Category Archives: Mac Maguire

The Tiger’s Back – Just published!

Posted on by under Mac Maguire

book coverThe ninth Mac Maguire detective mystery The Tiger’s Back is now available in Amazon Books. Here’s the blurb –

‘It’s January and winter is biting hard. Mac has been asked to investigate the brutal murder of a homeless man in London by his grieving daughter. Meanwhile two of Mac’s police colleagues are looking into the suspicious death of a Cambridge history professor. Their paths cross and they realise that both deaths are somehow linked.

During the investigation Mac meets someone from his past, someone he’d hope that he’d never see again. The Tiger, the most fearsome and violent criminal that Mac had ever dealt with, is once again loose on the streets.’ Continue reading →

Mac Maguire and Aston Villa – A Love Story

Posted on by under Mac Maguire

Holte endThey say that authors often put a lot of themselves into their main characters but I’m not so sure that’s the case with Mac Maguire. I’ve given him my love of puzzles but I’ve not done him any favours by also saddling him with my disabilities and a love of Aston Villa Football Club. Otherwise I think we’re quite different.

Mac’s conversations about his favourite football club with his best friend Tim are a feature of virtually every book to date. So how did Mac get to be such a fervent Aston Villa fan? Continue reading →

The Chancer – Mac’s eighth adventure – Just published!

Posted on by under Mac Maguire

book coverThe eighth and latest Mac Maguire mystery has now been published in Amazon Books. Here’s the official blurb –

‘Mac is on his way back to Ireland for a funeral when a body is found at the airport. A man has been stabbed three times in the back and Mac volunteers to help his police colleagues. He’s flying back to Donegal where he hopes to find out something about the victim’s background.

It appears that the dead man was ‘a chancer and romancer’ and Mac has his work cut out delving into his numerous, and mostly nefarious, dealings in the north of Ireland. With the help of a troubled colleague from the Irish Police Mac soon discovers that the murder in the airport has set off a ticking time bomb that will soon explode.

Mac finds himself delving into his own past as his childhood memories of Donegal come flooding back and an old family mystery is also solved.’ Continue reading →

The Mac Maguire books – My first research trips

Posted on by under Mac Maguire, Writing process

This year I carried out my first ever research trip for the soon to be published The Chancer, Mac Maguire’s eighth mystery, which was followed up by my second research trip to Cyprus for an, as yet, untitled book that will be published next year. Two facts conspired in making these trips happen – I retired and I’m actually making a little money from book sales.

So why, after seven books mostly set in Hertfordshire, did I feel that such trips were needed?

Derry/Londonderry

derry peace bridgeEver since Mac Maguire came into my life I’ve been aware that, while he was brought up in Birmingham in the English Midlands, his Irish background is important to him too. So, I’ve been thinking about how I could explore this facet of his life and reveal a little more about his past. In this latest book Mac gets the chance to help with a murder when he is in Donegal, Ireland for a funeral. He hasn’t been back ‘home’ for a while and, as he visits familiar places, he is reminded of a past he’d thought he’d all but forgotten. Besides the murder a family mystery is also resolved. Continue reading →

The Match of the Day Murders – The seventh Mac Maguire Mystery

Posted on by under Mac Maguire

book coverI’ve just published the seventh Mac Maguire detective mystery novel and it’s called The Match of the Day Murders. This new book combines my love of crime fiction and football. Here’s the official blurb-

‘It’s been the worst summer in years and Mac is once more at a loose end. He then meets the mother of a murdered girl and is asked to look into an unsolved murder case that is nearly five years old. Her daughter wasn’t the only girl who died in what became known as ‘The Match of the Day Murders’. Three girls had been found on football fields exactly one week after the other and all had been strangled to death. Mac agrees to do what he can but, before he can even get started, he is asked by his old friend DI Andy Reid from the Major Crime Unit to help. They are also re-investigating the case and so Mac finds himself working alongside Kate Grimsson once again as they dig deep into the past. A serial killer appears to be still on the loose and Mac is worried that he might start killing again.

Mac too has an anniversary coming up and it’s bothering him. It will soon be a year since his wife Nora died and he is totally unsure as to how he will face it. Meanwhile Kate has her own personal problems as the past comes back to haunt her and she finds that she has an important decision to make.

