Henry Christie - Location and a Sense of Place

Henry Christie - Location and a Sense of Place 

 

This is an article which appeared in Shotsmag in July 2015.

Unforgiving is the twenty third entry in my series of crime novels featuring Henry Christie, a detective with the Lancashire Constabulary, who began life as a detective sergeant on what was then the Regional Crime Squad in my first book, A Time For Justice. Henry has risen slowly, and unsteadily, through the ranks to reach the lofty heights of Detective Superintendent and the role of Senior Investigating Officer – and impending retirement – in the latest book.

Most of the novels are set in and around Blackpool, which I once described as ‘the world’s brashest, trashiest seaside resort, alive with daytime fun and night time thrills’ – and Unforgiving is no exception to this.

I like to use real locations for my stories because I believe doing so gives them an anchor of authenticity and something readers can relate to, either from their own knowledge or a bit of research. However, I have been known to take geographical liberties to suit the stories and all errors in that respect are my own doing.

I was a cop for thirty years in Lancashire and although I was never actually stationed in Blackpool I did work in the resort on many occasions, particularly during the 80s and 90s (decades which now seem very long ago!). The first reason I spent time there was because officers from all over the county were drafted in annually to police the huge political conferences that used to be held there, the Conservative and Labour parties alternating their yearly visits, with the Lib-Dems crammed in there somewhere along the line. The police operations were huge, costly, and usually quite enjoyable.

That said, I was an armed officer (with a Smith & Wesson Model 10 revolver by my side) at the Tory party conference in Blackpool in 1985, the year after the Brighton bombing. It was a scary time, with another IRA attack a very real possibility and police snipers on all the roof tops.

In the mid-80s I joined the newly-formed Operational Support Unit and although I was based in East Lancashire at the time, our unit (essentially a go-anywhere, do-anything squad) spent a great deal of time travelling to Blackpool, usually at weekends in summer, to provide local officers with support.

It was about this time I began to see Blackpool as a great setting for crime stories, which were beginning to fester in my mind.

Most serious reported crime in Blackpool is concentrated on a 250 metre-wide strip, running north-south, with the Irish Sea on the right and Blackpool on the left, which is of course the core of the resort; the place where money is prised from people, legally and illegally. I found it fascinating that the majority of crime was committed in the area where people, including families, came to have fun. Many of them were, of course, unaware of anything untoward going on around them. Inland, behind this strip, Blackpool can be quite genteel and middle class, although there are some pockets of great deprivation to be found in high rise flats and on some council estates.

So Blackpool became the setting for the majority of my novels, although I have slowly extended my geography to include much more of Lancashire (and other parts of the world) as Henry’s character grew and his role as a Senior Investigating Officer expanded as the books progressed.

However, when I was planning and writing Facing Justice in 2011, the sixteenth Henry Christie book – which began life during one of the worst winters we’d had for some years, when we were snowed in for almost a week around Christmas 2010 (read the novel, see the link!). I was also looking for a location to suit the story, a village somewhere out in the wilds of Lancashire. Unfortunately I could not find a ‘real’ village in the particular location I wanted to use – up in the far reaches of the Lune Valley. So I invented a village called Kendleton. It was a mix of some of the villages I love in Lancashire, such as Dunsop Bridge, Slaidburn and Newton: picturesque, with a village green, shop and pub, and I put it on a fictitious tributary of the River Lune.

I never really dreamed I would return to the village in subsequent novels, but because of the way Henry progressed in his life – he now lives with the pub landlady – that is exactly what happened and Kendleton has become very much a real village to me. I can vividly visualise it as I write, and it has become, crucially, another character in the stories. I actually love writing about Henry taking his breakfast sandwich and mug of coffee out onto the pub steps in the early morning and watching the mist rise from the village green and maybe spotting a red deer launching itself back into the woodland beyond.

But Kendleton does not exist, other than in my strange mind.

I have had readers approach me during my talks, telling me they have pored over maps of Lancashire to try to find this place without success. I take this as a compliment because it shows just how real a fictional place (and characters) can feel to people, including myself. Although it is a made-up place, it does have an anchor in reality and it is populated by some good, strong characters such as Alison – Henry’s intended – and her daughter Ginny, the inebriated local GP and his farmer friend who prop up the bar of the Tawny Owl like the two old geezers in The Muppets.

But still, the question remains – where is Kendleton?

Some clues: it is located somewhere in north Lancashire in the area where the Forest of Bowland abuts the River Lune Valley, somewhere near Mallowdale Fell (where Henry and his friend Karl Donaldson almost came to grief once). It can be reached by driving out of Lancaster along the A683 and turning right somewhere after the village of Caton and heading into the hills…except you won’t find the road to Kendleton unless you happen to be very lucky. I’m told it appears for just one day every 100 years, or am I just thinking about Brigadoon?

