Achi news desk-
A retired Met police officer turned writer on being inspired by Ian Rankin, John Niven’s heartbreaking biography and Tony Kent as the British David Baldacci.
The first book I remember reading:
When I was about ten years old, my sister was doing her English O’Levels, and one of the books she was forced to read was My Family and Other Animals, by Gerald Durrell. Up until this point I’d only really read comics, but Mum threw me the book and said, ‘I think you’ll love this, Neil.’ Well, I read it, and to be honest it blew me away. The story of a middle-class family’s five-year stay in Corfu was charming. It made me realize what the written word could do. It was so warm, and so stunningly descriptive that I was transported to 1930s Corfu. I love it so much.
A book I recommend to everyone:
Running Blind, by Desmond Bagley. Published in 1970, it is the story of a failed spy, forced into ‘one last mission’ in Iceland. Of course, nothing is as it seems, and the book is a masterpiece of tension, intrigue, and breakneck pace. Bagley was perhaps less well known than his peers in the classic thrillers of the 1970s, but to me, he was the master. I read and re-read that book many times, and I believe it planted the desire, deep within me, to become a writer. It only took 40 years before I started that journey.
The three best books I’ve read in the last year:
Find Sophieby Imran Mahmood. An incredibly tense, tight and beautifully written thriller by one of the best writers out there at the moment. The Shadow Networkby Tony Kent. In my opinion, Tony Kent is the British David Baldacci, who like Kent is a practicing lawyer. The Shadow Network is a light conspiracy thriller in his Michael Devlin series and won’t let you put it down until you finish. Oh Brotherby John Niven. This is a truly wonderful, but heartbreaking memoir that explores the author’s life growing up in a typical working class family in Scotland. It manages to be wonderfully nostalgic, yet terribly sad when Niven describes the circumstances of his brother’s tragic suicide, and his struggles to come to terms with this. An exceptional piece of work.
An author who has inspired me:
Ian Rankin is the master of Scottish fiction. He keeps knocking it out of the park, year after year, and Rebus is the absolute pinnacle of a character-driven series. The stories are always expertly plotted, brilliantly written and compelling, but the reason we all love them so much is that we really want to know what Rebus has been up to do it Such an iconic character. One of the proudest moments is when Ian read my first Max Craigie book, and described it as ‘Think Reacher fronting Line of Duty.’
My favorite place to read:
On my big, comfy sofa, in front of a roaring fire, with my dog ​​by my side. 
Neil Lancaster was a police officer at The Met until 2015. He now lives in the Scottish Highlands where he writes crime and thriller novels. The Devil You Know by Neil Lancaster is published by HQ, HarperCollins on 28 March in Hardcover, eBook and audiobook. It can be purchased here.
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