Local author, Graham Smith, turns to crime!
Written by author on March 17, 2015
Graham Smith has been hard at work writing two new crime fiction books. Mark Smith (no relation!) popped in to have a word about his forthcoming book launch this Thursday, 19th March in Waterstones, Carlisle. You can hear the interview during Mark’s Wednesday Drivetime show this week.
After a long day in the office in The Mill hotel and wedding venue, there’s nothing Graham likes better than to relax with his laptop in the lounge of the Smith family home near Kirkpatrick Fleming and write crime fiction.
“The telly might be on”, says Graham, “but my mind is in another world”. You could call it escapism but for Graham it’s become a way of life, since he took up writing as a hobby in 2010. “I just had the stories inside me”, he explained, “and after a few false starts, I started to get something a publisher thought worthy of being published”.
His interest in crime fiction began as an avid reader, then progressed to writing reviews for CrimeSquad.com, a highly popular website for the genre. He’s well connected across a wide spectrum – friends with best-selling NY Times authors as well as up and coming unknown writers. Chatting with some big names in the field has given him confidence to get going; “Get it written then get it right” has become is his maxim.
‘Snatched from Home’ is a story of middle-class parents Victoria and Nicholas Foulkes, who’s children are kidnapped against Nicholas’ gambling debts. They don’t have any money, so turn to crime as a way to raise the ransom. Recently bereaved DI Harry Evans is fighting against enforced retirement and his replacement is waiting in the wings. If he must leave the police then he wants one last big case before he goes, so in a race against time Victoria and Nicholas try to evade the police and collect a ransom fund. The kidnappers have threatened to amputate their children’s limbs with an oxy-acetylene torch if they don’t pay up on time. Can they save their children before time runs out? Read the book to find out!
His other recent book, Major Crimes Team vol 1, is already out now, and follows the wider activities of DI Harry Evans and his Cumbria based squad in and around Carlisle and the Lakes.
He has more novels and drafts in the pipeline, including a sequel to Snatched from Home and a brand new series based in Utah, featuring a Glaswegian bouncer who ends up chasing after a serial killer.
Graham draws inspiration from local characters and colleagues around Gretna Green and Kirkpatrick Fleming, but assured me that all his actual characters are fictional!
Published by Caffeine Nights, both books will be available at the launch of Snatched from Home this Thursday in Waterstones, Carlisle at 6.30pm. He’ll also be signing his books in Dumfries Waterstones on Saturday 21st March from 12-2pm.
