Why I’ve launched the Deadline Murder series

There are two main reasons – creative and practical – for launching a new series of Crampton of the Chronicle adventures.

  The Tango School Mystery was the ninth Crampton book I’ve written. The book has received great feedback from readers and positive reviews. Yet I’m very aware that when writing a long-running series, it’s important to keep the books fresh. So in the Deadline Murder series, I’ll be doing a number of things to make sure that happens.

  For example, we’ll be learning more about the backstories of some of the other regular characters like Colin’s girlfriend, Shirley Goldsmith, and his news editor Frank Figgis. Colin and Shirley will continue to visit their old haunts in Brighton, but some of their adventures will take place in new locations. And, while the first books in the series were set in the early 1960s, the books in the Deadline Murder series will move into the later 1960s – when the Swinging Sixties flourished.

  So those are some of the creative reasons behind the new series. But there are some practical reasons as well. My first three Crampton of the Chronicle books – Headline Murder, Stop Press Murder and Front Page Murder – were published by Roundfire Books, which did an excellent job with them. These books are already in a series on Amazon – the Crampton of the Chronicle Mystery series.

  After I’d written those three books, I experimented with an indie published trilogy of novellas – The Morning, Noon & Night Trilogy. This features Murder in the Morning Edition, Murder in the Afternoon Extra and Murder in the Night Final, which are available individually, in an omnibus edition, and as audiobooks. The success of the trilogy convinced me that there’s much to be said for indie publishing. And so the Deadline Murder series will be an indie production, too. When I wrote The Tango School Mystery, I’d originally planned it would be a one-off. But with such positive feedback, it’s seemed right to make it the first book of the new series. The second, The Mother’s Day Mystery, comes out in November 2018.

So, to summarise, the Crampton of the Chronicle line-up now looks like this:

Crampton of the Chronicle Mystery series

– Headline Murder

– Stop Press Murder

– Front Page Murder

The Morning, Noon & Night Trilogy

– Murder in the Morning Edition

– Murder in the Afternoon Extra

– Murder in the Night Final

Deadline Murder Series

– The Tango School Mystery

– The Mother’s Day Mystery

– New title due in 2019

 In addition, there are two free books:

– Murder from the Newsdesk

(available for Amazon and other e-book suppliers)

– Murder in Capital Letters

(free novella available from this website).