Category: The Sculthorpe Murder

News: Wonderful sales for 'The Sculthorpe Murder'

21/6/2017

'THE SCULTHORPE MURDER' REACHES 50,000 SALES

I am absolutely delighted. My publishers have just informed me that 'The Sculthorpe Murder' has already made 50,000 sales worldwide in the 9 months since its publication. It seems unbelievable that this many readers have followed Detective Lavender and Constable Woods to the third book in the series. In addition to this, the reviews on both sides of the Atlantic have been fantastic! It has an average of 4.8 out of 5 stars in the UK.
My happy but crazy imagination is now trying to work out what 50,000 readers look like...it's a football stadium full, isn't it?
Cue happy author dance around the kitchen....

BBC RADIO INTERVIEW

14/1/2017

The Real Stephen Lavender

Today I was interviewed about my recent contact with the living descendants of Stephen Lavender and what I've learned about the real Bow Street officer.

Article: The Real Stephen Lavender

13/1/2017

THE REAL STEPHEN LAVENDER

(TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION)

Thanks to the wonders of the World Wide Web, there is always a risk when you use real-life characters from history in your fiction that someone, or something, will pop up out of the ether and surprise you.
Real-life people, like my Detective Stephen Lavender, have children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And I knew that if Lavender's descendants ever decided to research their ancestor on the Internet, the chances of them stumbling across my novels was high. This thought actually made me a little nervous because although I’ve used Lavender’s name and two of his real cases in my novels, I knew hardly anything at all about the man himself. I used a lot of artistic license and imagination to flesh out the details of his personality and family life.
I focused on information I gleaned from reference books and contemporary newspaper articles about his work as a Principal Officer with Bow Street Police Office and just made up the rest. I didn’t even know how old the real Stephen Lavender was when he went up to Northumberland to solve the mystery of the stolen rent money from Kirkley Hall in Ponteland. And when I introduced this hired private detective to my readers in Catching the Eagle I made him a mature thirty-year-old man.

Kirkley Hall, Ponteland, Northumberland

I’d often wondered if any of Lavender’s descendants were still living and if so, what they would make of my fictional representation of their ancestor? Would they like him and approve of the bookish, educated and slightly-introverted character I’d created? Or would I be facing a court case for defamation of character? As a cheeky, writer friend once pointed out, “the phrase ‘loosely based-upon’ can be very useful in times like these, Karen.”
I finally got my answer in December 2016 when I was contacted by several of Stephen Lavender’s descendants. Thankfully, the first message that landed in my inbox from Australian, Richard Kinch, began with the words:
'Thank you for making my ancestor famous!’
Richard’s delight with novels about his ancestor clearly out-weighed any concerns he had about historical inaccuracies.
The contact from Richard was quickly followed by more messages from other Lavender relatives including Lesley Morgan, another Aussie descendant. In fact, it turns out that Australia is teeming with Stephen Lavender’s relatives. He had nine children. Two of his sons, and one daughter, emigrated to Australia in the 1850s. There are Facebook pages and online groups all over the southern hemisphere dedicated to connecting the Lavender relatives and exploring their genealogy.
Lesley, in particular, was incredibly helpful and informative. She told me about the real-life background to my character and explained the family history to me. She also put me in touch with a British relative, Alister Palmer, who lives in Bristol. We exchanged many emails and a fascinating picture of the real man began to emerge.
I already knew from my research, that several other members of Stephen Lavender’s family worked for Bow Street Police Office in the early nineteenth century but I didn't know that his father, Edward, was a clerk there. In my novels I've given him a father called John and a Church of England vicar for a maternal grandfather. Also in my fictional character's background is a Grammar School education and an unhappy year spent at Cambridge University studying law. From Lesley I learnt that after starting an apprenticeship in 1803 with the horse patrol, Stephen was created a Principal Officer in 1807.

