Triple F - Retribution : Under the cover
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Interview with the author
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The story behind the cover image
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The locations used in the book
Warning: This page contains some spoilers if you haven't yet read the book
Author insight
What made you decide to write a novel?
Despite working for the UK tax authority for over thirty years, I was always more comfortable with words than I was with numbers! There's a well-known saying that everyone has a book in them. I thought in my case that might be true, so I decided to find out.
Do you have a routine when writing?
I'm a very indisciplined writer. I don't have set times for writing, nor any target for the number of words in the session. On a writing day I'll often do a couple of other tasks around the house before opening the laptop, but once I start writing I'm completely immersed in that world. I can easily lose track of the time, and forget to eat or drink for hours on end.
So how long did it take to write Triple F - Retribution?
It took around five years in total but for a lot of that time I was working, which meant that most weeks I could only set a few hours aside for writing and some weeks I wrote nothing at all. It was slow going until I retired, when I was able to dedicate more time to getting the novel finished and published.
How much did you draw on personal experience with your characters?
Well, let me start by saying that I'm not a serial killer! However, most of the characters in the book are based to some extent on myself, friends and family. I've lived in Hampshire for twenty years and I grew up in Coventry, so it made sense to write about places I know well.
Why did you choose to write a crime thriller?
It's a genre I've enjoyed for years, in books, films and on the television. My favourite authors are Ian Fleming, Val McDermid and Colin Dexter but I love reading about a wide range of crime-fighting characters from Morse and Lewis to Lincoln Rhyme, Kay Scarpetta and Tony Hill. Their stories and TV series such as Broadchurch, The Fall, Prime Suspect and Criminal Minds underpin my take on serial killers and police procedure.
What's the next book about?
I wrote 'Triple F - Retribution' with a sequel in mind, so I think we could see the return of DS Andy Pretty.
Cover Story
That's me in the photograph on the book cover. The first abduction in the book takes place on a footpath running between the reservoirs near Farnborough and Frimley Green. I've walked along there at night, when it can feel quite isolated and creepy. I thought it would make a good book cover to have a menacing figure dressed all in black lurking in the gloom. Unfortunately, despite choosing a winter's afternoon for the photo shoot, the sun decided to make an appearance! I've used Photo Editor to darken the image and make it more moody, but if you look closely you can see dappled sunshine on the path just in front of my feet.
Other locations in the book
I'm lucky to have Yateley Common right on my doorstep. It's a wonderful unspoilt area for walking and contemplating plotlines. There are several houses hiding in a small wood next to the ponds, but you really can't see them from almost anywhere else on the Common. Their isolation, which I accentuated in the book, made them a perfect location for the killer's lair.
As a Coventry kid I was brought up on the legend of Lady Godiva. This statue stands in Broadgate in front of the Peeping Tom clock (partly visible on the left of the photo), which still attracts crowds every hour. In one corner of Broadgate, the Holy Trinity church (renamed and downsized in the story) and behind it the medieval streets around the old Cathedral made a wonderfully atmospheric setting for the first murder in the book.
While staying in some National Trust cottages in 2015 we were able to visit Fountains Abbey outside the normal opening times. I took a couple of early morning runs around the ruins and through the grounds. My running track, a footpath which winds through some trees and alongside a river, features in the chase scene towards the end of the book.
This abandoned chapel was in a field near the NT cottages. It was boarded up so we couldn't go inside, but I thought it would make a good location for DS Andy Pretty to find the killer's final victim.