The son of a colonial police officer, Patrick was born in Cyprus at the tail end of 1943 and lived there until, at the age of 12, when he was sent ‘home’ to school in England. At 19 Patrick joined the Metropolitan Police in London and three years later went onto the river. On leaving the police service in 1994, Patrick became a journalist chasing deadlines for technical magazines and articles in national newspapers. He still writes, full time, but now concentrates on his novels. He lives in Sussex with his wife and three dogs, working out of a Victorian pump-house, complete with its own well and pumping machinery, in the grounds of his home.