Christina James

I was born in Lincolnshire and grew up in the market town of Spalding. Though I now live in the rugged landscape of the Pennines, with their heather moors, stone walls and the bubbling cries of curlews in the springtime, I shall never lose my love of the Fens, with their lovely, evocative place names like Quadring Eaudyke and Gedney Drove End and their deep dykes full of water wildlife, like herons, frogs and dragonflies. There the skyscapes are huge and powerful, dwarfing humans and reminding them of their insignificance in the scheme of things. I decided to use the Fenlands as the setting for my novels, where Detective Inspector Yates has a heron's eye for detail and a keen understanding of the ways and minds of the inhabitants of the area. My first novel, In the Family, published by Salt Publishing on 15th November 2012, finds D.I. Yates and his team uncovering more than a body or two.

Available from Salt: http://www.saltpublishing.com/shop/proddetail.php?prod=9781907773242