In my younger years, I was a prolific reader, and crime genre was my particular favourite. My initial incursion was Edgar Wallace novels. His books gripped me, and thus the foundation was laid. So, whether it was books, films or television, crime fascinated me most. In another life, I might well have pursued a career in forensic science—that for me is the ultimate cutting edge.
The foregoing was the inspiration for me to write crime stories. My initial foray was through a children’s crime novel, ‘The Storm’. It was a book I enjoyed writing, but which had the effect of whetting my appetite for a crime novel that offered greater scope, one where I could allow my mind to run riot—a story for adult readers. The more I thought about it, the more feasible it appeared. I mulled it over for quite some time, and the words ‘I Felt Him Die’ emerged. Those words suggested to me a mystery from the start of the plot. Could or would a police force pursue a case based solely on a ‘feeling’ and without a trace of tangible evidence? I decide possibly, especially if the person reporting it had an air of deep conviction and respectability, which Mrs Shackleton, the character concerned, displayed. The death of Leslie Shackleton, Mrs Shackleton’s husband, was only the tip of the iceberg and everything that followed emanated from that initial ‘feeling’. Yet, in convoluted ways, all were intertwined.
What do I hope readers will take away from reading the book? My desire is inspiration, maybe something akin to that which Edgar Wallace encouraged in me. I hope that it will stimulate them in their reading habits—encouraged to dig deeper. However, I suppose I mainly hope that my readers will go away, having thoroughly enjoyed the book and carrying with them some of the emotions that the principal character evoked. Not forgetting, of course, a desire to read more stories involving detective Dani Taylor, the primary character in the novel.
‘I felt Him Die’ is now available worldwide.
David J. Bailey
Arrow Gate Publishing 