NORWICH SLEUTH

NORWICH SLEUTH
Each part of Britain has its own fictional sleuth and Norwich is now no exception to the rule. The past two years have seen the emergence of a new sleuth on the block, Inspector Ketch of the Norwich Police. Ketch is a pseudonym for DCI Huw Price, who earned the sobriquet from his colleagues after they found out that one of his ancestors was the Regency hangman Jack Ketch.
Ketch features in four volumes of crime stories written by local Aylsham based author and Conan Doyle aficionado Kelvin Jones, the latest of these being the ebook, "The Norwich Murder Files - An Inspector Ketch Omnibus". An old style copper now in his 50's, Ketch is a luddite in this digital world and also something of an alcoholic. He uses traditional methods and pure instinct to unravel his cases.

Things are not going well for DCI Ketch of the Norwich police. He's a father at 50 years old and deprived of sleep, the Latvian drug case has been thrown out by the DPP and he's in trouble with the Deputy Chief Constable once again. So when news reaches him of a John Doe in fashionable Elm Hill in the city, he hopes for a speedy conclusion to the case. At first it appears the victim was stabbed as the result of a mugging, but his identity remains an utter mystery. And what precisely is the significance of the dead man's diary, written in French? It's a tough nut to crack for the seasoned Norfolk policeman but Ketch never gives up in the most recent ebook, The Elm Hill Corpse.

The Ketch stories (all published as ebooks in the Kindle series: Murder Most Easterly and The Norwich Murder Files) depict a changing social landscape and range in theme from domestic murders to drugs and slave trafficking. And, like all good crime tales, all of the Ketch stories utilise the East Anglian landscape to powerful and often dramatic effect, from the brooding fens to the ancient environs of Norwich city.
Author Kelvin I. Jones has been a prolific writer for a quarter of a century. He has published six books about Sherlock Holmes and the only study on Conan Doyle’s interest in spiritualism, as well as numerous articles about the Victorian detective.

The Elm Hill Corpse is available as an ebook through Amazon.

NORWICH SLEUTH

NORWICH SLEUTH

Each part of Britain has its own fictional sleuth and Norwich is no exception to the rule. The past two years have seen the emergence of a new sleuth on the block, Inspector Ketch of the Norwich Police. Ketch is a pseudonym for DCI Huw Price, who earned the sobriquet from his colleagues after they found out that one of his ancestors was the Regency hangman Jack Ketch.

Ketch features in four volumes of crime stories written by local author and Conan Doyle aficionado Kelvin Jones. An old style copper now in his 50's, Ketch is a bit of a luddite in this digital world and also something of an alcoholic. He uses traditional methods and pure instinct to unravel his cases.

The Ketch stories (all published as ebooks in the Kindle series: Murder Most Easterly and The Norwich Murder Files) depict a changing social landscape and range in theme from domestic murders to drugs and slave trafficking. And, like all good crime tales, all of the Ketch stories utilise the East Anglian landscape to powerful and often dramatic effect.

Kelvin I. Jones has been a prolific writer for a quarter of a century. He is one of that breed who is equally at home writing poetry, plays and, above all, novels. He has published six books about Sherlock Holmes and the only study on Conan Doyle’s interest in spiritualism, as well as numerous articles about the Victorian detective. Ed Hoch, the renowned American crime writer, has said of his Sherlockian work: “Kelvin I Jones reveals a sensibility and knowledge of 19^th Century literature that extends far beyond the world of Sherlock Holmes.” He is also the author of many supernatural stories, among them Carter's Occult Casebook, about a psychic Edwardian detective. Of his gothic tales, Francis King, the novelist and critic, has written, “(Kelvin's work) piquantly suggest the work of a modern M.R. James.” Kelvin has written three books on folklore, including Occult Cornwall and has also now published the fourth in his John Bottrell series, in which his other fictional character, a retired ex Met detective, is set the challenge of uncovering the mystery surrounding the discovery of a corpse in fishing nets off Cromer, in the novel: A Cromer Corpse, also an ebook. He has also collaborated with his wife Debbie on a book for older children set in the grounds of Norwich Cathedral where evil happenings follow the accidental disinterment of a medieval magician.

