Former reporter from High Wycombe turns her hand to novels

Michelle Davies grew up in High Wycombe and joined the Bucks Free Press as a trainee reporter after finishing school. She worked here for six years before moving onto women’s magazines such as Heat and Grazia, and now continues to freelance.

Michelle says: “I always knew I wanted to write a crime novel but for people who know me it’s quite a strange one, they’re used to me writing about JennifeA former crime reporter for this very paper is releasing her debut novel, about crime no less.

Michelle Davies grew up in High Wycombe and joined the Bucks Free Press as a trainee reporter after finishing school. She worked here for six years before moving onto women’s magazines such as Heat and Grazia, and now continues to freelance.

Michelle says: “I always knew I wanted to write a crime novel but for people who know me it’s quite a strange one, they’re used to me writing about Jennifer Aniston or someone, but it’s definitely inspired by the things I did at the paper.”

The novel follows the story of Lesley and her husband Mack whose lives are changed drastically when they win the lottery and then are turned completely upside down when Lesley comes home to find their daughter missing.

Michelle explains her inspiration: “The stories we did at the BFP were usually extraordinary things happening to ordinary people. Years ago, when the National Lottery started the BFP reported on a family who had won £18 million, they were the first or second big winners.

“They moved from Sheffield, or somewhere north, to Buckinghamshire. They were never named. People said it was weird and it stuck in my head. I wondered what it was like. So many lottery winners say it’s ruined their lives.”

The novel is written from the different perspectives of its characters, including that of family liaison officer (FLO) DC Maggie Neville, making it the first crime novel to be written from a FLO’s perspective Michelle points out.

While working on the paper she spoke with many families and saw the level of support they received from the police. Later in her career she interviewed Kerry Needham, whose son, Ben, went missing in 1991 in Kos at 21-months old.

The family did not receive a FLO until years after Ben went missing and felt it would have been hugely beneficial to them at the time.

She says: “I always knew I wanted to do a police character that hadn’t been done before. I think, from having researched the novel, that the role of family liaison officers is fantastic for families.

“In the past they were often left to their own devices, family liaison officers are so underrated because people don’t know what it is. So many people say they wouldn’t have coped without it.

“I was told by Duncan McGarry MBE, the national Family Liaison Advisor for all police forces that officers have to be comfortable being in the room with that pain. Not everyone would, because if a family is in need of a FLO, it’s safe to say they are grieving over the unexpected and possibly violent death of a loved one, or going through the unimaginable horror of them going missing.”

At this point Michelle had the idea for the story but was still unsure about writing from the family’s point of view until she became a mum herself.

“Every author says they have a half-finished book somewhere and it was only when I had a daughter that I could write from the perspective of a mother.

“I did it as a straight-forward crime novel but a lot of people are liking the domestic aspect of the family, the family element and emotional side is really important.”

Michelle assured me that while the novel was inspired by her involvement in crime, the characters are not based on anybody she has met, she also stressed that the town is not meant to be any particular area of Buckinghamshire, for fear of readers finding fault in her descriptions.

Gone Astray is available to buy from Thursday, March 24. It is the first in a series that will see a second being published in the Spring of 2017 with Michelle hoping for more to follow.

Published by Pan Macmillan.