Michael Leese

Michael Leese was a senior news executive who had a ringside seat for the most extra-ordinary stories that happened during a twenty-five-year career as a British national newspaper journalist.

From the death of Princess Diana and two Gulf wars to the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9/11 he was leading the teams bringing the first news to a wider public. Most of his career was spent at the London Evening Standard. His time in journalism has left him with an indelible passion for news and current affairs and he tries to replicate that in his crime thriller series, Jonathan Roper investigates.

His son is profoundly autistic. It was thinking about him and how he fits into this complicated world was the inspiration for the Roper character. Who is highly intelligent, passionate, hard-working and autistic which can make him a bit hazy about social boundaries.

Leese reasoned that Roper gave him a great way to challenge perceptions, but also show some of the humour that can arise from the inevitable misunderstandings when someone on the autistic spectrum hits the world at full steam.

He was brought up in the West Midlands and can reveal a major celebrity connection, both he and Prince Williams are Aston Villa fans, although they have never met or discussed their personal affinity.

Growing up he had an ambition to be an elite athlete but gave that up by the age of nine on the grounds of having no talent. He often speculates that it is just as well as he enjoys creating characters for his books and probably wouldn’t have survived long in the corporate world.

He lives in Dorset with his wife Maria.

If you would like to contact Michael, you can either send him an email at hello@michael-leese.com or through his Facebook Page Jonathan Roper Investigates.