CONAN DOYLE & THE SPIRITS

NEW ON AMZON'S KINDLE: Conan Doyle & The Spirits: The Spiritualist Career of  Conan Doyle

 

Arthur Conan Doyle is world famous as a writer and as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, but his life as a psychic investigator has often been neglected. This biography represents a wide cross-section of Conan Doyle's spiritualistic writings. It ranges from the case histories of mediums to transcripts of spirit messages received by the Doyle family. Starting with a look at Conan Doyle's Celtic roots, Kelvin Jones charts his growing interest in spiritualism from his Jesuit education as a boy to his rather sceptical introduction to the phenomena at the end of the nineteenth century. He goes on to illustrate how Conan Doyle's belief in spiritualism was deepened by the works of leading psychic researchers, such as F. W. H. Myers, and his joining of the Society for Psychical Research. The book examines many of his own experiments and research and discusses several of his spiritualist stories and articles. This study provides the reader with a wealth of information, biographical, chronological and bibliographical details, and is the first serious attempt to recognize Conan Doyle's talents as a psychic investigator, revealing him as a pioneer in the field of psychic studies.

ICENI CADAVERS

NEW DCI KETCH  MURDER MYSTERY ON KINDLE

 

By Kelvin Jones

 

It's January and Norwich's DCI Ketch is suffering from a bad case of flu. So when his phone rings and he's told a body has been found by archaeologists, excavating Norfolk's remote Iron Age site of Ken Hill, he's none too pleased, especially as the body's jawbone has 20^th Century fillings. As the investigation proceeds on this bleak Norfolk landscape, Ketch uncovers a terrifying cold case story which he will never forget.

NEW CRIME NOVELLA ON KINDLE

NEW CRIME NOVELLA ON KINDLE
By the Author of Murder Most Easterly

Things are not going well for DCI Ketch of the Norwich police. He's a father at 50 years old and deprived of sleep, the Latvian drug case has been thrown out by the DPP and he's in trouble with the Deputy Chief Constable once again. So when news reaches him of a John Doe in fashionable Elm Hill in the city, he hopes for a speedy conclusion to the case. At first it appears the victim was stabbed as the result of a mugging, but his identity remains an utter mystery. And what precisely is the significance of the dead man's diary, written in French? It's a tough nut to crack for the seasoned Norfolk policeman but Ketch never gives up...

NEW: MURDER MOST EASTERLY Volume 2: The Norwich Murders: Synopsis

The novel features a dogged Norwich detective, 'Ketch', so named after his ancestor, Jack Ketch the hangman. Ketch (real name John Price) is an alcoholic, nearing retirement in the force and the story is told largely from his viewpoint. It's winter and Ketch is recovering from a nasty dose of bronchitis. He's also got the DCC on his back.

When parts of a woman's body start to turn up in various locations in Kings Lynn, Norfolk, DI Ketch of the Norwich police suspects the victim may have been a Latvian immigrant. Suspicion soon turns on the owners of a Russian restaurant in the town and after a short investigation, the owner's father is arrested for murder.

Several months later the body of another Latvian woman is found in a church in Norwich. Near it is a small wooden figure of the victim, contained in a miniature wooden coffin. It transpires that she was a sex worker who lived with her boyfriend in Kings Lynn. The body's discovery leads Ketch to suspect that this is the work of a serial killer, a suspicion soon confirmed by the profiler, Professor Bourne, who informs him that the crime is motivated by religious obsession. Kett finds a parallel with a similar murder in Scotland some years ago, which was never solved, although suspicion fell then on a known paedophile, Pieter Hess. He contacts the Dumfries police for detailed reports.

A few days later another female victim is found in the ruins of a chapel on nearby Ketts Hill, the body laid out in an identical fashion. Some minor forensic traces are also discovered....

ELEVEN NEW BOOKS ON SHERLOCK HOLMES

In re-reading the chronicles of Baker Street countless obscure phrases and words leap to the eye which demand explanation. What exactly was a dark lantern? What on earth was a dog grate, a cast padre, a ribston pippin? These problematical words require investigation in the authentic Sherlockian manner. This dictionary of the obscure words and phrases in the Sherlock Holmes stories provides a fascinating insight into a gas-lit world long forgotten. Essential reading for the Holmes enthusiast!

A SHERLOCK HOLMES DICTIONARY (Kindle) by Kelvin Jones is one of 11 new Holmes titles on Amazon's Kindle...Also: Check out the 9 volume edition of the Sherlock Holmes biography!