So the action in Unforgiving begins in the reality that is Blackpool and then swings in the latter half of the book to fictional Kendleton, but just because it is a quiet village in the back of beyond, it does not mean that nothing goes on here, as Henry finds out to his cost. In an earlier book, Bad Tidings (the nineteenth book in the series), Henry is warned by his mother, ‘Secrets. All villages have secrets. Lots of them. And they always surface at some time or another. Nothing ever remains secret forever, and nor do the lies…’

Enjoy.

You can find more information about Nick Oldham on his Facebook page.

This is the full transcript of the interview I did earlier this year with Live Magazine

Mary Lee-Slade speaks to local author, Nick Oldham, about his latest release – a novelisation of the Danny Dyer film, Vendetta

Preston based former police inspector, Nick Oldham, has turned from fighting a life of crime to writing about it with his DCI Henry Christie novels. Now, Nick has found inspiration from the big screen. Working with Richwater Films, he has written the official novelisation to their latest British film, Vendetta, which stars Danny Dyer and Vincent Regan.
The novel follows Dyer’s character Jimmy Vickers, an SAS operative back from Afghanistan in mysterious circumstances, following the brutal murder of his father and mother by a feral group of criminals playing havoc in his home town.
How did you get the job of writing the novelisation of Vendetta?
Like most book writers, I am always interested in the possibility of seeing my work transferred to a screen, large or small. To that end I sent one of my early novels to the CEO of Richwater Films, Jonathan Sothcott. I’d done some research on the company and saw they were interested in producing gangster-style films and I thought that my book, ‘The Last Big Job’ might be something that would interest them.
As it happened, Jonathan liked the book, but didn’t feel it was something he could take on as a project. He was good enough to reply to me and I asked him if I could meet up with him and pick his brains about film production, thinking I might be able to become a film producer myself. Again he was good enough to say yes and subsequently we met for a chat in London in June last year.
During the course of our meeting we discussed the film and also novelisations of films and that they seemed to be a dying art form. At one point in the meeting Jonathan gave me a sidelong glance and asked if I would be interested in writing the book of the film Vendetta. I replied, “It would be a thought, wouldn’t it?”
I returned home that evening to find an email waiting for me saying that he’d discussed the idea with Darren Laws of Caffeine Nights Publishing and they were both up for it. The next day I had a call from Darren to discuss it further, then the screenplay for Vendetta was sent to me, the day after that I signed a contract to write the book and the week after I began to do just that!
How did the writing process differ from writing an original book from scratch?
When I write a novel it usually takes me six or seven months to complete. I usually write a draft in longhand, then transfer this to the word processor, editing as I go along. For Vendetta I decided that I would write the novel in the same way, because that’s just how I work.
The big difference with writing a book from a screenplay is that the story is already laid out for you and the writer’s job is to then translate that into a novel that works on its own merit. So as a writer you are tied to the storyline, but within that constraint you can expand and fill in gaps within the story.
One of the things that was alluded to in the screenplay of Vendetta was the main character’s time spent as a special ops soldier in Afghanistan and this is something I took and used as a prologue for the book. I also expanded the backstory of the main character – Jimmy Vickers, played by Danny Dyer – as well as his family, who, without giving anything away, are brutally murdered early in the story. So, though there are constraints, there is also a lot of room to be creative.
How long did it take?
As I said, I usually write a book in six or seven months, but I only had six weeks to complete Vendetta! This was to ensure the novelisation could be published in synch with the film in November. So that was a major challenge!
I planned my approach very carefully and kept to a very tight schedule and did nothing else for that period of time. That said, I had a holiday booked for two weeks at a villa in Menorca on what would be weeks four and five of that period, so I completed the handwritten draft before going on holiday, then packed up the laptop, went on holiday and got up at 8am each morning. While the rest of the villa slept, I typed for more than four hours every day, and by the time the holiday was over, I had the typed draft complete.
It was a great experience and who can really complain about typing by a pool in the sun each day? I spent a further week correcting and editing the draft when I returned home and then had a week in Ibiza to recover!
What input did the film company have on the end product?
None is the short answer to that. They were very pleased with the end result – as was I. Jonathan wrote a very nice foreword and, other than some minor editorial queries, the book that was published was the book I submitted.
From a personal point of view, did you enjoy the story of Vendetta?
The story of Vendetta is right up my street – it’s the kind of tale I love and could read or watch all day long. The screenplay, written by Stephen Reynolds, who also directed the film, was very slick and told the story brilliantly.
A screenplay is completely different than a book and because of that I don’t really think I would have changed the story in any way, because it worked so well and was a joy to read and then novelise.
Was it a challenge not to stray from the film’s plot?
I was asked to write about 60,000 words for the novel (my usual length is about 80,000 words), which does sound like a lot, but it actually isn’t. Because of that there is not much room to stray from the film’s plot, but it was such a well-structured story anyway, there wasn’t really any need to. All I did really was bulk up the characters, rearrange some of the scenes, fill in some gaps and have a real ball with the killings!
Did you meet Danny Dyer and did you write Danny’s character with him in mind?
I haven’t met Danny, although I have had the opportunity to do so, but unfortunately could not make it. It was useful to know a bit about Danny and I was fortunate enough to be able to see a rough-cut of the film, which did help. I imagined him saying the words that were firstly in the screenplay, and secondly, the ones I wrote that were extra.
With the success of Vendetta, will you write any more novelisations in the future?
I have just finished the novelisation of the next Danny Dyer film, which is called Assassin. The film will be released later this year and hopefully the novelisation will accompany it. This is a great hit man story with a bit of a twist by JK Amalou, who also directs the film. It’s another great part for Danny, whose star is very much in the ascendant with his role on Eastenders.
With that complete, have you got any other projects in the pipeline?
I’m just about to start the next Henry Christie novel due for delivery to the publisher, Severn House, at the end of June and I’ve just copy-edited the 21st DCI Henry Christie novel, Low Profile, which will be published at the end of April 2014. I’m contracted to write one more after that, so my year is pretty booked up already.
I know that Vendetta 2 has been announced by Richwater Films and filming will start later this year. Fingers crossed I may be asked to write the novel for that one, and if so, I’ll make time in my already busy schedule.
Nick Oldham’s books are available to purchase at all good bookstores and online

