Derbyshire author releases new crime novel set in Chesterfield

Ian said: "I've so far written 13 novels and am currently busy with number 14. Six are part of the series of DI Diane Rothwell books set in Chesterfield at the end of the 1970s and two are spin-off private detective novels involving two of the characters from the Diane Rothwell series. The other five are all standalone novels.”

The 66-year-old author has just released Hair of the Dog, the second in his DI Diane Rothwell series and the fourth book he has published. "Hair of the Dog involves the disappearance of several people from the village of Bleckley in the Peak District," said Ian. “The village is fictional but is based on the village of Bretton. One of the people who disappears and subsequently turns up dead is a reporter from the Derbyshire Times called Jonathan Stoppard. He is investigating these disappearances and, in the process, stumbles across something that gets him killed.

"The Derbyshire Times features in most of my books and one of the character who often appears in them is Howard Hill," said Ian. "I'm usually careful not to feature people who really existed, but I made an exception in Howard's case as he was a friend of my father, and my brother was named after him. Howard worked for the Derbyshire Times in the 1960s, 70s and 80s in a variety of roles, including as sports reporter, motoring correspondent, deputy editor and editor. I do often use real people’s names; in fact, Spencer Spooner, DI Rothwell's sidekick, was another person who was a reporter for the Derbyshire Times in the 1960s and 1970s.”

Hair Of The Dog follows the publication earlier this year of Bitter End, about an arsonist who is burning people to death in and around Chesterfield.

Ian said: "The main character in the book, Diane Rothwell, is named after a friend of my first girlfriend. I'd forgotten all about her until I saw a photo of her on Facebook just as I was starting the novel Bitter End. The photo was taken on the steps of St Helena's school in the 1970s and since the book was also set in the 1970s, I decided to name the main character after her. She lives in Reigate these days and recently got in touch with me after seeing Bitter End for sale - she was quite pleased that I'd named my detective after her and I've sent her a free copy of Hair of the Dog."

Ian has so far published four books, including Doppleganger which is about a man who discovers he was adopted as a child and tries to uncover the truth about his birth parents. Ian said: "The inspiration for this book came from the real story of two girls who were brought up in Chesterfield. One of them never knew she had a twin sister until she walked past her in the street.

"The first book that was published in 2020 was called ‘If only they could talk’. It's about a man from a wealthy brewing family, set between the 1930s and the present day, and what happens to him as a result of some of the disastrous decisions he makes in his life. The story is partly based on real events that took place at Scarsdale Brewery, Chesterfield. Unfortunately, the publisher let me down rather badly, with the case against him settled out of court. The book is currently being withdrawn from sale and will be republished shortly, with the help of my wife, who is a professional editor.

Most of his books are set in the 1970s which was a key time for Ian who grew up in Chesterfield where his father was the chief clerk of a brewery in town and his mother was a ballet teacher. He said: "I turned 18 in 1974 and went to Leicester University to study chemistry and maths in 1975. I remember so much about those times, so it only seemed natural to set my books back then. However, there is another reason. I know nothing about police procedures and modern methods of crime detection through things like DNA profiling. Therefore it seemed far easier to set crime novels in the 1970s than in the present day.”

Ian had a stroke when he was 50 which forced him to give up his work as a regional sales director for Scottish and Newcastle Brewery. A year of physiotherapy made him feel sufficiently recovered to buy a pub on the North York moors. In the eight years that Ian and his wife Eunice ran the pub, they achieved listings in the Good Beer Guide and the Good Pub Guide and were included in The Times list of the top 50 places to eat in the British countryside.

Moving back to Chesterfield after 40 years, Ian found that he wanted to do something with his retirement from work. He said: “Since my stroke has left me with a weakness in my right arm, it rather limited my options. I decided to write my autobiography. It's called 'You know you are home when you see the crooked spire' and it's not been published. The main reason is because autobiographies that sell are those of famous people.

“However when I finished writing it, I decided to try my hand at a novel, which is when I started writing Family Trust, a book about a family that has lost contact with each other back in 1978. I really like this book and I'm going to publish it next.”

Ian added: "My previous books are selling far better in the USA than they are in the town where they are set! I don't know why my novels should be selling so well in the USA, except that British crime novels are usually popular in America.”

Ian’s paperback books can be bought on Amazon or from bookshops and the eBooks are exclusively available on Kindle.