Ex-police officer's fourth crime novel to be released following Monday Macclesfield Library talk
By Alex Greensmith
29th Sep 2024 | Local News
Many ex-police officers go for post-force careers in politics, or education; being regimented, routine focused walks of life that they can transfer their skills towards.
But this police officer, has decided to go into a profession, with limitless expression. And he is coming to Macclesfield this Monday.
James Ellson, is a former police officer, turned author, who is previewing his fourth book at 2pm at Macclesfield Library, Monday September 30.
It is his fourth crime fiction novel he has released, in as many years.
James will be delivering a talk - another post-police career of his - on why it took him 11 years after leaving the police to releasing his first book.
Tickets cost £5, and can be paid upon arrival, with entry netting you a discount on James' latest book, Base Line.
Macclesfield Nub News met with James, to find out more.
"The DCI crime series is a series of books starring DCI Rick Castle, and Base Line is the latest book in the series," said Rick.
"I am doing a talk called The Long Road to publication," he said.
"About why and how it took me ten years to get published.
"I chose Macclesfield Library for the event as Macclesfield does not have an independent bookshop in the town centre, and Waterstones is quite difficult to break.
"Tickets cost £5 at the door, but you get £5 off a book.
"It is a bloody good talk. I will tell you."
James spent 11 years at the Metropolitan Police, in London, from 1994 to 2003.
He then moved up to the Peak District, as being a keen mountaineer, he wanted to be closer to Britain's best mountains.
James worked for Greater Manchester Police from 2003 to 2009, spending five of those years working in Stockport, and the last year at Moss Side.
And indeed, the fictional police officer James writes about, works in Manchester.
"I worked in Stockport as a detective sarganet and finished as a detective inspector in Moss Side," explained James.
"Really, Moss Side finished me, and ten years ago, I have been picking up the pieces since.
"I started keeping bees, chickens, and writing a diary to try and understand what had happened in the police and to try and move me forward.
"And that diary became a memoir, after a year I had a book-length memoir, but could not get it published.
"So my agent suggested I should write a crime thriller.
"And the first book, The Trail, combined my three main interests of policing, Nepal, and beekeeping.
"And the plot was about missing person enquiry set in Nepal, and I was almost sent on a missing persons expedition in Pakistan, so that is where I got the idea from.
"Rick Castle, the main guy, is not me, but there are definitely aspects of me in him.
"For example, Rick is a beekeeper, like me. I also, of course, used to be a police officer.
"In the first book, he undergoes psychotherapy, in his first week as a Detective Inspector, he dealt with 17 dead bodies. That is a lot of death, and had a lot of effect on him.
"So through the book, there is a lot of counselling, as he tries to understand what is going on.
"And in my new book, Base Line, I really go into the weeds of psychotherapy. By book four, he is exposing himself frequently to risky situations, and inflicting violence a few times.
"So she explores, the aspects of the previous books and the effects on him.
"That obsession, and the effects of death, comes from my experience of being with the Police.
"The incidents in the book are obviously fictional, but I dealt with a lot of deaths, and went to a lot of dead bodies, and examined them. Because that is what detective inspectors do.
"Most people haven't seen a dead body, and since I left the job, I haven't. But it does affect you.
"So I took some of those feelings, and emotions, and transported them to Rick.
"So while the stories are fictional, the feelings are real. That is what books are at the end of the day, they are about the feelings they generate.
"You are trying to create realistic characters, and the emotions that go with them, so that people who are reading the book, get a much more realistic experience."
Base Line is the fourth entry in the DCI Crime series, and the stakes have never been higher.
Not only has main character Rick got a promotion, but new themes are also explored in this book.
James went on to tease what we can expect from the 50 chapter book.
"In Base Line, the main plot is a routine case leading to a Russian cell operating in the UK," said James.
"When I say a routine plot, Rick is told in chapter 1 to deal with a road traffic accident, with a minibus of a school tennis team.
"In the first few books, he is a standard detective inspector. But by the fourth book, he head of the special investigations unit. So he thinks going to this [specific] incident is above him.
"I took inspiration from [Alexander] Litvinenko and the Salisbury poisonings.
"Right now we will have Russian cells in the UK, causing mischief, havoc."
This Macclesfield Library event will be one of James' 40 talks in a year, the subjects of subjects which he splits between his passions off writing, smallholding and mountaineering.
James is holding out hope for a movie on his books someday, but for now, he is just delighted and grateful for the support to have reached book number four.
"There is a massive demand for crime fiction, go to any book shop, apart from self-help, it is the biggest bookshelf section in there," revealed James.
"Everybody wants to know what the police are up to.
"For example. people are fascinated at the moment who are getting convicted for the riots. When people go missing, everybody has a feeling about it."
When pressed as to way police officers go into writing books - fiction or non-fiction - James had this to say.
"They are so well placed to write crime fiction books," said James.
"And they get a head start, because they don't have to do all the research.
"Police work is quite procedural, and there are two ways you can write a book.
"There are two types of writers, one is plotters who spend months and months doing research, and thinking about their characters, writing a load of notes, and after they have done that they start writing a book.
"The other type are called pansters, like seat in your pants.
"When I write a book, I start off and start writing. So you are telling yourself this story, as well as the [eventual] reader.
"You know what it is like when you are reading a book, you can't wait to see what happens next.
"And it is the same for me with writing. You are telling yourself a story.
"I absolutely love doing the writing, I had some pretty exciting moments in the job, running around in back gardens looking for burglars at 2am, hairs on the back of your next stuff.
"I absolutely loved being a police officer. It was very exciting at times, And I can't really understand why everyone does not want to join the police. I think it is an incredible career.
"As I started writing about it, I quickly became hooked, and I could not wait to get back upstairs to continue with my story.
"Like when I was running in back gardens at 2am, the hairs run on the back of my neck. It is incredible.
"If you had told me when I was working as a police officer, that writing about the police is as exciting as being in the police, I would not have believed you. I am hooked."
If you cannot make the event, this Monday, at 2pm, the new book costs £12.99, and can be ordered on this link.
"It is a massive privilege, and adrenaline-kick when somebody buys your book," added James.
"Each one of my book represents a bit of me, it is a combination of my head, and my heart at a particular moment in time.
"And particularly, when somebody buys another one, that is an amazing boost."
Base Line comes out on November 1, and can be ordered on this link.
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