The latest Henry Christie thriller Judgement Call is published on 31st October by Severn House - It's 1982 - and Henry is a young cop with a point to prove and an attitude to control. His youthful enthusiasm can sometimes cloud his better judgement. When a series of rash decisions results in disaster, Henry determines to put things right his own way - despite being warned off by his detective inspector. Setting out to smash singlehandedly a dangerous criminal enterprise, Henry's impetuous actions lead to more conflict - and a very real threat to his own life.

The latest Henry Christie thriller - BAD TIDINGS - The possibility of catching a serial killer is the bait used by Detective Superintendent Henry Christie's chief constable to lure him away from his planned Christmas festivities. Henry could have said no - but if there's one thing he can't refuse, it's the chance to bring a murderer to book. In his thirty years with the Lancashire constabulary, Henry Christie has never known a case like this. What he couldn't anticipate was that he would be stretched to the limit both personally and professionally. Unexpectedly stepping into a blood-soaked turf war raging between two local crime families, Henry soon finds himself slap-bang in the middle of a violent situation where his own life is also on the line.
http://tinyurl.com/c8daaoa

Henry Christie series E-books

GREAT NEWS! Very pleased to announce that books 5-8 in the Henry Christie series - that is, 'Backlash', 'Substantial Threat', 'Dead Heat' and 'Big City Jacks' - are to be published as eBooks in the new year. 'Backlash' and 'Substantial Threat' in January 2013, 'Dead Heat' and 'Big City Jacks' in February. More information as I get it, including links, blurbs,reviews, etc ... and even though I say it myself (as I often do) these books are all terrific reads and I'm hugely proud of them and glad to see them available to readers again. That of course means that the first eight books in the series will soon be available and can be read consecutively. The newer ones are, of course, published as e-books soon after they are published as print books and the latest one - Fighting for the Dead - will appear as an e-book in December 2012.

This is the Kirkus review of INSTINCT (reviewed on May 1, 2012) - now available as an e-book from various platforms, including Amazon. Follow the link at the side of the page to take you to Amazon.

A terrorist hunt collides with a homicidal rapist’s spree.
Blackpool Detective Supt. Henry Christie is surveying the crime scene of a raped and murdered teenager when he witnesses the duly warranted shooting of a suspected terrorist sought by MI5, MI6, SIS, Special Branch, Counter Terrorism and his old pal Karl Donaldson, a supersleuth doing undercover work as a legate at the American embassy. While the agencies bicker over which has jurisdiction, another suspected terrorist is collared with bombs strapped to his chest and a detonator in his hand. Does that account for everyone? Donaldson thinks he winged another perp, slowing but not stopping his getaway. Blood droplets and airport security identify him as Jamil Akram, who runs terrorist camps in Yemen, instructs aspiring suicide bombers, and plans events for maximum public outrage and fear. Jamil hustles himself to Gambia, where Boone, a semi-retired smuggler, eventually realizes that the man he’s agreed to pick up is worth a lot more than the sum he agreed on. His blackmail buys him a gruesome, watery grave, the brutalization of his girlfriend Michelle and a spot of vengeance engineered by his drinking buddy Steve Flynn, an ex-cop in Christie’s squad who now takes on fishing charters. Meanwhile, Christie learns that one of the four different sperm deposits in his teenage victim matches Jamil’s DNA. As Christie, Donaldson and Flynn (Facing Justice, 2011, etc.) share information, skullduggery most British comes into play, with more deaths and a cover-up in the offing.
Nobody makes coincidences seem as likely or as deadly as Oldham, who tempers all this mayhem with a new romantic entanglement for recent widower Christie, but also staves off his retirement with the adrenaline rush of the chase.

