Fair Means or Foul

Author – Keith Wright.

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Keith Wright is the Author of the crime novels in the ‘Inspector Stark series’ available on Amazon, Kindle and Kindle Unlimited|Audiobook on Audible and iTunes.

Keith is re-mastering his murder/mystery novels, first published in the early 1990’s and set in the late 1980’s; introducing new characters and additional scenes and has decided to open them up to a new readership on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited and Paperback available on Amazon. It is remarkable how much life has changed in the last thirty years and the novels are now period pieces and an insight into what life (and death) was really like before mobile phones and the internet!

Keith was brought up on a council estate in a rough area of Nottingham and attended the local comprehensive school. His father was an alcoholic and left when he was ten. His mother; Marie, brought him, and his four siblings up on her own, whilst balancing a full-time job. His mother loved reading and he too became interested. His mother would usually be later home from work than school finishing time, so he would call into the local library on his walk home. Whilst at the time this seemed inconvenient, (although it was a good place to get warm and dry in winter), it was, of course a blessing, as it enabled him to evolve his own love of books.

After being told by his careers officer at school that he had no chance whatsoever of getting into the police force, he decided to try himself, and wandered into the local police station at the age of fifteen to enquire what he must do. By some fluke he managed to pass the entrance exam and interviews and he was accepted into the police force. He worked the area where he had grown up, and this meant that everyone knew him, and so he was trusted, and was able to understand what was going on in the area. He also, occasionally had to arrest some of his old school friends for various crimes. It was always good to catch up with these mini- re-unions!

Keith spent 25 years in the police service retiring in 2005 as a Detective Sergeant. He then began working for a global business, leading investigations and up until recently Headed the Serious and Corporate Investigations Team dealing with bribery and blackmail within the corporate world.

He still lives in Nottingham and is engaged to Jackie. He has four wonderful children, twins, Chris and Andy, and Andy’s. fiancée Katie, who is an operatic singer. Chris and Andy are also writers and have done some amazing bodies of work. His son, Harry is at university, doing a degree in Computer Science but has discovered a love of acting and has performed in various productions. ‘Follow your heart, son’. Then there is the lovely chatterbox, Lily, who is 9 years old and without knowing inspires Keith to keep on going. There is a lot of creativity in the Wright family!

Keith has a great relationship with Jackie’s grown up children, Aron and his partner Ayla, Ashley and his wife, April, and Callum. With all the family interaction it is a wonder any writing gets done at all!

Keith’s novels are set in the 1980’s and involve the investigations of DI Stark and his team of detectives in Nottingham CID. It is no coincidence that the author was a Detective in Nottinghamshire CID in the 1980’s!

Keith ‘For his sins’ (obligatory comment) is a lifelong supporter of Nottingham Forest Football Club and played for the youth team with Steve Hodge, when Brian Clough was manager and League and European Champions.

His books, first published in the early 1990’s as contemporary fiction, achieved critical acclaim and his first novel One Oblique One was shortlisted for the Crime Writers Association John Creasy Award for the best debut crime novel of the year in 1991. This was the first year that the award was opened up to global competition and Keith was pipped to the award by the fabulous Walter Moseley’s ‘Devil in a Blue Dress’.

Keith was asked to contribute to a short story anthology for the Crime Writers Association called Perfectly Criminal published by Seven House, among such luminaries as Ian Rankin, Val McDermid and HRF Keating. He wrote ‘The Missing Link’ for inclusion in the book.He was also asked to contribute to a short story anthology called City of Crime published by Five Leaves Publications, alongside great authors, Alan Sillitoe, John Harvey and David Belbin. Keith’s contribution was ‘From the Cradle’.

Social Media Links –

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/keithwrightauthor/

Twitter: @Keithwwright

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19351123.Keith_Wright

Amazon Author Central Page: https://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/profile

Blog: https://www.keithwrightauthor.co.uk/blog-1

Website: https://www.keithwrightauthor.co.uk/

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/keith-wright

Pages – 287

The Blurb –

The man sitting at the wheel of the car was 100 yards from his moment of destiny. He was oblivious to it, of course. Murderers don’t necessarily realise they are killers until a few seconds before it happens. Murderers are sometimes just like you and me. He would never have dreamed that such a thing might happen. Ridiculous. If anyone had told him that today was the day he would turn into a killer, he would have looked at them quizzically; questioning their sanity; instead of questioning his own.
The murder investigation into the death of a young girl at Nottingham’s Goose Fair throws up several suspects, close to home and further away. The stream of inquiries spirals into a climax, and suddenly another young life hangs in the balance.
Detective Inspector Stark and his team prepare to do anything to stop further bloodshed. They are willing to use any means necessary, whether it be fair means or foul.
In his fourth crime thriller, critically acclaimed author, Keith Wright, once again regales the stark reality of murder, derived from his hands-on experience as a CID detective sergeant working in an inner-city area.

My thoughts – I was looking forward to reading this after reading Addressed to Kill. Although this book is part of a series, it can easily be read as a standalone.

What is obvious from reading this book is the authenticity of the writing, the author has used his experience in the police force to pen a very good read.

In this book Stark is investigating the death of a young girl at a fair. I love a good who dunnit and I spent the whole book trying to solve the case along with Stark. A good mix of characters to get to know sprinkled throughout the book.

Highly recommended.

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