'˜The serial killer isn't on trial, he's on the jury'

Steve, whose day job is as a solicitor, put his legal knowledge to good use when he wrote his first Eddie Flynn book, The Defence, which was released in 2015 to rave reviews.

Steve first put pen to paper following the death of his mother in 2011. “Writing is quite a newly discovered thing for me,” he explained. “I wrote some screen plays in my late teens but they never came to anything and I had largely given up on writing.

“My mum was the only person that ever encouraged me to write and when she passed away in 2011 I decided to give it another go. “She loved crime and thrillers so I wrote a book that I thought she would like.”

Steve sent out his manuscript but it was rejected by agent after agent. One agent even told him his book would never be published. But undeterred and 30 rejections later, Euan Thorneycroft at AM Heath in London took Steve on as his client and began sending out copies of The Defence. And it wasn’t long until the offers came flooding in.

The first book was a great success, with film companies in the States fighting over the rights. He has even revealed that there are talks underway to bring Eddie Flynn to the small screen with hopes of a TV series in America.

Steve has now penned three further books in the series - The Plea, The Liar and the latest Th1rt3en, as well as a novella The Cross.

Each book stands on its own, but each one also gives the reader a greater insight into the fascinating lead character, Eddie Flynn.

“Eddie came from a realisation that if you have a trial lawyer doing a really good cross examination, it is almost exactly the same as a con man doing a hustle,” explained Steve.

“Eddie is a character who will always do the wrong thing for the right reasons. He doesn’t mind stepping over the line but there is real heart in him and a real moral centre. He will go the extra mile for someone.”

Th1rt3en sees Eddie step into the murder trial of the century. “There’s a trial,” explained Steve. “There is also a serial killer but the serial killer isn’t on trial, he’s on the jury.”

The book has received rave reviews from some of Steve’s literary idols, including Lee Child who said it was “outstanding - an intriguing premise, a tense, gripping build up, and a spectacular climax”.

Michael Connelly, another world renowned author deeply admired by Steve, said of Th1rt3en: “Books this ingenious don’t come along very often.”

This certainly isn’t the end for Eddie Flynn, as Steve has more books already in the pipeline, and fans are hoping he will come to life on the small screen very soon.