Bow Street Magisgrates' Court & Police Office

But the biggest surprise was that the real Lavender wasn’t born until 1789. This means that he became a Principal Officer at the tender age of eighteen and was barely twenty when he was sent up to Northumberland to solve the mystery of the Kirkley Hall robbery. I know his investigation in this instance was meticulous and thorough – I’ve seen the court case documents at The National Archives in London – so he must have been a real child prodigy in the Regency world of policing. I wonder what thirty-seven-year-old Jamie Charlton, whom Lavender accused of the Kirkley Hall robbery, made of the situation when he was arrested and charged by a young man who was barely shaving?
I’ve always known that the London newspapers adored Stephen Lavender and zealously – and sometimes inaccurately – reported his cases and forays into the seedy underbelly of the crime-ridden capital. In 1818, Lavender solved the mystery of the vicious attack on an elderly man, William Sculthorpe in Northamptonshire (the basis for my novel, ‘The Sculthorpe Murder’) and this case was extensive reported by the London press. I wonder if his fresh-faced youth helped to make him so popular with the newspapers of the time?
Lavender, and his young family, left Bow Street in 1821 when he took up the position of Deputy Chief Constable in the industrial northern city of Manchester. Sadly, he died there in June 1833 at the relatively young age of forty-four. I’ve found his obituary written in over thirty British newspapers. He really was a celebrity in nineteenth century England.
So, what happens now? I hear my readers ask. Will you chop a decade off Lavender’s age, remove his fictional education and his gorgeous and exotic Spanish wife in order to bring the fictional character back into line with the real man?
No. I intend to carry on as before, ‘loosely basing’ my detective on the life of the real man and occasionally dipping into the archives to find more of Stephen Lavender’s cases to flesh out into an intricate plot. I hope to continue to share information with Lesley Morgan and Alister Palmer for the benefit of all of us who are interested in this fascinating man.
And anyway, I’m not sure that my mystery-reading public is ready for a detective barely out of his teens.

In this instance alone, the truth is definitely stranger than fiction.

News: The Sculthorpe Murder Book Cover

11/6/2016

'The Sculthorpe Murder' now has a book cover & blurb!

Northamptonshire, 1810: As a new canal network snakes across the landscape, a vicious mob stakes its claim to the county. Every local constable is out on the hunt for the ruthless Panther Gang. When an elderly man is robbed and murdered in sleepy Middleton, the beleaguered magistrates send for help from London’s Bow Street Police Office.
Detective Stephen Lavender and Constable Ned Woods soon discover there’s more to William Sculthorpe’s demise than meets the eye. Mystery surrounds the old man and his family, and the stench of revenge hangs heavy in the air. Are the Panther Gang really responsible or is something more sinister afoot? As Lavender delves further into long-hidden secrets, Woods has demons of his own to contend with: ghosts from his past that stalk him through the investigation.
Uncovering decades of simmering hatred and deceit, Lavender and Woods must use all their wit and cunning to solve this evil crime.

PRE-ORDER 'THE SCULTHORPE MURDER HERE'

News: 'The Sculthorpe Murder' Available to Pre-order

27/3/2016

'The Sculthorpe Murder' is Now Available To Pre-order on Amazon

We still have no book cover or blurb but 'The Sculthorpe Murder' is now available to pre-order from Amazon. AND the publishing date has been brought forward to 30th August. Not long now, folks!
Pre-order 'The Sculthorpe Murder' Here

nEWS: 'tHE sCULTHORPE mURDER' TO BE PUBLISHED

5/2/2016

'THE SCULTHORPE MURDER'
WILL BE PUBLISHED ON
13th SEPTEMBER 2016

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am delighted to announced that I have just signed a contract with Thomas & Mercer. 'The Sculthorpe Murder', the third novel in The Detective Lavender Series, has a provisional publishing date of 13 September 2016. I am absolutely delighted that Amazon Publishing (T&M) are so committed to my series.

The novel has now gone into professional editing and talks will start about the book cover. Personally, I want to see Bowden Hall Bridge over the Market Harborough arm of the canal on this book cover, along with an early nineteenth century horse drawn barge. These all feature in one of the most dramatic scenes in the novel.

I shall send them the photos below and keep my fingers crossed.

