I write crime fiction but I'm no stranger to real crime
My sister's house was burgled yesterday. She discovered this on returning home after collecting her husband from the hospital where he'd been overnight recovering from an operation. Needless to say it was a horrible shock for them but they were fortunate enough not to have the house ransacked and it appears only lost £100 in cash. It was obviously opportunist thieves who saw a way in and out quickly, looking for ready cash. My sister says the police were brilliant, they were there in a matter of minutes and the fingerprint bureau followed hot on their heels. They were also marvellous. I know members of the Hampshire Police and the Fingerprint Bureau, writing crime fiction, as I do, and I know that they are a great team. Whether the police will catch the culprits, who knows, but the police have already questioned the neighbours and have two male suspects they're seeking who had been seen lurking about the area.
At some point in our lives crime will touch us all either personally, or our friends, family and neighbours. My parents house was burgled once and my mother thwarted one other attempted burglary, the same happened to my in laws. I have been threatened by a man with an axe, when I was working alone in Swindon Job centre, and fortunately came out unscathed! My husband has been assaulted and almost fatally wounded when stabbed and my great aunt was murdered just over fifty years ago and her killer never bought to justice.
Crime fact is ugly. Crime fiction is entertaining, or at least I hope mine is. So why do I write crime fiction? Because in crime fiction the criminal can be caught, the case resolved. Crime fiction also examines the reasons why people do the things they do: the motivation and psychology. My marine mystery crime novels are police procedurals and in them my hero DI Andy Horton and his team can strive to make the streets (and the Solent) safer and get justice when we know that in reality justice is not always served. But most of all I like a puzzle to solve, I like heroes, action and a fast-paced tale where villains get banged up or get their just desserts.
Here's wishing that all your crimes are fiction.
At some point in our lives crime will touch us all either personally, or our friends, family and neighbours. My parents house was burgled once and my mother thwarted one other attempted burglary, the same happened to my in laws. I have been threatened by a man with an axe, when I was working alone in Swindon Job centre, and fortunately came out unscathed! My husband has been assaulted and almost fatally wounded when stabbed and my great aunt was murdered just over fifty years ago and her killer never bought to justice.
Crime fact is ugly. Crime fiction is entertaining, or at least I hope mine is. So why do I write crime fiction? Because in crime fiction the criminal can be caught, the case resolved. Crime fiction also examines the reasons why people do the things they do: the motivation and psychology. My marine mystery crime novels are police procedurals and in them my hero DI Andy Horton and his team can strive to make the streets (and the Solent) safer and get justice when we know that in reality justice is not always served. But most of all I like a puzzle to solve, I like heroes, action and a fast-paced tale where villains get banged up or get their just desserts.
Here's wishing that all your crimes are fiction.
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