About Me
I was born in Guildford and lived in various parts of Surrey until 1990, when I moved to Buckinghamshire and thence to Oxfordshire, discovering along the way that these are all quite expensive places to live. I seem to have spent most of my life trying to become an adult: my writing might suggest I've entirely failed in this respect. Talking of writing, though (and that is, after all, why you're reading this), one thing I did eventually learn was that I should have tried writing (or at least, finishing) a book much earlier than I did, although I also now realise that it would have helped had I become a celebrity first, as this would have made selling it much easier. Having lived in a quirky, not-quite-Cotswold village in west Oxfordshire for a quarter of a century, I moved to Petersfield, Hampshire in late 2021 to avoid the paparazzi. This was completely successful.
Much to my astonishment, I have now written five novels, the first of which was A Very Important Teapot (2019), published by lovely little indie publisher, Claret Press, and featuring the initially rather hapless, but always witty and optimistic Dawson and the considerably less hapless and increasingly kick-ass Lucy. A Very Important Teapot is a spy thriller with (lots of) laughs set largely in northern Victoria, Australia. It was followed by Bored to Death in the Baltics (2021), where the action (lots of action) takes place, by and large, in Estonia (and I defy you to find another thriller, comedy or otherwise, written in English and set in Estonia), and Poor Table Manners (2024), in which Dawson and Lucy hit Cape Town… and Cape Town hits back. Whilst a series, the books are standalone stories so can be read in any order. A fourth instalment, with Naples as the backdrop, is on the cards, so watch this space.
In 2025, I self-published a standalone comedy murder mystery, Lazytown, set in a quintessentially eccentric English village (not unlike the one I spent twenty-five years living in, and trying to understand, in Oxfordshire). Lazytown is, above all else, a great deal of fun.
And now, June 2026, I have brought out False Connections, which is a UK (Hampshire, Wales and other locations) based thriller which introduces us to feisty, funny, fearless but flawed ex-MI5 agent, Mel Milano. Drummed out of the service three years ago on trumped-up charges following a mission in Wales that went disastrously wrong, and slowly rebuilding her life, Mel suddenly finds herself a target for, not only MI5 but at least one other mysterious group. Why? And who can she trust to help her uncover the truth? Written as a straight thriller, with lots of action and twists, False Connections nevertheless contains some humour, and Mel is not short of a witty line or an acerbic comment. I very much hope that False Connections is not the last we'll see of Mel.
Much to my astonishment, I have now written five novels, the first of which was A Very Important Teapot (2019), published by lovely little indie publisher, Claret Press, and featuring the initially rather hapless, but always witty and optimistic Dawson and the considerably less hapless and increasingly kick-ass Lucy. A Very Important Teapot is a spy thriller with (lots of) laughs set largely in northern Victoria, Australia. It was followed by Bored to Death in the Baltics (2021), where the action (lots of action) takes place, by and large, in Estonia (and I defy you to find another thriller, comedy or otherwise, written in English and set in Estonia), and Poor Table Manners (2024), in which Dawson and Lucy hit Cape Town… and Cape Town hits back. Whilst a series, the books are standalone stories so can be read in any order. A fourth instalment, with Naples as the backdrop, is on the cards, so watch this space.
In 2025, I self-published a standalone comedy murder mystery, Lazytown, set in a quintessentially eccentric English village (not unlike the one I spent twenty-five years living in, and trying to understand, in Oxfordshire). Lazytown is, above all else, a great deal of fun.
And now, June 2026, I have brought out False Connections, which is a UK (Hampshire, Wales and other locations) based thriller which introduces us to feisty, funny, fearless but flawed ex-MI5 agent, Mel Milano. Drummed out of the service three years ago on trumped-up charges following a mission in Wales that went disastrously wrong, and slowly rebuilding her life, Mel suddenly finds herself a target for, not only MI5 but at least one other mysterious group. Why? And who can she trust to help her uncover the truth? Written as a straight thriller, with lots of action and twists, False Connections nevertheless contains some humour, and Mel is not short of a witty line or an acerbic comment. I very much hope that False Connections is not the last we'll see of Mel.
