Member Article

Crime author LJ Ross releases thriller audio editions

Best-selling crime author Louise Ross has released her first novels as audio books.

Louise, who writes under the name LJ Ross, penned Holy Island after being inspired when she passed Lindisfarne during a train journey from Newcastle to Edinburgh.

The novel follows DCI Ryan as he tries to solve the murder of a young woman whose body is found at Lindisfarne Priory. Louise has now launched the second in the trilogy, Sycamore Gap, based around Hadrian’s Wall, and was keen to make sure everyone can enjoy her books.

Holy Island and Sycamore Gap have both been narrated by Jonathan Keeble who has voiced work by the likes of Bernard Cornwall and Reginald Hill as well as classics including Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty and Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist.

Louise said: “I’ve been absolutely overwhelmed by the response to Holy Island and Sycamore Gap since they were released on e-edition and in paperback so to be able to give a whole new audience the chance to explore my work is fantastic.

“To have someone like Jonathan Keeble on board, who has narrated many of the best classics and thrillers ever written, is a real honour. When I listen to him and the way he brings my words to life, it’s almost as if I’m listening to someone else’s work.

“It means those who are blind or visually impaired and are unable to read a book or e-reader, or people who are too busy to sit down and read but who could perhaps listen to a book as they drive to meetings, will be able to get to know the first and second in the DCI Ryan series.”

Both audio editions are already Amazon bestsellers.

Louise grew up in Ponteland before moving to London to work as a regulatory lawyer. She now lives in Bath with her barrister husband James and their two-year-old son Ethan, but still visits the North East regularly to see her parents.

She gave up her legal career to begin writing full-time when she became a mum. Her debut novel hit Amazon’s top spot, knocking Paula Hawkins The Girl on The Train off the number-one position and she is now busy writing her third DCI Ryan novel.

Louise said: “The Northumberland landscape has inspired all of my books so far. The places are just as much of a character as DCI Ryan or the police consultant Dr Anna Taylor.

“The atmosphere of Holy Island, cut off by the tide from the mainland twice a day, made it the perfect place to set a whodunit as is the iconic spot where the Sycamore Gap tree sits on Hadrian’s Wall.

“Writing the third and final book in the DCI Ryan trilogy is now consuming every spare minute.Heavenfield takes its name from the Battle of Heavenfield, which took place in AD633 near to the site where the tiny church of St Oswald sits now, near Wall, and will tie up all of the themes explored in Holy Island and Sycamore Gap.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Liz Hands .