John Barlow isn’t new to writing, but he is new to crime fiction. Caught up in the enthusiasm for digital publishing, his first crime novel The Hope Road has just come out on Kindle. It’s set in Leeds, and is the first of nine books in the LS9 series he’s writing (refering to the Leeds postcode).

Barlow’s past work has included food writing, as well as a novel called Intoxicated which was set in the 19th century. Moving into the crime genre, he’s created main character John Ray, who is the son of Tony Ray, a half-Spanish gangland boss. John is desperate to be the straight one in the family but Hope Road opens with the discovery of a dead prostitute in his car. Given his family’s past, he’s going to take the jacket for murder.

Counterfeit money found in the car seems to distract the police, and then another criminal called Lanny Bride shows up desperate to find out who killed the girl. To cap it off, John’s girlfriend is a police detective. It sounds like a title full of intigue and plot twists so watch this space for our review.

John Barlow was born in West Yorkshire (hence the Leeds link) but is now based in Spain (hence his Spanish characters). If it sounds like Hope Road is up your street, click the link below to buy on Kindle. Let us know what you think of it.