Former Bulwell police officer turned award-winning author publishes his latest crime novel

Keith Wright, a retired detective sergeant, has published Three Little Angels, the eighth book in his series of gritty thrillers featuring Detective Inspector David Stark.

The book was due to be released last monthm but Keith delayed the launch after real life scarily and tragically echoed fiction when four young boys died after falling into icy water in Solihull.

In Keith’s new book, the story begins with a terrible tragedy, a boy falling through ice on a lake, witnessed by his two young friends, who are unable to help and watch him die.

Keith said: “I originally delayed the publication of the book for a few weeks out of respect, as it was just about to go to press when the horrific incident with the children falling through ice happened at Babbs Mill in Solihull.

“The ice incident in Three Little Angels is described in detail and forms the motivation and context for behaviours by a killer that transcend the decades going forwards.

“Postponing publication felt like the right thing to do under the circumstances.”

In Three Little Angels, the accident happens on an icy lake at Bulwell Hall – all of Keith’s books are set in Hucknall and Bulwell, where he is originally from.

The incident psychologically scars a young boy, Benny Smith, and when he is eventually released from Mapperley Hospital a series of child deaths occur and Det Insp Stark suspects foul play.

Keith said: “It is set around Bonfire Night in 1987, when it was much more of an occasion than today.

"Penny for the guy, bonfires on wasteland, bonfire toffee and fireworks in the garden are very much the backdrop for the novel.

"Witnessing a tragic accident as a child in 1978 leaves Benny psychologically scarred for many years.

“In 1987, he is suddenly and unexpectedly released from the mental health institution that has been his home for nearly a decade.

“Haunted by the incident and lacking sufficient support, his disorder creates within him a disturbing and curious fascination which can only be gratified by killing children.

“As CID investigate, Det Insp Stark is struggling with his own demons and discovers he and the killer have something in common.”