Ponteland author LJ Ross pens next DCI Ryan book

Angel, the fourth outing for DCI Ryan, is available for pre-release now, with the e-edition becoming available to read on August 26 to coincide with the Bank Holiday.

The latest book sees DCI Ryan’s life finally beginning to return to normal after a spate of murders on Northumberland’s Holy Island and Hadrian’s Wall.

Louise Ross is the best-selling author of the DCI Ryan novels Holy Island, Sycamore Gap and Heavenfield, all inspired by the atmospheric Northumberland landscape where she grew up.

She spent her childhood near Ponteland, attending Darras Hall First School, Dame Allan’s School and Central Newcastle High, before moving to London.

Mrs Ross, who writes under the pseudonym LJ as a thank you to her husband James for his unstinting support, said: “I’ve been absolutely overwhelmed by the feedback from readers who have already enjoyed all three of my previous DCI Ryan books and were clamouring for the next one.

“While I’ve suffered from writer’s block with the best of them, encouragement from readers through social media has kept me going.

“Everyone has developed such a connection to DCI Ryan, his love interest Dr Anna Taylor, and his loyal sidekick DS Frank Phillips, so I felt a huge responsibility not just to fans, but to the characters themselves.

“While Angel doesn’t follow on from the previous DCI Ryan trilogy, it sees favourite characters embroiled in a new investigation and I can’t wait to see readers’ reactions.”

The author gave up a lucrative career as a regulatory lawyer in the city to become a writer.

And a chance comment to her husband during a train journey along the East Coast to Edinburgh led to her writing Holy Island.

Pointing out that she was surprised no one had set a novel there as the couple passed the island of Lindisfarne, Mrs Ross started drafting a plot there and then.

All three of her first books have been mainly based in Northumberland, with grisly murders taking place in Holy Island and on Hadrian’s Wall, while DCI Ryan’s latest outing is heavily set on Tyneside.

She said: “I hadn’t been completely happy at work for some time. Falling pregnant with my son Ethan provided the catalyst for change and I haven’t looked back. To have found my voice, and most importantly, a strong readership, as an author is incredible and I can’t wait for fans of DCI Ryan to be able to get stuck into Angel.”