Followers

Tuesday 31 October 2017

TROWS
 
 
While writing the third in the 'BLOOD' series of DI Sonny Russell mysteries I needed to find the name of a piece of equipment used with boats. It's a thick board, two to two-and-a-half feet long with a rope handle woven into one end. Greased, several are placed, sequentially, under the keel of a beach-launched fishing boat, to assist it in sliding down the shingle. As one appears from the back (or front, depending whether the boats is being launched or recovered) it is taken and put under the other end of the keel. This photo gives an idea of how they are used
 
 
Anyway, I wanted to know what they are called - why? - because they are key to the plot in BLOOD ON THE SAND. Without giving too much away they are used to move a heavy object - not a boat - and one gets left behind, which provides a valuable clue for Russell and his team.
 
Oh, and the name of the object? it's called a trow. Thanks to the Hastings Fishermen's museum for supplying the answer.

Saturday 21 October 2017

For those of you who have not looked at the details of BLOOD ON THE TIDE, here is a description, giving you a taster of what to expect:

When a gruesomely mutilated body trussed up in a distinctive fashion washes up on a lonely stretch of the south coast in the 1950s, DI Sonny Russell is soon struggling to unravel an intriguingly knotty puzzle. And as more bodies, similarly tortured, appear he begins to realise that, for some at least, the war is far from over.
A trail of intrigue leads him to Europe where he befriends a French detective and together they set out to track down the villains.
Blood on the Tide is a story of the sea and boats, murder and Nazis that begins in a sleepy coastal backwater and takes the reader through post-war France and Germany.

The novel is set around Rye , Rye Harbour and Camber Sands  and  there are thinly veiled references to the Rye and Camber Tram.

Friday 20 October 2017

I'm just back from a short break in Leicestershire. I did add a few pages to book three, provisionally titled 'Blood on the Beach', but didn't make as much progress as usual. However, while we were there we visited Calke Abbey. Unusually for the National Trust it is barely restored, which makes it feel much more real and natural. Also, it was spooky!

There were long passageways, with flaking paintwork and inadequate lighting and it didn't need much imagination to visualise ghoolies and ghosties patrolling the house. Or... DI Sonny Russell's adversities plotting and planning against him.

 
Even spookier were the cellars. These passages were barely lit by overhead openings, made even dimmer by weed growth. Down here I could imagine smugglers, with blackened faces and calloused hands, rolling barrels of contraband brandy and carrying boxes of who knows what illicit substances to unknown destinations. Lots of fodder for a writers pen.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Thursday 12 October 2017

Welcome to my new blog. I will be writing about my writing - surprisingly enough! My first detective novel, BLOOD ON THE TIDE has been selling well and is available both in paperback and as a Kindle on Amazon. Click here: Amazon.com: Chris O'Donoghue: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle

The sequel, again featuring DI Sonny Russell and his faithful Jack Russell, Aggie, will be published later this year. Titled BLOOD ON THE SHRINE, it starts with a mysterious death at a Buddhist retreat in the snow and features a mail train robbery. I'll keep you posted as to the launch date.

The third book in the 'BLOOD' series is underway. DI Sonny Russell discovers a mysterious crate, washed up on the beach and the story continues from there.

I will be updating this blog from time to time so keep returning to find out what Sonny Russell, and Aggie, have been up to.