2 new crime novels written by 2 exceptional local authors – Anna Britton and Sarah Lawton – are set to be released in September.
The 2 authors will talk about their newly published novels – Drowning Tide and Close To The Edge – at Medina Bookshop on Friday 20th September.
Drowning Tide by Sarah Lawton and Close To The Edge by Anna Britton both begin with a missing persons case but go on to tell very different stories. To celebrate the release of the two books Medina Bookshop in Cowes has invited both authors to discuss their writing careers from idea to publication and beyond.
Anna Britton lives on the Isle of Wight with her husband and their chronically clumsy Labrador. An avid reader, she began writing around 10 years ago and hasn’t stopped since. Anna works as a freelance editor and loves helping out other authors. When not filling her head with stories, she enjoys baking (and eating) cakes and exploring rivers in her kayak.
Close To The Edge is the second book featuring detectives DS Gabe Martin and DI Juliet Stern. 2 detectives under fire. 1 missing student. No answers.
Chaos breaks out as DS Gabe Martin leaves Southampton Crown Court. Gunshots ring out. She and DI Juliet Stern are hit. The culprit disappears without a trace.
Despite her injuries, Gabe is determined to work. She’s assigned to the search for missing art student Henry Garside. As she delves into his case, it becomes clear nothing about the investigation is as it seems.
Is Henry’s disappearance an isolated incident? Was the shooting a simple act of retribution – or is there some far bigger and more sinister at play?
When Juliet asks for her help in the search for their shooter, Gabe feels powerless to refuse, even if it means meddling where she shouldn’t. Increasingly caught between her loyalty to Juliet and her job, Gabe becomes dangerously close to crossing a line…
A Drowning Tide is Sarah Lawton’s debut crime novel, set on the Isle of Wight where the author grew up and introducing protagonist Merry, a reclusive fifty-something woman who finds solace in writing cryptic crosswords as a living and the pleasure of wild swimming.
Merry’s life, though, is about to take a very different and unexpected path. When her neighbour, Lucas Manning – son of her late best friend, Julia – goes missing, Merry finds herself caught up in the search for his whereabouts, questioned by police and forming an unlikely alliance with a private investigator called Gareth to look for him.
But what Merry doesn’t know is that finding Lucas will expose all her own deeply buried secrets, resulting in mortal danger and a thrilling twist.
Author Sarah Lawton is one of 3% of the population who are aphantasic, and therefore unable to form mental images of real or imaginary people, places or things. For Sarah, her lack of visual imagination has drawn her to pursue a creative career and has been helpful to her writing rather than a hindrance.
She seeks out real places to describe in her own words, and her memories are visceral rather than visual, relating to feelings, sensations and smells, which all contribute to the striking detail of her writing.
Needing to write about somewhere she knew and still drawn to the water, Sarah chose to set her debut crime novel on the island where she grew up, where the scent of the sea is never far away and, whilst picturesque, has, like most places, its dark side, too.
The novel is an unputdownable brainteaser, and readers can follow Merry’s journey whilst puzzling over the cryptic clues throughout.
Compered by bookshop manager Paul Armfield, the talk will be held at Medina Bookshop in Cowes at 19:00 on Friday 20th September.
Tickets are just £5 and can be purchased in store or from the bookshop website.
