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Crime novel hat-trick

Ex-journalist turned author, Nick Fletcher, has published his third crime novel featuring an ex-journalist turned private detective.

Imperfect Day, Classic Books, £6.99, also gives an insight into the world of tabloid journalism – Nick once worked for the News Of The World, and still contributes to the Sun, Mirror, Mail and Express.

‘There is a strong link between investigative reporting and the world of the private eye, so it was a natural theme for me to explore,’ says Nick, who lives in Stoke-on-Trent. ‘Two of the key characters in the book are journalists, though I have to confess I don’t portray freelancing in a very positive light. I’ve spent years as a freelance and it’s very tough.’

In the novel, detective Max Slater, has to solve a murder which took place fifteen years earlier, his only clue a coded message left by the victim. The story is set mainly around Brighton, an area familiar to Nick from when he worked as a reporter on Sussex newspapers in the 1970s.

‘It is a struggle to get a private eye established in the UK, he explains. ‘There is not much of a tradition, certainly in recent years. Most people seem to prefer police detectives such as Morse, Frost and Wexford, but I am attracted to the private eye genre because there is so much more scope. A private detective can bend or even break the rules, do things a police officer would never be able to do. I find it can give the storyline much more of an edge, make it much more unpredictable.’

This will probably be Nick’s last UK crime thriller. His next one is aimed at the American market and at American publishers. ‘I’m taking my detective to Los Angeles, setting the action right in Raymond Chandler territory. Oddly enough, my detective often refers to Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, who he admires greatly, so there is already a link established.’

Further details: www.nickfletcher.co.uk