---

My first ever published piece of fiction, a short story that won first prize in a Police Review short story competition in 1983. First prize was £150 (I think) and a trip to London to meet and have lunch with Dick Francis and Peter Walker (author of the 'Constable' books that became the basis of the TV series, Heartbeat) Great prize!

HOME AND FAMILY.

The house was on one of those new estates that are being erected everywhere. It was semi-detached and made of red brick, quite tastefully designed within certain economic limits, and the garden had a turfed front lawn which the builder had the audacity to call landscaping. He’d done this at no extra cost.

In all it was good, clean and pleasant, but had no character yet. I supposed that would probably come in a few years time when the meagre saplings had been given time to grow and the plot had been adapted to the individual ideas of the home owner.

Theirs was number four and had been half of the first pair of houses to be constructed, so the road to it had been made up.

Further on, the inhabitants of the newest houses were obliged to run their cars over potholes that must have wrought terrible damage to their shock absorbers. I didn’t envy them at all.

However, they weren’t my problem, so they didn’t matter.

I parked outside and paused for a few seconds to take in everything before venturing to the front door.

The woodwork – the window frames, weather boarding, eaves and front door – was all done in brilliant glossy white which contrasted strongly with the blood red Accrington brick.

The front lawn, turfed and landscaped, had been trimmed already and a flower bed planted all around with pansies and such like. The centre of the lawn had been cut out, the rich black soil turned over but nothing had been planted yet. It would probably have roses there eventually, I thought.

The garage formed part of the house. It’s door was painted white also. On the driveway was a three year old Mini, its metal work gleaming and polished. It could have been brand new.

Reluctantly I released the catch on my seat belt and let it run back on the inertia reel. Then I took my clipboard off the passenger seat, opened the door and got out.

As I walked up the short driveway I brushed some crumbs off my uniform and adjusted my clip-on tie.

I remember thinking I should look as tidy as possible, but even as it went through my mind I countered it. How absurd! If there was one thing that didn’t matter it was my appearance.

The husband answered the door and managed to smile at me. He was a good looking boy, clean shaven, with fair skin and a good head of black hair. He wasn’t much older than twenty.

I learned he was an apprentice draughtsman or architect or something like that. His eyes were a piercing blue, a sort of film star blue.

When you see eyes like those on screen you think, ‘they can’t be real.’ But then you meet someone, like this boy, and they are real.

He was wearing a pale blue sweater – one of those with a leaping panther motif – a floppy collared shirt, jeans and a pair of old fashioned zip-up slippers, which seemed almost ludicrous in relation to the rest of the outfit.

Had it been another time, another place, another incident, I would have remarked on them, made a joke perhaps, but not now.

Why did this have to happen to the best people, I thought.

He led me through into the living room and I felt cold as I glanced quickly round. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t fair. Where was justice?

Sitting on one of the chairs was the wife, hunched over, her head in her hands, long silky hair cascading down, over and through her slim fingers. She looked lost and when she sat up and faced me, I knew she was.

She had a beautiful oval face, clear skin, uncluttered by any blemish – or she would have had, had it not been wrecked by grief and torn apart by misery.

She had put make-up on earlier, that was obvious, because now the mascara had run with tears, leaving black, ugly streaks down her cheeks.

Lipstick was smeared around her mouth. She must have known how bad she looked but couldn’t have cared. I didn’t care either and thought again, acidly, ‘the best people...’

I think she nearly said something and I would have liked to hear her voice – I knew it normally would have been bright and chirpy – but in the end she said nothing, shook her head and gazed blindly ahead, choking back sobs, almost hiccupping with the effort, but remaining silent.

I think I looked at her for almost a full minute, the husband standing just behind me. I was mesmerised, absolutely entranced by beauty engulfed in despair.

The husband coughed and I came to. He led me upstairs. Pointing to one of the bedrooms, he said, ‘I don’t want to go in.’ I nodded, understanding.

Nor did I.

I pushed the door open.

She lay there in the cot barely weeks old, unmoving. A face as beautifully formed as her mother’s, but still. Features all in perfect miniature, eyes, nose, ears, mouth, but still.

I swallowed gently and pulled the sheet over her head.

