Northern Airwaves Live Chat: July 2025

What is The Deadly Mooring about?

Set in the northeast of England, Marjorie Parkins, a self-made businesswoman, is facing bankruptcy, and her electronics company is in freefall. Stock market shares have crashed, her creditors are clamouring for blood, and her rich aristocratic husband has sat back and allowed it to happen.

​

Vast amounts of money are missing from her accounts, and while unfavourable transactions receive attention, the profitable ones do not.

​

Convinced her husband is involved with another woman and desires her downfall, she has two options.

Contact the police or confront her husband head-on?

​

Unfortunately for Marjorie, she does neither and goes it alone. Driven by revenge, she sells off her husband’s precious family heirlooms, including a Degas painting valued at £4 million.

​

This action will lead Marjorie down a dangerous road. Having attracted the murky underbelly of the criminal art world, she soon finds herself drawn into a complex web of deceit and murder. Without police help, her next action could be a costly one.

Where did you get the idea for The Deadly Mooring?

I always wanted to write a crime thriller involving a female protagonist. Until this point, I’d only written about male villains, so I wanted to shift the narrative direction of my writing.

​

In developing Book 8 in the Jack Mason series, I recalled the boisterous laughter and the bright stage lights of children’s pantomimes. This is where the main character stands in front of the children and says, “If you see a nasty witch dressed all in black, I want you to shout out––she’s behind you.”

​

From the start, just like mirroring a children’s pantomime, the reader is aware of the identity of the villain.

I love writing fast-paced thrillers. For me, it’s like the feeling you get at the end of a roller coaster ride when you ask yourself–– why did I pay good money to scare the living hell out of myself?

​

The only plausible answer is you probably feel a sense of achievement of having conquered your own inhibitions and come out of it unscathed.

How long did it take you to write The Deadly Mooring?

The first draft took 12 weeks, and I expect proofreading and copyediting and final submissions to take a further three months. That’s a grand total of six months. Even my publishers were surprised, especially when they compared it to the six years I spent completing The Wharf Butcher.

Tell me about your research?

I can reach out to many professional contacts for advice, and they are always willing to help. What I soon discovered about art theft is that the police are cagey about giving away too many details. Thieves frequently find it hard to sell stolen art, and experts fear they’ll ruin a masterpiece to avoid capture, which would mean the irreparable loss of priceless national treasures. Ransom is a popular method, but I did not want to go down that route.

Why did you write the book?

The story that has haunted my thoughts for ten long years was the one I wanted to tell, but I was always too afraid to tackle it. As soon as I started writing, the ideas flowed effortlessly. Procedure is key. Luckily, I’ve got some crucial connections, such as counterintelligence officers, Border Force agents, and former CID who are now private detectives. When finished, and before release, I always give these people the book first, and await their constructive feedback before publication day.

For me, I wouldn’t want research to hold back a fast-paced thriller; I need to make them as exciting as possible.

Where can I buy it? Try Amazon - I hope you find it enjoyable.

Thank you for listening.

To receive regular updates on the author’s activities, sign up for Michael’s monthly newsletter below or here.