Where to start? It’s almost an impossible task to limit yourself to just five books but, as my own scribblings focus on historical crime, mystery and adventure I suppose I should stay within this genre. So here goes with the subject matter in chronological order:

My first book is Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott, a foundational work in historical fiction. It is set in 12th-century England, during the turbulent times of the Norman conquest and follows the noble knight Wilfred of Ivanhoe as he...

We have seen it in the movies: In 1973, the Six Million Dollar man envisages a man rebuilt with bionic limbs and sensors; in 1987, RoboCop, where a police officer is reborn as a cyborg. The pace increases as the years roll by: in 1995, the Ghost in the Shell, in 1999, the Matrix and so on.

As with all science fiction, the initial idea is a matter of thinking forwards until the impossible becomes possible. But today, these visions of the future are taking seed. Much of RoboCop’s mechanical...

My Major Gask mysteries series have been likened to Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories by some because of the atmospheric period detail and my Erroll Rait and Major Gask characters. Not surprising, given my affinity with the ace of detectives!

However, I am not the first nor will I be the last, I’m sure, to find such inspiration. Here are some ideas for those who enjoy mystery adventure and historical detective fiction bursting with atmosphere and mind-engaging puzzling…

Let’s start with...

In my research for The Case of the Hydegild Sacrifice, the latest in my Major Gask Mysteries, I found an unexpected link to the legendary Pinkerton National Detective Agency. Few names in American detective history carry as much mystique as Allan Pinkerton and his remarkable operatives. The man who founded the agency in the mid-19th century was a Scot by birth, like my Major Gask character, an abolitionist by principle, and a relentless seeker of...

My theme is ‘Learn from History or you are doomed to repeat it’ and my latest book was sparked by my personal experiences of living in the USA and the increasing violence we are seeing in American politics today that, I think can trace its origins back in time. My latest book in the Major Gask Mysteries series, the Case of the Hydegild Sacrifice, explores the dark secrets and atmosphere surrounding perhaps the most notable manifestation of this culture; the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in...

A couple of items this time: I've received the first reviews for the Hydegild Sacrifice. I thought I'd share one from Reedsy:

LOVED IT!

A humorous and thrilling mix of historical fiction and classic mystery. Major Gask and Rait make a delightful team!

SYNOPSIS

A Dangerous Web:
The next chapter in the adventures of Major Findo Gask and Erroll Rait begins not with a bang, but with a whisper - a whisper that draws them into the darkest corners of American history. Arriving in Washington DC, the two...