Top lawyer launches his latest thrillers

Apr 15 2008

RISING to the top of one profession can be difficult enough, never mind mastering two completely different fields.

But Liverpool lawyer Martin Edwards has cracked it, combin- ing a legal career with a success- ful second life as one of British crime fiction’s leading lights.

Mr Edwards, head of employ- ment law at Mace & Jones, is also the author of two popular series of books, both of which are about to release new titles.

The Arsenic Labyrinth, the third book in his Lake District series following the adventures of a detective and historian duo, was released in paperback on February 25.

And this week, the eighth book in his acclaimed Liverpool-based Harry Devlin series is released.

Waterloo Sunset sees the author returning to his best-known character, after a break of nearly 10 years.

Mr Edwards always wanted to be a writer and studied law at Oxford to have a career to fall back on, joining Mace & Jones in 1980. He began writing legal articles and, later, books. Last year, he revised the latest edition of The Equal Opportunities Hand- book and penned his first novel in 1991.

“I just love writing and it was something I had always wanted to do,” he said.

“I like what I do, so I’m motiva- ted to keep at it, but you have to keep it fresh. If you have some- thing else that can take you away from it, it helps – writing does help me focus with the day job. I think they are mutually complimentary. It’s about job satisfaction and I’m extremely fortunate to be able to do both.”

The Arsenic Labyrinth follows the trials and tribulations of crime sleuths DCI Hannah Scarlett and Oxford historian Daniel Kind, probing the under- belly of tension hidden within the idyllic Cumbrian countryside.

“To my knowledge, this is the first crime fiction series to be based in the Lakes,” he said.

“I know the Lakes pretty well and I've seen it go through changes – the tension between the countryside and creeping urbanisation, putting a very English society under pressure, make an interesting backdrop.

“For me, crime fiction is about people under pressure and what drives people to commit murder.”

His books have been shortlisted for a number of crime fiction awards.

Of his Liverpool series, he says: “My aim has always been to evoke a real sense of Merseyside life in the Devlin books in the same way that Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus series brings Edinburgh to life.

“Liverpool has changed a lot in the last 10 years and I thought it would be interesting against that backdrop to have Harry Devlin reflect on his own life.”

A significant amount of the action takes place on Crosby beach, in and around the Iron Men.

Waterloo Sunset and The Arsenic Labyrinth are published by Allison and Busby.

Mr Edwards’s work has been published across Europe and in America, and translated into Italian and German. His short stories have been published as far afield as Japan and Thailand.

For more information, visit www.martinedwardsbooks.co.uk