I didn’t bother calling the body removers. There was no point. I carried her out in the cot and drove to the mortuary with her in the back seat of the panda.

THE END

Scene of the Crime

The blog of author J. Sydney Jones, focusing on mysteries and thrillers with spirit of place - many thanks to Syd for posting this interview with me! (the inconsistency in the text is down to me, not Syd, by the way)

“Murder Was a Frequent Visitor to Blackpool”: The DCI Henry Christie Novels of Nick Oldham

May 30, 2012 by Scene of the Crime

Nick Oldham follows the old dictum of writing what you know. He spent thirty years in various positions in the Lancashire Constabulary before retiring in 2005 to write full time. He has written eighteen well regarded police procedurals in the DCI Henry Christie series, novels set mostly in Blackpool, England. “A flawed and very human hero, inside-the-cop-shop politics, heart-pounding suspense, and gritty realism are trademarks of Oldham’s excellent Henry Christie series” noted Booklist of these works. “Gritty and precise” is how the London Times described the series, while Kirkus Reviews dubbed these works “splendid British procedural[s] with complex plotting.”
Oldham’s series begins with the 1996 title, A Time for Justice, and continues through Fighting for the Dead, which will be out at the end of the year. Also published in the U.S. in 2012, Instinct offers “unexpected twists, a multifaceted plot, multiple subplots, and even a bit of romance,” according to Booklist.
Nick, it is indeed a pleasure to have you with us finally at Scene of the Crime. 

You know the drill–let’s start things off with a description of your own crime scene.

Most of my crime novels are set in the famous seaside resort of Blackpool, on the Lancashire coast in the northwest of England. I don’t actually live there – maybe 12 miles away now – but I came to know the place when I was a police officer in Lancashire, which I was for thirty years. Although I was never posted there, I spent quite a lot of time there for various reasons, such as to police political conferences and regularly, during my time on the Support Unit, to police the resort for public order/crime problems – of which there are many.

Even before I started writing – although the idea of being a writer was with me probably since I was a teenager – I thought that using Blackpool would be a good setting for thrillers and my time as a cop only served to confirm this. I still visit the resort regularly.


What things about Blackpool make it unique and a good physical setting in your books?

Blackpool is a great setting for crime thrillers. It is a people magnet, drawing well over ten million tourists in each year (and that figure used to be 18 million) and has a very transient population, with a surge in the summer months – obviously – and a lull in winter. There is a 200 metre-wide seafront strip called the Golden Mile, running north to south in which most of this population finds itself and in which most of the action in Blackpool happens. It is a place teeming with amusement arcades, cafes, and tourist attractions, iffy clubs and pubs and includes three piers – and of course Blackpool Tower, Britain’s answer to the Eiffel Tower, though not as romantic. The resort is very adept at separating visitors from their hard earned cash, although as the economy suffers, so does Blackpool and as a result becomes seedier and seedier in many places.

Inland, there are also some pockets of deprivation and some of the council estates are amongst the poorest in the country, often sitting adjacent to a middle class wealth -  and there is a lot of that in Blackpool too. I love the contrast which can be used to create friction in fiction (sorry).

Because of this drifting population, much of the crime committed within the resort – such as murder and serious assaults – are very difficult to solve for the police as they are often committed by people who are only in town for a short time. It is also a lure for people on the run, from vulnerable youngsters to criminals who are hiding out and want to do so in an anonymous setting. The younger ones are ripe for being abused by older people, sadly.

It does have its moments as a murder capital and the offence is one that happens regularly on the streets and in the boarding houses. I recall working there one year in the mid-1980’s when there were 14 murders there in the first six months, though this is a record I don’t think it has achieved since.


Did you consciously set out to use Blackpool as a “character” in your books, or did this grow naturally out of the initial story or stories?

Yes, I consciously set out to use Blackpool as a background character in my books from the first and in so doing, it became a living, breathing thing, puffing away against the fictional characters in the books. Sometimes it’s like a demon, sometime like a reassuring friend, but always something – or someone – to be a bit wary of, because it can change faster than the tide, suck you in and spit you out.


How do you incorporate location in your fiction?
I think the action in my books unfolds naturally against the location, and although I’m not a slave to geography I also quite like to be accurate in some respects – such as for car chases and foot pursuits because I like to think that if a reader was interested enough, they could actually get out a street map and follow the action, which again adds to authenticity.


How does your protagonist, DCI Henry Christie, interact with his surroundings?
Although not born and bred in Blackpool, Christie is a Lancashire lad and has worked on the streets of the resort for the bulk of his service. He knows it intimately, he knows its denizens intimately and he gets a real buzz from working there. He feels as though he was put on this earth to investigate murder, and fight for the dead, and Blackpool provides him with many opportunities for this.


