by Alan Quick
A TEDBURN St Mary writer’s latest crime novel is set in the evocative realm of Glastonbury.
The sinister search for the terrorist takes us to the Abbey, the Tor, the Chalice Well, the Glastonbury Thorn, and the Somerset Levels with its criss-crossing drainage ditches.
The two new protagonists are feisty Hilary, newly-retired history teacher, and the younger, recently-widowed Veronica.
A colourful set of suspects inhabit its pages: the prancing pagan Rupert Honeydew, Muslim convert Amina, who has chosen to wear the burka, loud-mouthed George Marsden, who would banish all non-Christians, the unsuccessful would-be journalist Joan, frightened shop assistant Mel, and Sister Mary Magdalene, who keeps turning up unexpectedly.
“The Wounded Thorn” is Fay Sampson’s 50th book.
Her output has included crime novels, fantasy, historical fiction, near-future science fiction, and books on the Celtic and Anglo-Saxon churches.
She writes for both adults and children.
“The Hunted Hare” won the CRT Fiction Book of the Year Award and she has been shortlisted several times for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award. You can find more about her work at: www.faysampson.co.uk .
Fay lives with her husband in a 16th-century cottage in Tedburn St Mary, and her home looks out to Dartmoor.
She enjoys walking this glorious countryside and researching her family history, much of which lies in the villages and towns of Devon.
This involves both fascinating detective work and discovering human stories.
Fay was born in Devonport and grew up in Lympstone, where her father was a Royal Marine bandsman. She went to school in Lympstone and Exmouth.
Fay gained a BA in Mathematics and a PGCE at the University College of the South West/Exeter University. She was Secretary of Guild of Students in the year the university got its charter.
She taught mathematics, then married and went to a teacher training college in Northern Rhodesia/Zambia over the independence period. There she ran the library and had two children.
She and her husband returned to Exeter, where she taught and wrote part-time.
When Bishop Blackall School merged with Hele’s to form St Peter’s, she left to write full-time.
The couple moved out of Exeter to Tedburn St Mary so that their children could go to school in Crediton.
“The Wounded Thorn” is published by Severn House in hardback, ebook, large print and paperback. Fay is celebrating this 50th title with a book party at Exeter Central Library on December 4, from 2.30pm to 4.30pm. If you would like to attend, please email to help her know how many people are attending, but people will be welcome to turn up unannounced. Her email is: [email protected],uk .