I originally studied Engineering and Natural Sciences (History and Philosophy of Science) before becoming a patent attorney. I was happy in that career for fifteen years but deep down I had always wanted to write fiction...

So, around ten years ago, I left my partnership in a Derby patent attorney firm and bought a house in the country with some land and two holiday cottages (and, as it turned out, four cats!) Whilst renovating the holiday cottages, I started work on a novel – a crime story set in the peak district and featuring a not-very-glamorous detective who, as it happens, went to Newnham. My first book also included a dead patent attorney, who naturally bore no relation at all to any of my ex-colleagues.

My series is now published by HarperCollins, and has been optioned for TV. The first three books, The Devil's Dice, Dead Man's Daughter, and Cut to the Bone, are published, and my publisher has contracted four more.

I’m also a qualified animal trainer, life/business coach, and hypnotherapist.

I'm happy to talk about getting published, and about leaving more conventional careers to follow your dreams!