A story of life, death and football.’ Continue reading →

So why isn’t Mac more like Jack Reacher?

Posted on by under Crime writing, Mac Maguire

This thought came about because of a recent review of The Blackness from an American reader –

‘I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the first four books of Patrick C Walsh’s detective series. What I like most about these books is the way the cases are solved through good police work. Not some gun toting, super cop who kills more people than he saves. These books are good easy reading.’

Firstly I’d like to say that I loved the review and always check on Amazon for any new reviews from time to time. I’ve found that reviews can really help in improving my books but, if I’m honest, a positive review can also lift a writer’s day and increase their motivation to finish the next book.

What struck me was the reviewer’s comment about the type of policeman my main character Mac Maguire is and that made me wonder why Mac is the way he is. Continue reading →

Ghosts, Christmas and Mac Maguire

Posted on by under Christmas and New Year, Ghosts and horror, Mac Maguire

I’d first of all like to wish all of my readers who observe it a very Happy Christmas and to those who don’t Happy Holidays anyway.

I am something of a Christmas nut. My lovely partner Kathleen, being normal, is not quite as enthusiastic as I am. I insist on having a ceremony on the 6th December, when we put the decorations up, and again on the 6th January when they get taken down as well as celebrating every day in between. I also insist on cluttering up her living room window with electric Santas, snowmen and sleighs as well as covering every inch of the walls with decorations. She bears it all with good grace however.

Marley's ghostA large part of my love for Christmas comes from Charles Dickens and, if I was honest, I’d have to admit that I consider A Christmas Carol just about the greatest work of fiction ever written. It’s a perfect little gem of a book and one I read again every Christmas. The whole thrust of the book is that it is possible for someone to be reclaimed from being a miserable old miser and turned into a caring human being solely by being made to remember everything about his past. This thought is compelling. We often forget what’s painful for us even if it’s the part that makes us human. A Christmas Carol tells us that there is hope, even for the worst of us. Continue reading →

The ‘birth’ of Mac Maguire

Posted on by under Crime writing, Mac Maguire

Book coverI’ll be publishing a new Mac Maguire mystery in October called Two Dogs. In the book Mac tells his new colleague Kate Grimsson how he got his nickname ‘Mac’ (his real first name is Dennis). I’ll not tell you here as that would be a spoiler so you’ll need to read the book to find out. Over the series of books I’ll be letting readers know a little more about his past, however, this isn’t something I’ve had to think up as I already knew his back story long before I wrote the first book in the series The Body in the Boot. Continue reading →

23 Cold Cases – How come my detective is in bed for most of my latest book?

Posted on by under Crime writing, Mac Maguire

Book coverThroughout most of my latest book 23 Cold Cases the main character, retired murder specialist Mac Maguire, spends virtually all of his time in bed. Why did I write a crime book with this in the plot and what were the challenges?

When I started writing the book I must admit that I had doubts about this plot line and considered scrapping it more than once. Why? Mostly because it was difficult to come up with a sustained story that would keep readers interested and wanting to turn the next page. There’s also the fact that I had to include the details of many crimes, quite a few in some detail, and at times I began to wonder if I’d have any plot lines left for future books!

So why did Mac Maguire have to be in bed? Continue reading →

Mac Maguire and two great detective writers

Posted on by under Crime writing, Mac Maguire

I’m sometimes asked about which authors have influenced me most. It might be hard for some authors to identify such influences but I have to admit that for me it’s fairly straightforward.

I absolutely adore crime writers like Chandler, Hammett and Mankell but when it comes to those who have directly influenced what goes on the page there are really only two – Conan Doyle and Simenon. They are both very different to each other but, luckily for me, quite complementary. For while Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes is all about the puzzle, Simenon’s Maigret is more about the human side of things. I figure that if you can provide a good puzzle as well as a good human story then I think  you’ve probably cracked it as a crime writer. I hasten to add that I’m far from being there yet but then it’s all about the journey, isn’t it?

So let’s look at how each might have contributed to the make-up of Mac Maguire. Continue reading →