Richard Allen

 

Richard, the son of a senior fire brigade officer, was born in the City of Bath and joined the Bristol Constabulary in 1966. In addition to uniformed duties, he served with the Vice Squad, Drug Squad, CID and Special Branch. He was promoted sergeant in 1971, inspector in 1974, chief inspector in 1981 and superintendent in 1989.

During 1978, Richard had published ‘Effective Supervision in the Police Service’ (McGraw-Hill), listed as recommended reading by the US Department of Justice. In 1986, he had published ‘Leading from the Middle’ (Barry Rose/Kluwer Law), and recommended reading for officers attending the Junior and Intermediate Command Courses at the Police Staff College, England. He was a visiting speaker to the Overseas Command Courses at the Staff College as well as a police lecturer at the Royal Military College of Science Disaster Preparedness Centre.

Richard retired from the uniformed service of the Avon and Somerset Constabulary in 1996 and joined the Gloucestershire Constabulary as the civilian Head of Training until his eventual retirement in December 2002.

Richard has an MSc from the University of Glamorgan Business School, is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, a Member of the Chartered Management Institute and a Member of the Crime Writers’ Association. He is married to Ann, a former member of the Special Constabulary. They have two children, Mark and Suzi.

Richard’s first novel, ‘DIRTY Business’, featuring Bristol-based policeman Mark Faraday was published in 2005 by Ryan Press. ‘DIRTY Business’ has now been re-published in the large 9” x 6” format, as has the sequel, ‘DIE Back’, and as will the third in the series, ‘Darker than DEATH’.

The novels are centred in the West Country’s principal city of Bristol, the fascinating history and architecture of that city often woven into his books, although Richard also draws upon his travels abroad to realistically and appropriately inject an international flavour into the plots.