Has there been any local reaction to your works?
Local reaction to the books is very positive and I do very well in the libraries on the coast and my ‘chats’ are usually well attended. In fact I once did a triple header with two other writers at Blackpool’s main library (they shall remain nameless but were far better known than me) but at the end of the talk there was a queue of about a dozen people for my books to be signed and not a one for the other writers – am I OK to report this gloat?

I’ve recently had a three-quarter page article published in the Blackpool Gazette, the main evening newspaper on the Fylde coast and am hoping for some coverage in the book pages of the two big glossy magazines that cover Lancashire.

They’ve yet to be published in Cantonese!


Have you ever made any goofs in depicting your location or time period? Please share–the more humorous the better (we all have).

Whilst I have never regretted the fact that I use real locations for my books, which I think give them a gritty authenticity, I have to admit that I am not a slave to geography and will gladly move buildings to suit the story. I don’t mind relocating a petrol station, say, to enable a car chase to become more exciting. I don’t think I’ve made any particular goofs unknowingly but there are probably continuity errors in the books themselves, now at number 18 in the series. Again, I’m not a great slave to detail and if I think it’s right, I’ll write it, even if something doesn’t match up from a previous book.

The hardest thing to do is keep up to date with all the changes in police procedure and law, but I try.


Of the Christie novels, do you have a favorite book or scene that focuses on the place? Could you quote a short passage or give an example of how the location figures in your novels?

This passage is from my second novel, Nightmare City, which sums up what I’ve been saying about the resort. It’s at the start of a chapter early in the book when Henry is on his way to deal with the murder of a prostitute found on the beach and is mulling over what the resort means to him as a detective.

“There is one thing about Blackpool, Henry Christie thought whilst driving south down the sea-front. It is never a dull place.
“Completely unique. The world’s busiest, brashest, trashiest resort, attracting floods of tourists every year. It is a finely tuned machine, expertly geared to separating them from their hard-earned dough.
“Even in the low season when all the residents – police included – can take midweek breathers, the weekends draw in thousands of day-trippers, eager to enjoy themselves and throw their money away.
“The public face of Blackpool is that of a happy-go-lucky place where everything is perfect: funfairs, candyfloss, the Tower, the Illuminations and children’s laughter.
“Henry Christie rarely saw this side of Blackpool.
“He dealt with the flipside which most people never experience but which, as a cop, he could not avoid. There was the massive and continually expanding drug culture and the criminal manifestations behind it – burglary, theft, violent robberies and overdoses; each weekend the influx of visitors who attended the nightclubs left a legacy of serious assaults by itinerant, untraceable offenders; there was the growing problem of child sex and pornography; and the explosion of a huge gay culture had brought its own problems to Blackpool, related more to the prejudice of others, resulting in many gays being the subject of beatings or even rape by heterosexual males.
“Then, of course, there was murder.
Murder was a frequent visitor to Blackpool.”
Who are your favorite writers, and do you feel that other writers influenced you in your use of the spirit of place in your novels?

The great influences for me are Frederick Forsyth, Jack Higgins and Wilbur Smith – with a lot of Ian Fleming in there, too. I still re-read their books regularly. I do like American writers and have just discovered CJ Box, and enjoy his use of the wide, wild spaces in America – which become characters in their own right -  and love his protagonist Joe Pickett, kind of laconic, even a bit slow-witted on the surface, but underneath he’s as sharp as a knife used to skin bears.

I have also just rediscovered Carl Hiassen, one of the funniest writers going.

All the above evoke a spirit of place, whether it be war torn Africa or whacky Florida and show, to me, just how important location is to the overall feeling of a book.
 

If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why?

I enjoy living in Lancashire, a wonderful county with a varied and exciting history and geography and to be honest I don’t feel the pull to live anywhere else. That said, I enjoy the sun on my back – not a daily occurrence in the north of England – and like spending time abroad. I am particularly fond of the Canary Islands, Gran Canaria in particular, and would like to spend extended periods of time there – a month now and again, maybe – rather than live there full time. The Canaries are so varied, each one totally different than its neighbor, but Gran Canaria has it all – wonderful beaches and a magnificent hinterland, full of breath-taking scenery. So I’d go there, if anywhere. Love the paella, too
.

What’s next for you?

Having just submitted my 18^th Henry Christie novel – Fighting for the Dead – I’m having a few days off, then am going to begin the 19^th, which is the last book I'm contracted to which is the last book I’m contracted to deliver. Beyond that, I would like to carry on writing the novels and I’m keen to take Henry on, maybe beyond the police (he can retire any time now) and also explore his earlier years in the job when he was a uniformed constable on the crime car in East Lancashire. Lots of ideas, not enough time – usual story!

