If you’ve followed my writing career to date, you’ll know that until now, I’ve very much concentrated on writing action based thrillers with embattled heroes, but I’ve long been fascinated by police and crime thrillers too, both in book and in TV/film, and a couple of years ago I put myself to the challenge of writing one. I mean, why not?!
Dani Stephens as a character came to me in something of a random brain wave, and I really can’t pinpoint now what sparked her creation. I do know that I quickly decided that she was a character I wanted to put some serious effort into. Even within my action thrillers, I’ve always enjoyed writing strong female characters, and I knew that with Dani I just had to give her the leading role. With her dark back story, it was clear to me that this first book should be all about exploring what it is that makes someone a killer.
But how to go about writing a police procedural when I’ve zero experience of murder investigations, save for reading a few detective books and watching Line of Duty?! First port of call was an eye-opening meeting with the Homicide team at West Midlands Police, where they walked me through the ins and outs of a typical murder investigation - typical from the point of view of procedure at least.
Of course, I wasn’t interested in writing about a ‘typical’ murder, so I’ve also spent many an hour online researching some pretty horrific crimes of years gone by, carried out by some of the most notorious serial killers we know of. Not a procedure for the faint of heart, and my internet searches must look seriously suspicious right now!
You’ll also notice the setting of this book is entirely within and around Birmingham - a far cry from my previous globetrotting thrillers which often span multiple continents! I currently live in Sutton Coldfield, and both my kids were born here, and my current home town features fleetingly in this book. All of the locales referred to in The Essence of Evil are real places that I’m familiar with (to varying degrees, and quite a few road names are made up!), and if you’re wondering about Dani, she actually lives in my old apartment by the canals near Brindleyplace!
I also welcome direct comments and feedback, and you can reach me via my website (where you can also sign up to my newsletter), and on social media, links as follows:
Website: www.robsinclairauthor.com
Twitter: @rsinclairauthor
Facebook: fb.me/robsinclairauthor
All the best
Rob Sinclair
Acknowledgments
Firstly, I’d like to express my immense gratitude to everyone who’s taken the time to read my work, including readers, writers, reviewers and bloggers - I wouldn’t be an author without you!
A special mention goes to Camilla and Roya for their help in finding Dani Stephens a suitable home, to Keshini and Michael for their enthusiasm in bringing this series to life, and to everyone else at Canelo and Hera who have helped pull The Essence of Evil into such great shape.
Thanks to Detective Superintendent Payne and Detective Inspector Hines from Force CID at West Midlands Police for shedding light on their hard and harrowing jobs, and finally to my family for their ongoing patience and encouragement, particularly when I’m in the midst of writing about vile killers!
Books By Rob Sinclair
The Sleeper series:
Sleeper 13
Fugitive 13
Imposter 13
The Enemy series:
Dance with the Enemy
Rise of the Enemy
Hunt for the Enemy
The James Ryker series:
The Red Cobra
The Black Hornet
The Silver Wolf
The Green Viper
The White Scorpion
Others:
Dark Fragments
First published in the United Kingdom in 2019 by Canelo
Canelo Digital Publishing Limited
57 Shepherds Lane
Beaconsfield, Bucks HP9 2DU
United Kingdom
Copyright © Rob Sinclair, 2019
The moral right of Rob Sinclair to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781788635011
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Look for more great books at www.canelo.co
The Essence of Evil Page 37