I took plenty of books on holiday with me this summer and enjoyed them all. Even so, I couldn’t resist looking at the small library at the property we stayed in, which consisted of books that previous guests had left behind. You could see why they hadn’t bothered to pack them: most were tired, tattered paperbacks representing an unappealing mix of romance, thrillers, and historical fiction along bodice-ripping lines. But four of the books caught my attention, partly because they were in quite good condition; partly because they were by J Jefferson Farjeon, one of the writers of the “Golden Age” of detective fiction; and mainly because I was intrigued by the protagonist, Ben the Tramp. I read No. 17, Murderer’s Trail , Ben on the Job and Ben Sees it Through .   The first Ben the Tramp novel, originally a stage play.   Ben really is a tramp. He’s not Sherlock Holmes in disguise, and he’s not a toff slumming it. He’s a full-blown, hungry, homeless destitute in ragged clothes...

In my last blog, I reviewed Alison Morton's exciting new novel, Julia Prima . (You can read the review here .) I'm delighted that Alison was able to join us today to let us know more about her work.  Tell us a bit about yourself and your books.     The writing bug bit me in late 2009 when I was watching a beautiful film spoilt by badly chopped up dialogue and clumsy continuity. I thought I could do better. It took me three years to learn through classes, mentors, courses and manuscript assessments that it wasn’t that easy. Being a voracious reader able to string sentences together grammatically wasn’t enough; structure, characterisation, plot layering and dialogue were essential crafts to master. Inceptio , the first Roma Nova thriller came out in March 2013. The setting is south central Europe where a remnant of the Roman Empire has survived through the centuries and today is governed mostly by women. Now there are ten books in the series – three novels and a no...