Nick, thanks for taking the time to talk with us at Scene of the Crime.
For more information on Nick Oldham, visit his homepage. http://nickoldham.net/

• J. Sydney Jones

  
  J. Sydney Jones is the author of the acclaimed "Viennese Mystery" series, set in Vienna 1900. Novels include THE EMPTY MIRROR, REQUIEM IN VIENNA, and THE SILENCE.
  “What Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did for Victorian London and Caleb Carr did for old New York, J. Sydney Jones does for historic Vienna.”
  -Karen Harper, New York Times bestselling author
  Visit him at his Web site: www.jsydneyjones.com
  

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A Time For Justice - a few thoughts on my first novel

In a galaxy far, far away ... some thoughts on 'A Time For Justice', my very first Henry Christie novel.
It was written when mobile phones were very rare, when cops perched on desks with phones to their ears, waiting for faxes to arrive and when laptops were still something you got in sleazy clubs. Re-reading it in order to get it into some sort of shape for an e-book, I was pleased at how good it was, with various storylines interweaving, lots of sex, violence and swearing ... mmm ... and a lot of action and some great set pieces.
It does have its flaws, yes, but overall I am still very proud of it and it does stand the test of time, and going back to see how cops operated without mobiles stuck to their ears was quite enlightening - and a hell of a lot of fun!

The Rolling Stones - Thick 'n'Thin, Thru 'n' Thru

Rather like Henry Christie, the main character in my series of 18 crime novels, I am a thru and thru, died in the wool, Rolling Stones fan.
My association with them began circa 1965 - I was nine at the time - and I still remember the grainy TV images of the check-shirted Jagger miming badly to 'Get Off Of My Cloud' on Top of the Pops. Truly mesmerising, even then.
That said, although their music was fairly regularly heard in the household, it wasn't really until that fateful day in April 1971 when I tuned into TOTP to watch a pink suited Jagger, leering knowingly at the camera, strutting and punching out the lyrics to 'Brown Sugar' (it's about what?) that I was really hooked and began to 'get them'.
I saved for and began to acquire their back catalogue - from the first unnamed album all the way through to Sticky Fingers, listening, exploring and finally beginning to understand them.
But it was the early summer of 1972 that things changed completely with the issue of Exile on Main Street, which became the soundtrack of my then adolescent life  - and, in some respects, still is.
My first big romance broke up to the strains of 'Rocks Off'. I played weekly poker sessions with school friends once a week to 'Rip This Joint' and - obviously - 'Tumbling Dice', a song that, to me, remains their most sublime ever, with Jagger's muddied vocals, Keith's incredible descending riff, Charlie's amazing drumming, all backed up by the stories of the ramshackle, drug-addled way in which the album was recorded in tax exile in the South of France. It all added to the mix and myth of the band.
And from then on, their music continued to be the backing track to my life - sustaining me through happy and sad times. They have always been there and this has been supplemented by catching them live wherever possible.
The first time I saw them was at Belle Vue, Manchester, UK in September 73, when they were just at the far edge of that incredible creative period of 68-72.I went there thinking I would sit and watch them, consider the music thoughtfully. No chance! The last time was in Sheffield, UK in 2006 where I thought they played better than ever. I was still amazed at how these spindly troubadours could grind a steel town to a complete halt. They were incredible.
So - what about their 50th anniversary celebrations?
Will they? Won't they?
Who knows, except them?
One thing I do know is that, as they've been a part of my life for 50 years, I'll be sad but not devastated if they don't tour or release a new album because I know that, whatever, they've been my constant companions for all my adult life and their huge body of work will always be there for me to plunder (I regularly find and rediscover forgotten gems) and together with all the memories, I'll be there for them whatever they choose to do, thick 'n' thin, thru 'n' thru, because they were there for me, even though they didn't know it.

The first four Henry Christie novels

With the e-publication of The Last Big Job, this now means that the first four Henry Christie novels (the other three being A Time For Justice, Nightmare City and One Dead Witness) are now available from Amazon - at an amazing price of 99p each - which I'm really pleased about because they've been pretty hard to track down for a while. Check out the new cover for The Last Big Job - and the lion's eyes in the clouds! Brill!

As promised, a list of the Henry Christie books in order, plus a blurb for each.

A Time for Justice - Jimmy Hinksman does not think twice when he embarks on a mission to bomb two businessmen in a busy motorway, but the bomb causes carnage which sets every police force in the country after him. (e-book available)

Nightmare City - One particular weekend generates a crime wave, including the murder of a prostitute, the wounding of a policewoman, a crazy car chase and the shooting of a gorilla. What Henry doesn't realise is that these incidents are linked.(e-book available)

One Dead Witness - A homicidal child-molester has broken out of jail and is heading for Blackpool to get even with one of Henry's colleagues, DC Danielle Furness, the police officer who had the child-molester jailed. (e-book available)

The Last Big Job - When three police cars are blown up, and elsewhere a building society heist goes terribly wrong, Henry investigates a case which will have devastating consequences for the whole force.(e-book available)

Backlash - It is party conference week and Blackpool is throbbing with politicians, media, demonstrators, hangers-on and spin doctors. The last thing Henry needs on top of that is a murder.

