A SUCCESSFUL Worcestershire author has had his second book published in a crime mystery series set on the country’s canals and rivers.
Andy Griffee’s latest release is called River Rats and follows his debut novel Canal Pushers which featured a serial killer stalking the Stratford and the Worcester and Birmingham canals.
Both books are part of the Johnson and Wilde crime mystery series in which a divorced journalist and a young army widow travel the country on their narrowboat.
River Rats, which is published by Orphans Publishing of Leominster, sees the action move onto the River Avon and the Kennet and Avon canal at Bath.
“The reaction to my first book has been incredibly encouraging,’ said Andy, who lives with his wife Helen at Shelsley Kings in the Teme Valley.
“The publishers always envisaged this as a series of books and I’m very excited we are now able to unmoor River Rats and launch it out onto the water.”
Andy’s books are inspired by real-life stories from the towpath and riverbank. His first book drew on reports of a spate of deaths by drowning in the Manchester canal network and River Rats is inspired by a long-running battle between liveaboard boat owners and residents on the River Avon at Saltford.
“Our waterways can be beautiful peaceful places, but they can also be dark, menacing and downright dangerous,’ said Andy.
“The recent floods have made this abundantly clear and so I find them a good setting for my fictional tales of murder and mayhem.”
However, Andy is also quick to point out there is a love story at the heart of his books and he also tries to inject them with humour too.
“The feedback from readers suggests they having a wide appeal, to men and women, young and old – which is great to hear,” he said.
The third book in the series is to be set in Oxford and Andy has already begun to research and write it.
River Rats is available to order directly from orphanspublishing.co.uk or andygriffee.co.uk, Amazon, Waterstones and all good bookshops and Canal Pushers will also shortly be available as a paperback.
Both books are also available as e-books.
