J T Owens

J T Owens is the pen name of an award-winning author who, for many years, wrote academic titles for Edward Arnold and Hodder & Stoughton. In addition, there were plays for BBC radio and for the stage.

In 2024, ‘The Fisherman Returns’ was published by Red Lodge Publishing, a new publishing venture. The background research for the book was detailed and completed in Portugal and London. After visiting a specific library in central London, the author became aware of being followed home. Subsequently, an anonymous letter came through the letterbox advising that the research must be stopped! Since, at that time, the author had a young family, the book was shelved. Life was for living, not for looking over your shoulder!

Several years later, a file containing the typed manuscript fell out of a tea chest used in moving from London to Somerset. Such an omen could not be put away and ignored - the manuscript was re-typed and heavily edited so characters could not be identified. The result is 'The Fisherman Returns', a story following the internecine feuds in the years around the Carnation Revolution in Portugal. In 2025, 'The Fisherman Returns' won 3 awards in thriller categories. A Bronze in the Global Thrillers. A Finalist for the Best Thriller Awards. On the Shortlist for the Chanticleer International Thriller Awards.

J T Owens has also written the first two books in a crime fiction series: A DI Temple Investigation. The main characters are Detective Inspector Temple and Detective Sergeant Cantwell. A seemingly ill-assorted team.

'Dodgy Dogs and Bent Bookies' is set in the world of corrupt bookies, fixed dog racing and extortion in the UK in the 1950s. It follows the consequences of extortion and threats on a family, a remote farm, and the doped dogs. There is murder and mayhem, and it's not just the dogs who are running for their lives.

The 2nd in the series, 'Greedy Grifters and Lunatic Lies', follows the search for the missing Matron of a private clinic based on the edge of Dartmoor. The search takes the two detectives from the claustrophobic, threatening world of the clinic to places they would rather not go. Delighted to announce it won a Bronze Award in the Detective-Crime category of the Global Book Awards 2026.

The 3rd book is due out later in 2026 - set in Starmouth and London.

The DI Temple books are set in and around South Devon in the 1950s. One reviewer described them as where 'Morse meets Wycliffe'. So, if you enjoy either of these settings, you will enjoy theese books.