Local boy made good

One of the most popular authors these days - in Brighton, anyway - is local boy Peter James.  This has become especially so since he started writing the Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, all the books in which are set in Brighton.  His earlier novels, however, are not to my taste.  The latest Roy Grace book was published earlier this month and, as usual, my good friend Tony was given a copy by his son as a Fathers' Day gift.  When he has read them, he lends them to us.  The Old Bat enjoys them as much as I do.

We are at present in France, where we manage to do a lot of reading, but Tony had not finished the latest (Dead Man's Time) in time to lend it to us before we came away.  However, he just happened to be on Brighton station last Saturday and saw a young lady giving away copies.  Yes, giving away!  Tony (who has a bit of a thing about the Old Bat) got himself in position to be given a copy which he promptly brought round and presented to her ladyship.

The reason behind the giving-away became apparent when we looked at a flyer inside the book.  It appeared to be a collaboration between Visit Brighton and Southern Railway in an effort to attract more tourists to the city - though why they were giving the books away to people who were already here is something of a puzzle.

There is a new, interactive web site on which one can discover more about Roy James' Brighton at www.peterjamesbrighton.com - although when I tried to use it last Sunday it was more inactive than interactive.  Possibly it was not working due to large numbers of visitors and things might have calmed down a bit by now.

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If I am correct, the foxgloves will be in bloom in the lanes around the village.