Thriller writer, archaeologist and traveller
The cover for Blackshirt Rebellion can now be revealed! The events at the end of Blackshirt Masquerade and Blackshirt Conspiracy have changed history as we know it, and Britain has a fascist government. It's grip on power is weak, opposed by socialist groups on the streets and foreign agents in the shadows. And for some,... Continue Reading →
I paused before writing this week’s blog. Six miles away from where I type there are running battles between the police and a rioting mob. It’s the latest in a series of peaceful protests mixed with rioting that have run through England’s streets during this hot week in July. For the most part the unrest... Continue Reading →
It is said that as soon as you accuse someone of being like Hitler you have lost the argument. The word ‘fascist’ is thrown around carelessly in political debate and can mean essentially any decision the speaker disagrees with. Nevertheless, a number of heavyweight publications from Der Spiegel to The Atlantic have asked the question... Continue Reading →
It was a pleasure to be invited to the UK Crime Book Club Live event in Leeds this weekend. The convention was a consistently jolly affair, with plenty of laughs considering the grim topics under discussion. In thirty years of writing I've only spoken on five panels, so it was a double pleasure to be... Continue Reading →
It's quiet...too quiet. Yes this blog has been silent for the last month because I've been away from home and didn't want any of the cat burglars or nervous insurance underwriters who follow it to know. On the first of May, Dig Alderney's team of volunteers started to excavate a large Roman building. We'd explored... Continue Reading →
March means the Alderney Literary Festival, an event loved both by islanders and by the authors who fly in to participate. This boutique festival concentrates on historical writing, both fiction and non-fiction, giving it a coherence some festivals lack. Another feature is that authors get whole hour slots to themselves, either giving a presentation on... Continue Reading →
The time has come to launch a newsletter. It will be roughly monthly depending where I am in the world, what I'm writing and whether I'm digging. The title is inspired by Edgar Allen Poe, reflecting that I'll be posting pieces on my whole range of books from historical thrillers to archaeology mysteries plus the... Continue Reading →
2023 began with me catching covid again, unfashionably late. Once recovered, January was absorbed by helping clear the family home, so little writing, travelling or archaeology at all! It was minus two the day we filled the skip. By February I managed to get out and about again, hiking over Malham Cove in a balmy... Continue Reading →
In Blackshirt Masquerade Hugh Clifton infiltrates Department Z, the intelligence unit of the British Union of Fascists, on behalf of MI5. He can use the information he gathers against the very people who regard him as their most dedicated agent. When things reach crisis point in Blackshirt Conspiracy he reports back to his handler, ‘We... Continue Reading →
Bing Crosby’s latest hit was Pennies from Heaven and Hitchcock’s espionage thriller Sabotage was on release, but it was hardly peace on Earth at Christmas, 1936. Civil war was raging in Spain and Hitler’s grip on Germany strengthened after his re-occupation of the Rhineland. Britain was starting to recover from the malaise of the Great... Continue Reading →