Bernie Steadman

My background is in secondary education, and I taught English for many years in Comprehensive schools in Manchester and later in Devon. I completed my debut novel, Death in the Woods when I escaped from marking essays. (Although the school setting for the murder bears a strong resemblance to a certain Exeter school where I may have taught, none of my fellow teachers is featured, honest).

Death in the Woods established DI Dan Hellier and his small team at the heart of a series of murder mystery books based in and around the ancient city of Exeter. Published by Bloodhound Books as The West Country Crime Mysteries, Book 1 was followed by Death on Dartmoor and that was followed in July 2018 by Death on the Coast, the final part of the first series. The whole series is available as a box set - an ideal Christmas present!

Many readers have asked about further Dan Hellier stories - I say to them, watch this space. I have two other projects underway at the moment, the first, Those You Trust is a standalone novel set on Crete. It's an escapist saga of family deceit. Once the next standalone is published and out there, I'll return to crime fiction...

I live in the small market town of Axminster in East Devon with my husband and two rescue cats, who are, naturally, in charge of the whole house. When not glued to the laptop, I love coastal walking and have been a student of Iyengar yoga for many years. To give a little payback, I volunteer at a local animal rescue and rehoming centre.