I recently discovered that supplies of my books were getting dangerously low and a visit to the printer was called for. Before I moved to Yorkshire I was using a London-based company but it seemed sensible to find a reliable printer in the local area who could take on the job. Luckily, I discovered ‘Imprint Services’ in Northallerton and Andrew has been producing the books expertly for a number of years now. Today I was picking up more boxes of “Corpse Way” and...

There was a last minute change to the route of the Welcome to Yorkshire “Walkshire Walk of the Day” on 11th June and the focus shifted to “Lead Mines of Swaledale”, a six-miler that starts at Surrender Bridge and follows Old Gang Beck to the Old Gang Smelting Mills. Visitors are often surprised by how much of the old workings are still visible.  For those interested in learning more about everyday life in Swaledale when lead mining was a thriving industry, there...

The ‘Swaledale Circular’ is an eleven-mile walk around Swaledale that starts and ends in the village of Gunnerside. From there, the path follows the river to Muker, via Ivelet, passing close to Mossy Bank, the home of my fictional sleuth Dr Mills Sanderson. Mills has been known to visit the pub in Muker, and the walk to Keld is one of her favourites. The route follows the river to Keld before turning eastwards towards Gunnerside Moor, a barren area where there are fascinating...

Now, with the days growing longer and the evenings lighter, I would normally begin a series of dates throughout the year, talking to groups about my crime novels. This year is different for obvious reasons and I have just re-organised a booking from next month to May next year! It is disappointing but as we gradually emerge from lockdown things will begin to get back to some kind of normal. Meanwhile I am busy editing the first book in a new series. For readers who have asked when they might...

Colin Dexter’s Inspector Morse is a good example of a crossword solving policeman, indicating his astute mind and ability to solve clues, however obtuse they might be. I sometimes manage to complete the cryptic crossword in my paper but recently I have been doing jigsaws in my spare time. It began with the traditional picture of a garden but soon I found Escher’s “Waterfall” tucked away. It is grayscale and very repetitive – so that took a while. But now I have...