I'm a crime writer and write the Alex Cupidi series set in Dungeness, Kent and the Breen & Tozer series set in London in 1968-9. I also write under the name G.W. Shaw. My ninth novel is The Trawlerman , the fourth in the Alex Cupidi series - if you don't count The Birdwatcher . My non-fiction books include Westsiders , an account of several young would-be rappers struggling to establish themselves against a backdrop of poverty and violence in South Central Los Angeles, Superhero For Hire , a compilation and of the Small Ads columns I wrote for the Observer Magazine, and Spying In Guru Land , in which I joined several British religious cults to write about them. A Song From Dead Lips was the first in a trilogy of books set in London in 1968, featuring DS Cathal Breen and WPC Helen Tozer. It was followed by A House of Knives and A Book of Scars . I live in Brighton and play music with Brighton Ceilidh Collective. I also run an online book event called