Ann Purser | Introducing A New Character

Before starting the Lois Meade Mysteries, I wrote six village novels, the Round Ringford series, where plot and characters were built up over the series. As I have always lived in English villages, this was a labour of love, and with so many contemporary issues, like closure of small village schools, dual carriageway bypassing a quiet village, changing character of villages as `incomers` move in, etc etc., there was plenty to write about.

So why detective stories?

I suppose partly for a change, and mostly because I had always loved to read them, and now began to write them. Again, the village setting, which I know best. (Write about what you know!) The twists and turns of a murder plot are fraught with danger to the author, and as I am not one who knows from the beginning exactly how it is going to progress, one or two readers have emailed `Hey, but what about so-and-so on page 98?` But I enjoy writing them immensely and am about to launch a new series: The Ivy Beasley Mysteries. Readers of Round Ringford stories will remember this crotchety character, and be amazed at her new career!

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