Firstly, I’m sorry I haven’t posted anything here since the end of February!
Since Trial by Execution, the third DCI Winters book, was published, I’ve been very busy and although I’m fairly active on Twitter, I usually only post here when I have book updates.
I’ve spent the last few months looking at the last two books I have under contract with HQ, and now I have had the thumbs up from my editor, I can now reveal that my fourth novel will be a standalone (currently titled ‘In The Blood’).
What happened to DCI Winters?
Well, the fourth book in the series was originally going to be just that. My fourth novel to be published, followed by a fifth in the series.
However, I’ve had a few ideas kicking around for some time for various standalone projects and after a chat with my editor we decided to make my fifth book a standalone, therefore ending the DCI CW series at four books – for the time being anyway.
I started writing the fourth book (currently titled The Devil’s Letters) but an idea for the standalone kept getting in the way and became something I was itching to get stuck into. After another chat with my editor and much consideration, we have decided to switch book 4 and 5 around.
It means that readers will have to wait a little longer for their next DCI Winters fix (late next year at the earliest – the existing pre-order pages will change to reflect this soon) but I’m so excited for the new standalone and I can’t wait to share it with you all next year in the spring.
Don’t worry!
I’m not going off in a completely new direction – there will still be an investigative feel about the standalone, and it will include the usual complexity and dark rawness that is clear in all my books. I’m confident that existing fans of the DCI Winters series will enjoy this fresh new story and characters just as much. Think psychological thriller meets police procedural, and that will give you an idea what’s in store.
The first draft is due end of September, but before I get back to the grind, I’ll leave you with this blurb that I’ve put together for the standalone. Enjoy!
‘People write books on it – the reasons why people kill. Reality is, they’ve only just scratched the surface. They don’t know about me . . . it’s a primal instinct. And that’s what makes me so dangerous.’
ANON
He has killed again. He shows no sign of stopping. He’s a killer born, not made. He just wants more teens to fill his playground.
CHARLOTTE
It is six months since Charlotte almost lost everything; six months since she became determined to keep her daughter, Elle, safe. Now it has become an obsession that threatens to push their already strained relationship to the brink.
These events have opened a door to a past that should have remained buried for the sake of her family.
When her world collides with the killer’s, hidden secrets are brought to the surface, and suspicions will force Charlotte to face a devastating and deadly truth; something that runs far deeper than she could ever have imagined.
T. M. E. WALSH 
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