About

A novel should be as exciting to read as it is to write.

Robert Crouch author

Hi, I’m Robert Crouch.

As a child, I loved reading books where the characters had thrilling adventures and solved mysteries. Whether it was Enid Blyton’s Famous Five or the CS Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, little matched the excitement of reading an exciting story.

It wasn’t long before this excitement tempted me to write my own stories and novels. This desire to write and share adventures never left me, fuelled by the need to see good triumph over evil and justice prevail.

Combined with a love of the classic whodunit, these values encouraged me to write murder mystery novels.

Inspired by Agatha Christie, my first novel, No Accident, paid homage to the traditional murder mystery. But while it echoed a traditional route, the story was fresh and contemporary.

It featured Kent Fisher, an ordinary man who dug deep to solve a complex murder.

As both the son of the local Member of Parliament and an environmental health officer (EHO) by trade, he brings a distinctive and fresh approach to the investigation. The accident at a theme park, owned by a local playboy and entrepreneur, brings Kent face to face with his nemesis.

But when he suspects the accident is a murder, no one believes him.

The environmental health officer becomes a private investigator.

Once he solves the murder, Kent paves the way for more murders and mysteries to follow, giving readers the chance to get to know and follow the main characters in a backstory filled with its own twists and adventures.

There’s humour, a touch of romance and contemporary issues dealing with animal welfare and the environment.

‘Part of the lure of a series is how the author keeps the same characters and locale yet brings something fresh and new to each story.’

This review of a fellow mystery writer’s books both inspired and guided me on my journey that’s covered nine books so far, with a tenth on the way.

Like my favourites, Columbo, Miss Marple and Inspector Morse, the Downland Murder Mysteries belong at the cosier end of the crime fiction market. The emphasis is on the characters and a complex plot for the armchair detectives out there.

You won’t find any graphic violence, sex or offensive language in the novels. Some of the themes have their gritty moments, but it’s all handled sensitively and in keeping with the rest of the story.

If you’d like to find out more, please take a look at the books.

Alternatively, you can join my Readers Group for more insights and updates. You’ll receive a free story called Dirty Work, which reveals how Kent Fisher’s relentless pursuit of justice began. Simply click on the image below.

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In case you were wondering – answers to some of the questions you may have about the novels, how Kent Fisher became an accidental detective, and more.


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