Current News

Chemical weapons and the British ninety-eight years ago

September 23rd, 2013

On the 25th September 1915 the British Army used poison gas for the first time. Echoing public opinion around the world, the United Nations Secretary General has described the use …

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CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger

July 17th, 2013

Good to hear The Poison Tide has made the long list for the Ian Fleming thriller dagger. Seems quite a short list to me, but they chuck a few more …

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The Poison Tide on Kindle

May 6th, 2013

Hurray, Poison Tide under four pounds on the Kindle – just thought I’d say. A snip for a book Allan Massie in The Scotsman described as ‘compelling and smoothly’ executed; …

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The spy and his conscience

April 11th, 2013

The Poison Tide is now in paperback. To mark its publication – and in the hope that it will make me as rich as Croesus – here is an article …

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New historical fiction festival in home of Sir Walter Scott

April 5th, 2013

Great new event from next Friday [April 12]; the first Summerhall Historical Fiction Festival in Edinburgh, the home of Scott, Stevenson and Conan Doyle – and quite a few excellent writers …

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Colour in World War 1

March 4th, 2013

Researching my new novel about the Secret Service Bureau in World War 1, I found this great Dutch website with some of the first photographs taken in colour [select Great War …

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Historically Criminal in London

February 28th, 2013

A great chance to talk history and mystery at the Victoria Library in London last week, with authors Mike Ripley and Robert Ryan. Lots of fascinating opinions from the floor …

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Blog for George Orwell Day

January 21st, 2013

To mark the first official Orwell Day and the anniversary of his death, there’s a nice little piece in History Today on the publication of 1984. It sent me back …

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History Today and The Scotsman at Christmas

December 19th, 2012

Very generous review of The Poison Tide in January’s ‘History Today’ magazine. Jerome de Groot writes that ‘it is a cracking read, a thriller that has heft and a challenging …

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Shots: Getting Away with Murder

December 19th, 2012

Mike Ripley has made The Poison Tide his thriller of 2012 in ‘Getting Away with Murder’. Praise indeed.