An honest earner from life of crime

May 7 2010 by The Journal

Barbara Hodgson speaks to the creator of an arresting first novel.

THEY say crime doesn't pay but Graham Pears is happily reaping its rewards. We’re talking the genre form, of course – after all Graham is a former police chief who spent 33 years fighting real-life crime.

And his new career as a writer of crime fiction is certainly paying dividends. Graham, from Stocksfield, Northumberland, is receiving great feedback for his first novel The Myth of Justice.

“I’ve been really overwhelmed,” he says. “The feedback has given me a real buzz.

“People I’ve never heard of before have sent me emails: one person told me they’d had the book delivered at 5pm, kept reading until 2am, and had been late for work!” Positive comments have come from both male and female readers, as there’s plenty in his Newcastle-set page-turner for both.

Featuring city centre-based detective Jet, the story interweaves the personal and professional lives of a complex character while pursuing a fast-paced criminal investigation with a nice line in the dramatic consequences of a seemingly small misdemeanour.

Publication of a first novel is naturally accompanied by a hefty measure of anxiety but Graham is already in a very different place to that of just a few months ago.

Since The Myth of Justice hit the bookshelves, the author has become more confident, he says.

Its success has launched the father-of-two well into his new career: he’s currently putting the finishing touches to his second novel featuring Jet, and he hopes to develop a full series.

Writing is something Graham was focusing upon even before his retirement over two years ago from his post as area commander in Northumberland.

As an escape from the heavy-duty demands of the job, he was already developing the character of Jet during evenings and weekends while completing an MA at Northumbria University in creative writing.

An obvious question is, how much of his book reflects his real-life experience of police work?

He drew from it, of course, but it’s a work of fiction, he says.

“Jet is not based upon anybody, certainly not me.”

But when some of his former colleagues discovered he was writing, they asked to be included in his books, he laughs.

So perhaps there are character traits in there that a few of them may recognise.

He does capture the humour and station room banter that lighten his tale of corruption and murder and which, as the title suggests, raises the question of what justice is.

People have different ideas and interpretations of justice, points out Graham, and it’s something he explores further with Jet in book number two.

“People can have their own sense of justice which doesn’t necessarily fit in with the legal side but is what they consider a natural justice.

“I’m not sure if the second book is darker as Jet’s mood changed half-way through the first. There’s actually probably more humour in it.”

He adds: “I know Jet, and I have to have a character in mind when I’m writing something.”

He’s fascinated by characters, their flaws and by the knock-on effects and connections between groups.

The Myth of Justice follows through consequences of actions, but Graham doesn’t mind whether readers register the links.

“It’s a story – you take away from it whatever you want.

“I just hope people enjoy it. I was aiming for fast-moving action from the beginning, to keep them interested.”

Another point of interest for local readers is that the book features places they know.

They’re in for something of a shock, too, which I don’t want to spoil but it certainly keeps things interesting.

Graham says: “I think people understand that’s the whole purpose of telling the story, that things do happen and go wrong. It’s called The Myth of Justice. Life’s like that.”

As for the sequel, which publishers Red Squirrel Press will be receiving before long, he says: “I wrote it in concerted bursts – once I had the story in my head, I wanted to get it down on paper.

“I’m hoping it will be become something of a series as it’s an opportunity to explore a much darker side.”

In the meantime, Graham has been busy promoting The Myth of Justice and says: “The Read Regional campaign has been a real boost too.”

He’s been meeting members of the public while giving readings from his book at local libraries. “When I first started doing these I was anxious,” he says, “because when I was in the police I’d go to community forums and face some hostile people – but, of course, these people are there for an entirely different reason!

“It’s all very enjoyable.”

:: Graham Pears’s The Myth of Justice is published in paperback by Red Squirrel Press, as part of its Crime Fiction series, at £6.99.
It is available from the website at www.redsquirrelpress.com  and selected local outlets.

:: Visit www.gpears.com  for more about the author.