Former Spalding High author's new novel set in Sutterton

Crime fiction author Christina James, who sets her books in and around the Spalding area, has her latest novel coming out on April 9.

‘De Vries’ is the sequel to one of her previous books called Sausage Hall, set in a real building and home in Sutterton.

The books all feature investigator DI Tim Yates, as he uncovers and solves a series of crimes.

Christina, the pen name of former Spalding High School student, Linda Bennett, said: “This is the sequel to the third book, Sausage Hall, which has proved to be the most popular. That is not why I decided to write it but I always intended to write a follow-up.

“It continues the story of Kevan de Vries, seven years after he had to leave Sausage Hall in a hurry. He is a millionaire and has owned several businesses.”

De Vries and his wife, who had been diagnosed with cancer, were desperate to have a child of their own and were convinced by the unsavoury character Tony Sentance that he could help them adopt a child.

“But when he left, it was revealed that a number of his staff were running a human trafficking network,” Christina explained.

When everything begins to unravel, de Vries flees to St Lucia. He has now come back to find out who his father is and at the same time finds himself accused of the murder of Tony Sentance.

The setting of Sausage Hall was inspired by childhood memories.

“My grandmother was the housekeeper there when I was a child,” Christina said.

And after writing Sausage Hall, Christina, who is now in her 60s, was contacted by the current owners of the home it is based on and they became friends.

“They got in touch with me and said ‘we think your novel is set in our house!’” she said.

The book will be available from www.quoscript.co.uk, via Amazon with a pre-order option and all online booksellers. It will be in bookshops after lockdown.