards through Books Two and Three. The latter,...
For These Turbulent Times....
Friday, April 3, 2020 - 15:17
How to respond to these extraordinary times? Here’s my contribution…. …a while ago, Lin and I journied to Israel, and then to the West Bank. As a university student, I’d spent three long summers on a kibbutz north of the Sea of Galilee. One of those visits co-incided with the immediate aftermath of the Six Day War. Kibbutz Shamir lay half-way up the Golan Heights, and I and my mate found ourselves on the very edge of history. The year before, you could toss an apple into Syria. Suddenly, as long as you were careful about...
Is There Life After Crime Fiction?
Friday, August 16, 2019 - 15:04
Is There Life After Crime Fiction? Here’s the challenge. You’ve made a bit of a name for yourself in crime fiction. After picking up Orion’s cri-fi invitation you’ve written sixteen books, sold the TV rights, and enjoyed yourself. But the prospect of penning yet another police interview is driving you insane and you badly need to explore another genre.So what do you do?The answer, as so often in life, ghosts in from left field. We happened to be on the Galician coast a couple of years back, in a sleepy little fishing...
Tom Leins Q&A
Friday, August 16, 2019 - 15:00
Q&A for Tom Leins Considering your reputation as one of Britain’s finest police procedural writers, I was surprised to learn that the early Joe Faraday books were written at the behest of your publisher – not because of any particular enthusiasm for crime fiction. In hindsight, does it surprise you that the series went on to span twelve novels? The short answer is yes. I agreed the first three-book contract because there was nothing else on offer. I didn’t (and still don’t) like crime fiction, and rarely read the stuff. Prior to the...
Curtain Call...the Inside Story....
Saturday, December 29, 2018 - 14:58
Curtain Call…the inside story… Chick lit was never going to be my thing until I happened across Enora Andressen. It was summer last year, half past three in the morning. We were living in a remote French hamlet south of the Loire and I awoke with a single sentence fully formed. The neuro-surgeon has a fondness for metaphor. There it was, Nothing less, nothing more. Present tense. Slightly mysterious. A single beckoning finger. Neuro-surgeon? Metaphor? These tiny gifts from the deep subconscious happen...
Estocada Launch
Tuesday, June 26, 2018 - 17:49
We're celebrating the hardback publication of "Estocada" at an event at Exmouth Library on the evening of Wednesday 4th July, starting at 7.00 pm. Wines and nibbles on offer, plus a chance to toast the weather and buy a discounted copy of the sequel to "Aurore". All welcome.
Estocada!
Friday, June 8, 2018 - 14:47
"Estocada" is the third in the "Wars Within" trilogy, and the hardback is to be published on 22nd June. News travels slowly in the West Country, and so we're having a semi-formal launch on the evening of Wednesday 4th July at Exmouth Library in Exeter Road, starting at 7.00 pm. Wine and nibbles for those lucky enough to make it. No tickets. No charge. No dress code. So do come along and raise a glass to "Finisterre", "Aurore", and now "Estocada".
Upcoming Appearances
Sunday, February 18, 2018 - 10:12
Just to let you all know that yours truly will be at appearing on the BBC Radio Devon contribution to World Book Day on Thursday 1st March, followed by evening library talks at Hythe (near Southampton) on Tuesday 20th March (19.30), Lymington on Wednesday 21st March (19.00), and Fareham on Thursday 22nd March (19.30).See you there?
Me and the Virus: a confession
Wednesday, January 24, 2018 - 15:30
Me and the Virus: a confession Here’s the thing. You want to write. You need to write. You’re thirteen years old. Just. Nothing much has happened to you yet in the way of plot, or character(s), or any of those presents from real life that age may one day leave on your doorstep. But you persevere because, in some hard-to-fathom way, you have to. It’s a virus thing. It’s in your bloodstream. It’s deep in your bones. It nests everywhere. It won’t leave you alone. Your...
Short-listed for the Wilbur Smith? Mon Dieu!
Monday, May 15, 2017 - 15:10
Surprised (and delighted) to find my name and favorite cover on the short list for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize. This turns out to be a new presence on the prize scene but there are some big names in the mix and the lucky winner gets to trouser a large cheque. Back awhile, I shared the Theakstons Crime Prize shortlist with Stef Penny, who won with an outstanding read: "The Tenderness of Wolves". She's there again. So who's stalking who (whom?). Adjudication in September. Yours truly very happy that my return to the world...