Former police officer pens novel in solving crime (From Bucks Free Press)

Former police officer pens novel in solving crime

2:00pm Friday 1st February 2013 in Freetime By Simon Farr

A FORMER specialist police officer has swapped solving crimes to dreaming them up as her book series continues to gain an army of fans.

People have become so involved and attached to the character’s in The Thirteenth Torment that whenever author Pam Chambers posts updates on her website, fans email begging her not to kill off their favourites.

The Wendover mother of three is not your average crime writer, having had years of experience as a child protection officer in Dyfed Powys in Wales, where April Jones is still missing.

The Thirteenth Torment focuses around Detective Inspector Kate Landers and her team that gets dragged into a murder investigation after a young boy is found watching a man burning to death in his shed.

She said: "It’s based on my experiences as a police officer, I was based on a child unit and always had the idea of using it as material for a novel.

"I am a prolific reader but most crime novels are not written by people who have done the job, so I think this adds a touch of realism to it.

"This book is not about child abuse but it’s crime book with a twist - DI Landers is a specialist and gets called in after kids become involved with these two murders, and it explores whether the children are the victims or in fact the villains, and the way we make assumptions about people."

With the big publishing companies taking fewer risks on unknown writers during the current financial climate, the 53-year-old joined the e-book revolution and she says the response has been staggering. Mrs Chambers said: "It’s selling steadily and the reviews have been good so far, and I also have a community page which has had good feedback.

"I’m currently writing the follow up and I posted that I had made myself cry after finishing a bit about a character I hadn’t planned to be particularly popular, and I was flooded with messages begging me not to kill him off. It’s great that people are so wrapped up in the story."

But for all her fans, she is still hoping the wife of a certain movie director picks it up. Mrs Chambers said: "I really want Steven Spielberg’s wife to pick it up - we all saw what happened with Warhorse!"

Visit www.pamchambers.co.uk for more information about Mrs Chambers and to buy The Thirteenth Torment.