Substantial Threat - When the brother of the country's most notorious gangster is killed, Henry gets sucked into the world of ultra-organised crime which knows no international or moral boundaries.

Dead Heat - One of his daughter's horse-riding friends asks Henry to investigate the mutilation of some very expensive bloodstock owned by her family. He agrees, but knows he is going against his better judgement.

Big City Jacks - When a murdered Manchester drug dealer is found to be a CID informant working for a small nucleus of corrupt detectives, Henry is plunged into a complex investigation which has far-reaching consequences for the police service.

Psycho Alley - A series of increasingly violent assaults is shrouding the happy-go-lucky resort of Blackpool in a veil of terror, and Henry finds himself pitted against a devious killer from his past, and his own inner demons.

Critical Threat - Henry investigates the brutal killing of an ex-cop turned sleazy private eye and faces his toughest challenge as he tried to head off a ruthless assassin who has never missed a target.

Screen of Deceit - When 14-year old Mark Carter's sister Beth dies from a massive drugs overdose he agrees to become an informer for Henry, plunging them both into the world of teenage street gangs, brutal murder, drug turf wars and betrayal.

Crunch Time - Henry goes undercover to ingratiate himself with violent criminal Ryan Ingram. So the last thing Henry needs is the appearance of a man bearing a fatal grudge that will jeopardise not only himself, but also his family.

The Nothing Job - Whilst tracking down three dangerous criminals, Henry is asked to close down another investigations into a fatal police shooting. However he soon uncovers a number of worrying connections between the two cases.

Seizure - When disgraced ex-cop Steve Flynn's son Jake is kidnapped by a dangerous criminal associate, Henry must team up with Flynn not only to save Jake's life, but also to recover a million pounds in missing drug money.(e-book available)

Hidden Witness – Henry's investigation into the brutal execution of a seemingly innocent old man on a Blackpool side street uncovers links to organised crime and the realisation that there is much more to the old man's murder than simple underworld retribution. (e-book available)

Facing Justice - Dealing with a murder, a shooting, big-time gangsters with deadly scores to settle, police corruption, a sick friend, awful weather conditions, an amorous landlady and a wild cat that may be loose on the moors is not the sort of short winter break that Henry had envisaged. (e-book available)

Instinct – Grieving after a huge personal tragedy, Henry is trying to pull his life back together. He's thinking about retirement, but all thoughts of a peaceful dotage are shattered when the phone rings in the early hours and he is called out to investigate the brutal rape and murder of a teenage girl.

An introduction to the Henry Christie crime novels of Nick Oldham

I've written seventeen police-based crime novels featuring Henry Christie

The novels have been affectionately described at ‘Blackburn Noir’.  I'm a former Lancashire police officer with thirty years of operational policing,  and the books are are dark, police-based crime stories set in the bleak north-west of England.  At the heart of these novels is Henry Christie.

‘A main character who's both intelligent and appealing’ Emily Melton, Booklist

Henry Christie is the type of tough, caring, no-nonsense copper most of us instinctively imagine an effective policeman should be.  Married with two fast-growing daughters, he’s a working-class northerner through-and-through.  Amongst his troops he commands respect, because they know that when things begin to kick off, he’ll be leading from the front.  He likes to ruffle feathers and has little time for politically-correct edicts from above, or for fast-tracked management-speak bosses who can’t pull their operational weight.

Christie is a perfect balance of brains and brawn.  His cunning detective’s mind is easily the equal of a Morse or a Frost, but it’s backed-up, when needed, by the ‘kick-the-door-down’ attitude of a Jack Regan.  Yet, he’s human and he sometimes makes mistakes - occasionally big ones - and nobody could criticise him more harshly than himself.  Underneath the tough exterior he’s a deeply sensitive individual.  He’s haunted by the nervous breakdown he once suffered after a harrowing incident in which he risked his life pulling school children from a minibus submerged in freezing river.  Even now, it’s a constant struggle to prevent the bleak realities of the job from becoming become too much for him.  However, the job is his life, and he does it to the best of his ability.

Blackpool is the setting for most of the stories.  It’s an unusual but appropriately symbolic backdrop which highlights the underlying themes of the novels; a glitzy tourist veneer masking an underbelly of vice and corruption.  The novels themselves are fast-moving and densely-plotted police procedurals and cover a range of themes and topics.

A list of all the books - in order - together with brief outlines will be posted shortly.