DEBORAH CROMBIE: You know I have a real soft spot for American authors who write about Britain and do it well, and I count my friend Will North as one of the best of the bunch. Will has the same deep attachment for Cornwall that I have for London, and he's set some wonderful novels there, including a wonderful series featuring the irascible Cornish detective inspector Morgan Davies, and her Scene of Crimes manager Callum West.
MURDER ON THE COMMONS is the fourth Davies and West book, and it was certainly well worth the wait. I'm sure Will has struggled as I have during the pandemic with being unable to visit the much-loved setting of his book. But Will has had other and greater obstacles, as he will explain.
WILL NORTH: Morgan Davies and Calum West are back!
“Murder on the Commons,” the fourth book in my British mystery series, releases May 17. There was a three-year delay between book three, "Trevega House", and this one. But it wasn’t writer's block. It was cancer. Two and a half years ago, I was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of bone marrow cancer. I went through three unsuccessful cycles of chemotherapy. The last resort, stem cell replacement completed at the end of February, was successful at last!
I’ve always believed the central characters in a series should develop from edition to edition, gaining depth with each professional and personal challenge. But don’t worry, Detective Inspector Morgan Davies is still her cantankerous self and Scene of Crimes Manager Calum West is still putting up with her. As I wrote and the story unfolded, I was delighted to discover how much more we learn about DCI Penwarren and the rest of Cornwall’s major crimes team. I hope you'll love this aspect of the book, as well.
Now for a teaser: A body is discovered neck deep in an inaccessible bog on Cornwall’s Bodmin Moor. The corpse is faceless, thanks to carrion birds, but the body is tattooed. Without a crime scene or motive, the trail feels cold from the outset, but the victim's tattoos offer clues that lead the team on a chase to find a cunning killer.
I hope you enjoy the twists and turns in “Murder on the Commons.” Write and let me know!
Will North is the pen name of an international award-winning author and ghostwriter of more than a dozen nonfiction books as well as seven recent novels. He has ghosted books for Bill Clinton, Al Gore, several famous Everest mountaineers, a team of dinosaur hunters, a renowned physician, and others. Two of his books have been the subject of PBS and A&E documentaries. As a fiction author, Will has penned two romantic suspense novels, a family saga, and four books in his Davies & West British murder mystery series. Will lives on an island in Washington's Puget Sound. You can find him at www.willnorthnovelist.com, on Instagram @willnorthnovelist, and on Facebook at Will North, Author.
Murder on the Commons
When a hawk-ravaged head of a body is discovered neck-deep in a Cornwall bog, Detective Inspector Morgan Davies and her Scene of Crimes manager Calum West find themselves equally mired in questions and dead-ends. Who is this badly broken corpse on the grounds of Poldue Manor? How did the body appear there? And why does the Lord of the Manor’s daughter seem unfazed by her gruesome discovery?
Clues diverge and send the investigative team out of Cornwall and across borders as the team finds itself immersed in unfamiliar waters of both politics and romance.
But when shots are fired, there is suddenly more on the line than catching a killer. This time, it’s personal.
DEBS: That is such wonderful news about your cancer, and I am in awe of your fortitude in keeping on with your writing during your treatment. We all wish you the best of health in the future.
Now, the book! It is so atmospheric, the body in the bog! Such a fabulous cover, and such great characters--I loved getting to know more about them in this book, too.
For all you current armchair travelers, Will be stopping in to chat and I'm sure he can tell you anything you'd like to know about Cornwall. Who has visited? Who would like to visit? Favorite locations?
