Hello from Bath,

Spring is here and I recently attended a reunion back at my Oxford college, which was strange but also wonderful to see old friends and where they have ended up in life after 30 years.

There was a moment in the old hall when a bell rung and Grace was said before dinner and the years fell away. Precious memories indeed, and you can read/listen to me talk about Oxford in this episode of my Books and Travel Podcast on Decadence, Discipline, and Dreaming Spires.​

Writing-wise, I am starting to work on ideas for Crown of Thorns, the next ARKANE thriller, and also ideas around my Gothic cathedral project. Plus, I still need to finish my Masters in Death, Religion and Culture so it's busy around here! As ever, my stories are inspired by my experiences, so read on for how a trip in 1999 changed the direction of my life.

Sailing on the Soren Larsen, 1999

In 1999, burned out from my corporate consulting job in London, I sailed on the tallship, Soren Larsen, from Fiji to Vanuatu. It was a trip that changed my life.
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As we sailed out of sight of land, I got seasick along with half the passengers, but it passed after 24 hours and I joined in the rhythms of the watch. I loved to sit on the bow watching the waves, the hours passing with no thought of anything except the blue. It rained for days but it didn’t matter. I had time to think away from the city.
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I wasn’t so good with the rigging but I did flake the anchor chain and I can still feel the weight of it in my hands.
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We slept in tiny bunks in the dark of the hull, with the smell of salt and sweat below. I was on antimalarials and my dreams were strange and violent and free.
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It was a wonderful trip, during which I decided to leave the UK. A few months later, in early 2000, I left London for Perth, Australia, which began a new phase of my life.
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The transformation I went through on that trip has stayed with me, and I have always wanted to write a story set on a tallship modelled on the Soren Larsen.
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But of course, my mind tends toward the darker waters, and I am also fascinated with merfolk and how pervasive they are in all seafaring cultures.
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So my new thriller, Bones of the Deep, blends Jo from 1999 with J.F. Penn from decades later ... I hope you enjoy the adventure.

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Available in limited edition signed hardback on Kickstarter until 4 May and also in other editions.

​Click here to find out more (until 4 May)​
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Available in late summer 2026 in ebook, paperback and audio on all the usual stores.

Book recommendations

I love to read as well as write, so here's some of the books I've read recently and recommend. Please reply and let me know what you're reading right now!

​Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy. One of my books of the year already! A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A storm gathering force. Inspired by a remote New Zealand island and super atmospheric.

​The Bone-Drenched Woods by L.V. Russell. Hyacinth Turning knows the terrors beyond her village, the insatiable hunger of the Teeth and the Deep, but she just wants a life — and death — of her choosing. Atmospheric folk horror. Excellent if you turn towards the dark sometimes.

​Exiles by Jane Harper. Federal Investigator Aaron Falk is on his way to a small town deep in Southern Australian wine country for the christening of an old friend's baby. But mystery follows him, even on vacation. Murder mystery. Can be read as a stand-alone even though it's 3rd in a series.

​Monumental by Adam Nevill. I always love a new Nevill book and this one is English folk horror set in a hidden valley in Devon not far from me, when a kayaking trip goes horribly wrong.