Richard Allen

Thank you for taking an interest in the Superintendent Mark Faraday crime novels.

My father served in the Bristol Fire Brigade and so I was naturally attracted to the ‘blue light’ services where I met my wife, Ann, a member of the Special Constabulary. I remained in the police service for 36 years, during which time I was fortunate to be promoted: sergeant in 1971, inspector in 1974, chief inspector in 1981 and superintendent in 1989.

I have drawn upon my experiences working with the CID, Vice Squad, Drug Squad and Special Branch to write the Mark Faraday novels that are forensically and procedurally accurate, but not to the extent that the reader becomes bogged-down in a lot of unnecessary detail. As a result the novels are completely authentic, with plots that have plenty of twists and turns, but frighteningly credible. All the characters are realistic, with Mark Faraday revealed as an officer who acknowledges the importance of computer technology and CCTV , DNA and forensic science, but who also knows that computers do not interview witnesses or arrest suspects and, when investigating a murder or any crime, it is wise to trust no one and suspect everyone.

I hope that readers will find Mark Faraday an attractive character. He is a handsome but human individual; perceptive, dogged and thorough; scrupulously honest but prepared to sail very close to the wind and seen by some as imaginative whilst others view him as a maverick. He attracts loyalty and admiration as well as intense envy.

The Mark Faraday novels are just the sort of books that I would want to take on holiday, to read at the airport or on the plane, or when relaxing on the beach or in a coffee shop.

I would like to share with the reader some of the experiences of Mark Faraday as he walks the back streets of Bristol at night or when he visits crime scenes; to be with him during a high speed pursuit or at his interviews of suspects; to experience the political tensions of a police headquarters and to understand the frailties of human nature.

Many crimes have an international dimension and, whilst the Mark Faraday novels are centred in the West Country’s principal city of Bristol, the fascinating history and architecture of that city often woven into the plots, there is an international flavour in each of the books that takes the reader to many locations around the world including Perth, Melbourne and Sydney; Singapore and Venice; Washington and New York as well as the Caribbean.

I do hope you will enjoy reading the Mark Faraday crime novels as much as I have enjoyed researching and writing them.

Best wishes

Richard Allen
A Member of the Crime Writers' Association