Eastbourne author Robert Crouch draws on work skills for new murder mystery

Eastbourne author Robert Crouch draws on his years of experience as an environmental health officer for his latest book No Love Lost (self-published, ebook £3.50, paperback £10.10 from Amazon).
Eastbourne author Robert CrouchEastbourne author Robert Crouch
Eastbourne author Robert Crouch

Robert, aged 61, explains: “I was an EHO for 39 years, during which time I investigated many complex cases, including several fatal workplace accidents. I always thought an EHO had the skills to investigate a murder. This gave me the idea of disguising a murder as a work accident, so an EHO could investigate and solve the crime.

“This was the beginning of the Kent Fisher Mystery Series. After five successful murder investigations, I thought it would be interesting to flip perspectives and have the hunter become the hunted.

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“We all have things we wish we hadn’t done so it’s interesting to explore how we would react and deal with these issues when they come back to bite us.

“This is the idea I started with. I don’t make detailed plans, preferring to let my ideas develop as I write. Not always knowing what’s about to happen makes the story more exciting to write, which I hope makes it more exciting to read.

“I write for readers who enjoy complex murder mysteries, whether traditional like the books by Agatha Christie or contemporary stories by authors like Peter James and Colin Dexter. I also think people like to see an ordinary person who they can relate to solving murders.

“The books are set among the South Downs and Eastbourne, where I spent most of my working life, so I hope they’ll be of particular interest to local residents.”

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Robert added: “I’m always looking for new and original ways to entertain my readers, revealing more of the main characters with each book in the series.

“That’s why I thought it would be intriguing to have someone from Kent Fisher’s past appear out of the blue to turn his world upside down. The story then becomes a journey into the past to solve a mystery. This is the part I enjoy most, throwing in complications and false trails, uncovering secrets, making life as difficult as possible for my sleuth, which usually means more murders.

“This is book six in a series. I have ideas for at least two more murder mysteries and who knows how many more after that. As long as I can maintain the high standards I set myself and people want to read my books, I’ll keep writing.”

No Accident was the first book in the series.

“Having established himself as an amateur sleuth, Kent Fisher was free to move on and investigate more murders. In number two, No Bodies, a family friend asks him to find a missing wife, which leads to several other missing women. In number three, No Remorse, I used my experiences inspecting nursing homes to have an elderly resident with dark secrets murdered.

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“In number four, No More Lies, Kent Fisher is asked to assist the police with a cold case, involving a café he once closed down. When someone close to Kent becomes a suspect, he begins his own investigation. And in number five, No Remorse, the apparent suicide of a Highways Inspector, draws Kent into an investigation where he becomes a prime suspect when an aggrieved restaurateur is brutally murdered. Kent has to investigate to clear his name and solve the murders.”

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