Backwaters – New from Chris Crowther

Jack Fellows is a former Scotland Yard Detective Superintendent.  On retiring from the Met, he and his wife, Audrey, moved to the Norfolk Broads, but Jack needed something to occupy his time.  When he took the job of Broads Navigation Ranger, patrolling the rivers and broads in his official river launch, it seemed like the ideal occupation.  But Jack was unable to suppress his curiosity and nose for criminal activity, and felt obliged to investigate mysterious events, going well beyond the brief of his job.

In Backwaters, we find Jack and Audrey enjoying a hot air balloon flight across Broadland.  But Jack just can’t help his curiosity and when he notices an abandoned old boat deep inside a reedbed and only visible from the air, he has to investigate.  After locating it again from the water, he climbs inside to find a grisly scene which is going to require police involvement.  Add to that some rather dubious characters hanging around the balloon’s landing site and Jack has plenty to occupy his time.

Crowther develops his selection of characters against the backdrop of the Broads and creates a complex tangle of connections that don’t become clear until the end, which has a clever and unexpected twist!  

Chris Crowther’s first Jack Fellows book was published in 2007 and this one is his eighth.  Chris is himself an interesting character, having worked as a commercial helicopter pilot, and like Jack, retired to the Broads some 20 years ago.  After a stint driving one of the Broads tour boats, Chris’s sole occupation now is writing – when he’s not sailing or rowing on the rivers around his home. 

If you would like to hear more about Chris, his background and his journey in self-publishing, check out this short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ2xDrcFAGk

Chris’s style of writing is gentle and easy to read.  His protagonist follows up leads in an intelligent and traditional way, using his knowledge of the Broads and local contacts to provide answers, rather than computers and technology.  There is humour and warmth in the stories – ‘Midsomer Murders afloat’ is the way Chris describes them!  The books have been popular since they first came out, with the earlier books having sold several thousand copies.  Today there is more competition in the market, with other writers, such as David Blake and Heather Peck, also setting their stories on the Broads, but Chris Crowther’s books still have wide appeal.