Blog - January 2026

The New Year started quickly and never relented.

My wife bought us a weekend away at Peckforton Castle as my Christmas present. We drove down to Cheshire and had a proper break. The castle is not truly medieval. It was built in the nineteenth century and you can feel that in the way it is put together. But they have taken real care with the atmosphere. Stone, wood, narrow corridors, all the right touches, with enough modern comforts that you do not feel like you are living in the fourteenth century.

We spent a day in Chester, which I really liked. The Rows are a brilliant place to wander, an odd mix of history and shops stacked on top of each other. I walked the Roman walls, traced the outline of the amphitheatre, and spent time in the cathedral. The old Roman fortress is long gone, but you can still feel the bones of the place under everything else.

From Murder Night to Novella

While we were in Chester, an old idea came back to me.

Years ago, when I was still serving, I ran a military murder night in the Sergeants’ Mess with the RMPA, the association for former RMP. We dressed a murder scene, built a case around it, and had the old boys and girls question the suspects, who were just my NCOs playing roles. Later, during lockdown, I turned the whole thing into a Google web form as an online game. But because of the fake blood in the photos, Google restricted access to it.

In Chester, it occurred to me that I could turn that story into a novella.

For anyone who does not know, a novella is a short book, usually between twelve and twenty thousand words. This one was surprisingly easy to write because the plot already existed. It took me around twenty days to get the first full draft down.

The challenge was in the format. As a standalone story there is almost no character development for Knox. He is essentially the same at the end as he is at the start. He does not have a big personal revelation or learn anything life changing about himself. That felt strange after writing full novels where the arc has more room to breathe.

I also had to tighten everything. Fewer characters, fewer locations, a very contained environment. A locked room story by design. The limitations were deliberate, and I think they help. The focus stays on the puzzle and the atmosphere.

A couple of people have read it already and the feedback has been positive. There are still edits to make. The story is set around 2014, with Knox as a Staff Sergeant in the RMP in Fallingbostel, so the military jargon, locations, and small details need another pass to make sure they are accurate and clear.

The book is called The Presumption of Silence. It will be on sale on Friday 3rd April and is already up for pre order on Amazon Kindle. If you do pick up a copy, I hope you enjoy seeing Knox in a different format. Same man, tighter space, one closed room, one body, and nowhere to hide.

Proms, Burns, and Haggis

The rest of January filled up quickly.

We went prom dress shopping for my daughter, which was an experience in itself. I was not prepared for the sheer number of dresses available. Racks and racks of colour and fabric, and an endless list of choices. It was fun to see her try things on and start to picture that night properly. One of those quiet markers that your kids are not kids anymore.

Later in the month it was Burns Night and we were invited over to Barley for a family Burns supper. I like haggis and I like whisky, so putting the two together to raise a glass to Robert Burns is no hardship. I had plenty of Burns Nights in the Army and it was good to relive that in a smaller, family setting with good people. Same ritual just on a different stage.

The White Swan, Lindisfarne, and Bebbanburg

Towards the end of January we travelled up to the White Swan in Alnwick, a place I had found after watching a documentary on the Titanic.

The hotel’s dining room is the original first class restaurant from the Olympic, Titanic’s sister ship. They brought the interior up when the Olympic was scrapped. Eating in there was something special. Dark wood, panelling, the layout of the room. It was easy to sit there and imagine being on board with Captain Smith and Thomas Andrews discussing the voyage.

My wife preferred to imagine Leonardo DiCaprio was there. I will allow it.

It felt like a privilege to sit in a room with that kind of history built into the walls, even if it came from a different ship than the one everyone knows.

We also ventured out, first to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, where the Vikings launched their first recorded attack in 793, often seen as the start of the Viking invasions on British soil. The priory is still there in ruins, and we walked through what remains, knowing St Cuthbert, one of England’s early saints, was once buried there. It is a deeply historical place. Sadly, the castle, which has to be one of the most beautiful in England, was closed for the winter, so we made a mad dash off the island to beat the incoming tide on the coastal road that cuts it off for about six hours a day. Courtney did not enjoy that race against the water.

From there we travelled to Bamburgh Castle, Cornwell’s Bebbanburg. I had read Bernard Cornwell’s Uhtred books years ago and they were a big part of what pushed me towards writing in the first place. Standing in what is presented as Uhtred’s ancestral home was a great moment, especially when I sat in the gifting chair. A fortress has sat on those rocks for more than thirteen hundred years. It feels like a smaller version of Edinburgh Castle, high on a crag, looking out to sea. It was destroyed in the Wars of the Roses and later rebuilt, and now it has been restored and re-established with real care.

Knox Investigations

As the month drew to a close I made a concerted push on the next Henry Knox novel, Knox Investigations.

The first draft is now almost finished. It sits at around seventy thousand words at the moment and I know I will add more. There are gaps that need filling, scenes that need tightening, and a lot of work still to do, but the spine of the book is there.

It will need extensive editing and I doubt I will have a version ready for beta readers before the end of February. I would rather take the time to get it right than rush it out half cooked. If things stay on track, though, this one should be ready for the summer.

So that was the start of the year. A castle that was not quite medieval, a dining room from a lost ship, haggis and whisky in Barley, prom dresses, a locked room murder with Knox in the middle, and a new novel finally taking shape.

Not a bad way to begin the year.

Exemplo Ducemus

Pete