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About The Drake and Hepple Mysteries
This series of novels is named after the two main investigative characters. They are totally different people, male and female, young and older, but somehow, they get on and collaborate. Although every novel can be read as a stand-alone book, these characters and their relationships develop as the series progresses.
I have tried to do something specific with these novels. They are crime mysteries with a difference. They all use real locations that are places I know, am fascinated by and love. They are not just any old places. They have particular features with histories, cultures and people where events have taken place that make them special. This device creates the opportunity for me to imagine crimes that are uniquely related to these places. I am interested in the idea of well-known places also having a hidden, more mysterious life.
I have been extraordinarily fortunate to be invited to work in many places around the world. In essence, you will find the narrative of each mystery is intricately intertwined with one of these places. I hope you enjoy trying to solve the mysteries as well as exploring just a little of the locations and discovering more about the characters. Mostly the stories are based in the beautiful, historic city of Chester, which is bursting with wonderful locations just waiting for a crime mystery writer to imagine some dreadful event to disturb their peace! I have a particular relationship with this city. I was born there.
About Writing Crime Mysteries
​​ Writing crime mysteries is fascinating and absorbing. When I have a book on the go, which is most of the time, I am constantly thinking about it. Typing at the computer is only a part of writing. Researching and just thinking take as much time. For many years, I wrote non-fiction books, but from an early age, I loved crime mysteries. As a young boy, I read all the Sherlock Holmes stories under the bedclothes with a torch at night when I was supposed to be asleep. I was hooked.
Non-fiction and crime mysteries require quite different writing processes. Of course, using words, constructing sentences, and paragraphs demands many generic skills. Constructing chapters is where it gets more interesting. You certainly end them quite differently. When writing non-fiction, I know what I am going to say. When writing crime mysteries, I know much less in advance.
There are many ways that crime writers organise their process. One big distinction is between those who plot everything out in advance and those who work it out as they go. My process is a combination of the two. My central characters, the main crime, the locations and the major theme are decided before I start writing. I also know roughly how the book will finish. Inevitably, there is a fair amount of dialogue in such books. It may sound odd, but when I sit down to write, I hear the characters talking in my mind. They sometimes take me in directions I had not anticipated. Writing one of these books is a great ride.
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