Since I last wrote this diary the paperback of COFFIN ISLAND has been published and it’s been a real pleasure meeting and chatting with readers when I’ve visited bookshops to sign copies.

It’s been a particularly busy time, not only because of the new paperback but because I’ve been doing a lot of events, including library talks, bookshop panels and attending CrimeFest in Bristol.

It’s also been the year of a very important anniversary. It is now twenty five years since a group of Northern authors, despairing of their publishers’ lack of publicity support, formed Murder Squad. I wasn’t published when Margaret Murphy had the initial idea but I was really delighted when I was invited to join the group later. Such a momentous anniversary deserved a great celebration so we all (myself, Ann Cleeves, Martin Edwards, Chris Simms, Margaret Murphy and Cath Staincliffe) travelled to Stockport’s magnificent Guildhall to drink fizz and eat cake with our readers and talk about the Squad and our work. It was a wonderful occasion I’ll never forget. Many thanks to Serenity Books in Stockport for organizing our event – and here’s to another twenty five years!

Another wonderful event was my appearance at Slaughter in Southwold where I was interviewed by the excellent Charlotte Clarke about my books (sitting on deckchairs – very appropriate for the seaside). It was my second visit to Southwold and it was a real pleasure to return and explore some of beautiful Suffolk. As an archaeology enthusiast of course I visited Sutton Hoo and was thrilled to find that Time Team were filming there. It was Time Team that triggered my interest in arachaeology and I often describe my Wesley Peterson books as ‘Inspector Morse meets Time Team’!

I’m excited by say that Wesley’s twenty ninth case, DEADY REMAINS, will be published in hardback (and e book) on 7th August.

When a body is discovered in a picturesque South Devon village, DI Wesley Peterson is called in to investigate. The victim, Barry Brown, is a celebrity ghostwriter and the theft of his laptop suggests that the motive for murder may lie in his work.

While Wesley investigates Barry’s famous clients, Wesley’s teenage son Michael joins family friend, Dr Neil Watson, on an intriguing excavation of a crashed World War Two plane on Dartmoor. The plane was used to ferry secret agents into Europe during the war and, when three skeletons are discovered nearby, it seems the wreckage might hold more secrets than they could ever have imagined.

Wesley's case leads him to the same area and he discovers a sinister history surrounding the moor and the nearby village of Moor Barton.

With four unexplained deaths, can Wesley solve the mystery before anyone else is put in danger?

Hope you enjoy!