Bowden Hall Bridge, Market Harborough

Saunt's bridege, Market Harborough

Article: Musings About Writing

21/12/2015

Heaven...on a canal towpath

Today has been one of the most satisfying writing days I have ever experienced.

Last August, a dramatic finale for ‘The Sculthorpe Murder’ started to form in my mind. The full scene was sketched out with the help of my Dad out on his garden patio one hot, memorable night. We’d both had a bit to drink and giggled and laughed our way the process.

A few days later in Leicestershire, on another glorious summer day, I took a long walk down the tow path of the canal in Market Harborough. I sat in the soft grass beside the still, green and opaque water watching the ducks and the narrow boats pass by and decided to commit the first tentative words of this scene to paper.

Saunt's Bridge, Market Harborough Canal Arm

Today, the shortest and darkest day of the year, was the culmination of this creative process and a day I’d been looking forward to for months. I ignored the gloom outside and surrounded by three notebooks, with numerous Internet webpages open on my computer for further reference, I sat down and wrote 2,500 words, the final version of this momentous scene.

It’s dramatic, action-packed and scary. It’s wonderful to finally release the tension, write something that has formed and reformed in my mind for so long and wind up the two sub-plots I’ve threaded like embroidery thread throughout this novel.

But it’s not quite ‘The End.’ Not yet. Lavender’s final words today were: “I think it’s about time we arrested the murderers of William Sculthorpe.”

And that, my friends, is what Detective Stephen Lavender and I will be doing tomorrow.

News: #AMWRITING

23/8/2015

'The Sculthorpe Mystery'
20,000 Words and Counting

When I'm writing a novel I try to set myself a target of 20,000 words a month. I'm happy to announce that I achieved this over the last 32 days. (Yes, I’m one day out this month, but I will forgive myself.) My reasoning behind this self-imposed objective is that if I worked Monday to Friday then this target roughly equates to 1,000 words a day. This is generally accepted in the writerly world to be good going on a work-in-progress.

But of course I never work Monday to Friday on my writing. I'm a single parent with family responsibilities which often come between me and my writing and I'm also a notorious totty-head (Regency slang for giddy and hare-brained.) It doesn't take much to distract me from my work or to entice me away from my desk. A bit of sunshine will draw me to the beach for a long walk and the prospect of being a lady that lunches with her friends is often far, far too much to resist.

So it's always a relief to find that I've somehow managed to reach my monthly target. By this time next month, both children will have settled back at their respective universities and I have a cunning plan to up the pace of this novel writing business.

Mmm, on second thoughts maybe I should see what invites come my way first before I do that? ;)

News: Researching in Northamptonshire

14/8/2015

The Setting Of
'The Sculthorpe Mystery'

I've just returned from a research trip down to the Northamptonshire/Leicestershire border which is the setting for 'The Sculthorpe Mystery.' I was absolutely stunned at how beautiful the area was. It really is very pretty - and full of history. These pictures show Rockingham Castle, the villages of Middleton and Cottingham, The Angel Inn in Market Harborough and a view of the canal. Everyone of these places will feature in 'The Sculthorpe Mystery.'

Rockingham Castle, Northamptonshire

The view from Rockingham over the Welland Valley

Nineteenth century waterpump in Middleton, the scene of the crime

St Mary Magdalene, Cottingham, Northamptonshire

The Angel Inn, Market Harborough

The canal, Market Harborough

News: #AmPlotting

8/8/2015

Plotting 'The Sculthorpe Murder'

A long time ago I uploaded a wonderful and highly-recommended computer program called Scriverner. This is supposed to be an excellent device which helps novelists plan and structure their work.

Guess what? I've never used it. (Hides head in shame.) Yet again with this new novel I have reverted to type. Well, no. Not TYPE exactly. More like scribble and post-it notes on a cork noticeboard.

Still, it works for me. I'm 11,000 words into 'The Sculthorpe Murder' and going strong. And there is something immensely gratifying about ripping down each post-it note, crumpling it it into a ball and tossing it into the waste bin after each scene is written.