Pensioner from Wolverhampton uses lockdown to publish a crime thriller
A former Customs Officer and magistrate has used lockdown to complete the rewriting and editing of his second crime novel, which has now been published.
Father-of-one Melvin Foster, aged 76, from Wednesfield, self-published his first novel, The Gemini Hypothesis in 2005 but was disappointed by a lack of sales.
Now he has honed his craft of crime writing and his second novel, Grave Secrets, has been published by KBP, based in Durham.
Melvin started a career in engineering but then studied for an Open University degree and joined the civil service to become a customs officer dealing with investigations.
He took early retirement and was also a magistrate in Wolverhampton for 24 years.
Melvin said: "After the earlier disappointment with my first crime novel I started writing another four to five years ago.
"I drafted a follow-up and it lay on the computer.
"I decided to rewrite and edit it during lockdown and it took me about eight to nine months work to do complete the task.
"My latest book follows a man who has come out of the Navy with some personal baggage and who is in financial difficult.
"He finds his Uncle James, who was a pseudo father to him, has died and left him an antiquarian bookshop and a house.
"Thinking this is the solution to his problems he attends the funeral but the police turn up because they believe the death might be suspicious.
"He cannot get his hands on the cash and discovers his uncle had been carrying out an investigation into a local grave.
"The mystery deepens as he tries to continue his uncle's search."
Melvin's book has gone on sale for £8.49 in paperback though Amazon and £3 through Kindle.
