In Justice for the Dead, Gideon travels to the Fethiye area of Turkey as he follows the trail of a body found in Nottinghamshire.  In Books 2 (Justice for the Innocent) & 3 (Nightwalker) Gideon's Turkish friends still feature but it isn't until book 4 (The September Man) that Gideon makes his way back to this beautiful place to work again.

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My association with the country started in 2002 when I holidayed at Marmaris in the Mugla district with family and friends.  It was a brilliant holiday and so, when my father decided to buy a holiday home abroad, I told him to consider Turkey. At this point he had already put a deposit down for a house in Cyprus.  However, he was moved by my passion for the place and went on a £99 trip to buy a property.  It was arranged by an estate agent out there.  Dad chose the Calis Beach area of Fethiye (still in Mugla) as he had friends who already lived there.

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Dad purchased a beautiful villa with pool and we started to holiday there. The more we went, the more familiar the people and places became. I have never met a race of people like the Turks.  They are extremely friendly, family orientated and kind. And probably the most honest people that I have ever met.  I don't claim that EVERYONE is like this, but on the whole you can't fault them.  They are amazing at reading body language, something that we Brits have long forgotten. Once you visit the place, nowhere else compares.  The culture, traditions and history are the richest of any country I have ever visited.  The worlds first temple and the first farmers came from Turkey.  Bodies found at Stonehenge were descendants of Turkish farmers.  Many of the ancient Greek characters you hear of originated in Turkey as they were all the same region.  Others such as Father Christmas, Saint George, Helen of Troy, even Spartacus was Thracian, which borders the modern day Turkey. I could go on, but will let you discover the magic for yourself.

 

Unfortunately my dad passed away in 2015 so I spent quite a few trips sorting out his property, probate and finances along with my brothers. During this time, I travelled more and visited places that were off the beaten track, especially some of the thousands of ancient ruins the country has.  It is an archaeologists dream.  Many of the sites haven't had exploratory work done on them due to funds. 

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Turkey is my spiritual home and so I just had to include it in my books with the aim of encouraging people to visit and to educate them about the place. Many of my Turkish characters are based on real people but of course, the stories are fictional, however some of the places and situations are from my own memories and personal experiences out there.  I was out in Turkey whilst writing the books. One thing I know for sure, is that in every town I have been to, there is a connection to Nottinghamshire, so it is easy to connect an English and Turkish detective. In Ovacik, there is the Friar Tuck restaurant. In Hisaronu, there is the Robin Hood restaurant and one of the bar owners in Hisaronu lived and went to school in the city and another bar manager has an ex wife and daughter in Nottingham. In Paspatur, one of the men selling handbags lives in Nottingham with his wife and children, as do other waiters throughout the area who go to the tourist areas in Turkey during the summer season  then back home to the UK for winter. An old friend of my dads owned a bar in Calis and several others from his home town in Nottingham also lived in the Fethiye area, as of course did he! One of the amazing local Turkish drag acts tours the UK in winter visiting Nottinghamshire several times. So it is inevitable that some of these very people may one day turn up in one of my storylines. And of course, in my home town alone, we have 3 Turkish barbers and a couple of Turkish chippys (not to mention the Alfreton Road area near to Nottingham city centre which is home to Turkish restaurants and shops). The list goes on! I hope you enjoy reading about them.  Kitap okumaktan mutlu!

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