Hi Friend
Greetings from Stoke on Trent. It's been a little while since I last contacted you.
I hope you, and your loved ones have managed to get away on holiday after the dreadful eighteen months we’ve all had during the pandemic?
As you can see from the photos above, my wife and I have managed to squeeze some staycation breaks in this summer. We visited North Wales, Blackpool, Chester, Liverpool, Buxton and also went for some lovely walks in the Staffordshire moorlands just outside Stoke. All of which reaffirmed how beautiful the North and West of the UK is.
**** I know we all have different tastes in TV dramas and documentaries, but I’d love to hear about what you’ve been watching on the box recently.
Personally, I spend most of my working days writing police procedurals stories; so you’d think in the evening I’d take a break from that world.
Oh, no! My wife and I love to watch crime drama series at night too! Over the last year, we’ve devoured many superbly entertaining shows on Netflix and BBC I-player such as Mindhunter, Manhunt Unibomber, The Sinner, Paranoid (for a second time), Marcella, Ozark, Hinterland, Jack Taylor, Hidden, The Serpent and so many more.
Feel free to drop me an email if there’s a great crime drama you’d like to recommend?
I also watch a lot of true-crime documentaries which provide me with ideas and inspiration for my own writing. As they saying goes, true-crime is stranger than fiction!
Only last night, we watched The Investigator: A British Crime Story - The disappearance of Carol Packman, which I highly recommend.
It’s a mix of real life private investigation, witness interviews, forensics and dramatisation of what happened when Carol Packman mysteriously disappeared in 1985 and the dark events that led to the arrest of her devious husband. It’s compelling viewing.
If this your kind of thing, here's a link to the trailer
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As for new books to read, I've just read Biba Pearce’s latest, The Boxhill Killer, which is a gripping mystery and suspense thriller in the Detective Rob Miller series and it's well worth a read.
I've also just finished One Last Dram Before Midnight: The Complete DCI Daley Short Stories by Scottish crime writer Denzil Meyrick, which was fantastic. It’s full of true-to-life characters, authentic Scottish dialect and twisting stories.
Have you read anything good recently?
**** Just a quick reminder that That Hidden Depths (DI Tom Blake Book #4) is out now. If you’ve not already read that, check it out here…
NEWS UPDATE:
I was recently contacted by an American publisher who wanted me to write a short story for their new crime anthology. I finished that this week and it's a cracking story about corruption, arson and murder; set in 2003 when DI Tom Blake was a twenty-eight year old detective sergeant: almost a prequel if you like.
Anyway, I'll keep you posted when that goes live on on Amazon. There are 12 crime stories from 12 different authors and the Kindle book is FREE to download, so look out for my next email newsletter in September.
I love hearing from my readers and reply personally, so feel free to email me anytime, even if just to say hello.
Take care and best wishes,
Jonathan
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