I met up with Amazon bestselling author Mel Sherratt at the London Book Fair and we had a great chat about her books. 

Her crime novel Taunting the Dead reached #1 in the UK charts and was also one of the Top 10 bestselling books of 2012 in the UK Amazon store.
 
 
 

In the video, we briefly discuss:

• How she portrays a sense of place in her books and incorporates aspects of her own town, Stoke on Trent, into a fictional estate. Not everyone wants to read crime books about London, New York or other big cities.

• Why are we so fascinated with reading and writing violence? Mel uses violence in her crime novels but she wants you feel compassion for the victim and care that justice is served.

• Readers of Martina Cole and Lynda La Plante, as well as Casey Kelleher would enjoy Mel's books.

• Why is crime writing so popular in the UK? It's about a sense of forboding and solving a puzzle as well as giving readers a thrill.

Here's my own review for Taunting the Dead on Goodreads:

I really enjoyed this fast-paced crime novel that centres around a northern crime ring and the Police who must try to rein them in. There are only a couple of sympathetic characters which makes it all the more fun to bump off the nasty ones! High body count towards the end as the tension ratchets up, a great, fun read.

You can buy Mel's books on Amazon now.