Behind The Crimes is back!
New limited podcast series starts next week.
Thanks for your patience!
Behind the Crimes is returning for a new limited podcast series speaking with some of the world’s most interesting - and successful - crime writers.
The first episode next week is with the writer known as Lee Child. James Grant worked in television for 17 years before being made redundant.
With time ticking, and his TV pay-off depleting, he created a pen name and wrote the first in what has become a 100-million copy-selling Jack Reacher franchise.
The whole episode will be out next week, right here on Substack. Please share if you know any Jack Reacher fans.
The interviews were recorded at CrimeFest in Bristol, UK. Here’s a quick taster of what’s coming next week:
Lee Child talking about he was inspired by other writers yet every author brings their own talents.
Awards
Since I’ve been away, I’ve been lucky enough to win a Royal Television Society Award for my crime reporting in the UK.
And excitingly, my book Decoy has been shortlisted in not just one - but two - categories in the True Crime Awards in London next month.
Decoy tells for the first time how in 1979 a group of rookie teenage police officers formed one of the most innovative covert teams in British history. It’s about the huge personal risks they took to catch a killer, the camaraderie on the team and how this incredible operation was finally successful in a moment of pure, chilling drama on a March morning in 1979.
And the book details how my work led to the re-incarceration of a monster beyond redemption. The book is shortlisted in the ‘Best Book’ and ‘Impact for Change’ categories.
Plus! Sales are going really well for To Hunt A Killer which I co-wrote with the brilliant Julie Mackay - the inspirational detective who found the killer of teenager Melanie Road after 30 years. I keep getting messages from readers who say they find the ending so moving - when justice is finally served. And whenever I interview current women detectives, so many of them have said they’ve read the book and found Julie’s challenges and strength inspiring.
Back next week with Lee Child…