Sunday, October 11, 2015

The Story Behind 'Murder by Midnight'



My crime fiction novel, Murder by Midnight, is now available in Kindle format. It's currently number 9 on the Welsh Crime Fiction Amazon Kindle Chart.

I began writing this novel back in 2008 for the Nanowrimo Challenge and was pleased I managed to get past the required 50,000 word count. The idea behind the challenge, if you don't already know, is to write a 50k word novel during the month of November! I hadn't finished writing the novel itself and for some reason put it aside and got on with writing and publishing several other novels at the time.

A couple of years ago, I started up a Facebook creative writing group called, 'Merthyr Writes'. It no longer exists but helped me tremendously. I posted chapters of the novel, which was then entitled, 'The Clock Strikes Twelve', to the group and the members loved it. This gave me all the encouragement I needed to finish the book. It only required a few more chapters to complete it.
I wrote those and it went down very well. People were telling me to get it published. It was accepted by a British publisher at the end of last year, which thrilled me.

I think writing the first draft fast and furiously is what works best for me as people tell me my books are page turners. Quite often they'll say my book kept them up at night. That makes me very happy as then I feel I've done my job as an author.

The book is set in my locality of Merthyr Tydfil, so I know the area very well, all the settings and where the action takes place. I'm also fortunate to have good contacts about police procedure, so I can make my stories as authentic as possible.

Serial killers have always fascinated me, what makes them tick? The psychology of it all. I wanted this book to be about a trophy killer and wondered what he might take from his victims. Once I'd established it was a shoe, I made the connection with Cinderella in my mind and named him, 'Prince Charming'.

For the protagonist, Detective Sergeant, Ruth Carter, this is more than just a serial killer she's dealing with as it dredges up her past.

Hope you enjoy reading the book as much as I did writing it! :)

MURDER BY MIDNIGHT

'The Cinderella Murders'

When an elderly man turns up at her police station, D.S. Ruth Carter, does not immediately recognise him. However, when she does, she is immediately transported back in time to 1980 when her best friend Jenny was murdered.

Now though there’s a killer on the loose who calls himself, ‘Prince Charming’, his modus operandi is to leave just one shoe on his victims. The murderer’s style is similar to the person who killed Jenny back in the eighties, but is this the same man?

Whilst the killer plays a ‘Cat and Mouse’ game with the detectives, Ruth’s personal life begins to unravel. What has her partner Pete been up to while she’s been at work? He’s been staying out over night and making excuses for his absences. Can she trust him? Particularly as he went missing the night of one of the murders.

Who is the killer is he a stranger or is he someone that she thought she knew so well?

Available from Amazon Kindle:
UK readers here: http://tinyurl.com/pbt3qsf
US readers here: http://tinyurl.com/nghpcpj



Thursday, October 08, 2015

Murder by Midnight



My new novel, Murder by Midnight was released this week. I'm writing crime fiction under the name of 'Lyn Harman'. It's already been doing well and has ranked as # 9 in the Amazon Kindle Welsh Crime Fiction chart. Here's a little about the plot. 

'The Cinderella Murders'


When an elderly man turns up at her police station, D.S. Ruth Carter, does not immediately recognise him. However, when she does, she is immediately transported back in time to 1980 when her best friend Jenny was murdered.
Now though there’s a killer on the loose who calls himself, ‘Prince Charming’, his modus operandi is to leave just one shoe on his victims. The murderer’s style is similar to the person who killed Jenny back in the eighties, but is this the same man?
Whilst the killer plays a ‘Cat and Mouse’ game with the detectives, Ruth’s personal life begins to unravel. What has her partner Pete been up to while she’s been at work? He’s been staying out over night and making excuses for his absences. Can she trust him? Particularly as he went missing the night of one of the murders.
Who is the killer is he a stranger or is he someone that she thought she knew so well?

Available from Amazon Kindle:
US readers here: http://tinyurl.com/nghpcpj