Lesley Horton’s first novel, ‘Snares of Guilt’, was published in June 2002 after she took early retirement from teaching in order to fulfil her ambition to write crime fiction.

Lesley utilised years of experience in a predominantly Muslim inner city comprehensive in Bradford, and earlier as the head of a unit for pregnant schoolgirls and schoolgirl mothers, to provide the plot for her first book. It also gave her the background for the second novel, ‘On Dangerous Ground’, which will be published in June 2003.

Lesley has degrees in education and special educational needs. Before turning to crime she wrote articles and short stories, and was village correspondent for two local newspapers. She is married with three children and four grandchildren, and lives in West Yorkshire.

Lesley Horton’s books are strong, gritty and realistic, with an element of the controversial.

For more information go to lesleyhorton.co.uk

Publications

Snares of Guilt - Published By Orion Fiction 2002 Rukhsana Mahmood is dead, found battered about the head with the ferocity of a great rage. But who would want to kill a kindly young woman whose job as a health visitor made her loved and respected? Detective Inspector John Handford is assigned the case. It's particularly sensitive as the Asian community is still reeling from the murder case he headed the previous year: he got the right man but at the cost of enormous racial divisions. Now he's investigating another death that will rake up all the tension from the past, and cause a whole lot more... Along with Detective Sergeant Khalid Ali, who faces hostility and jibes of tokenism, DI Handford begins to probe possible motives for wanting Rukhsana dead. She made a mixed marriage and her husband Amajit's family makes no secret of their pleasure at her death. But is this a punishment killing? Or was pleasant, quiet Rukhsana Mahmood betraying more than one person? The line between love and hate is very thin...

On Dangerous Ground - Published By Orion Fiction 2003 Lesley Horton has spent years working at the heart of the most underprivileged communities in Bradford, and brings all her knowledge to bear in the second novel in her superb series. In Snares of Guilt, Detective Inspector Handford and Sergeant Khalid Ali formed an uneasy partnership. Against a background of urban and racial tensions, they still struggle daily to repress their mutual suspicion. Now Handford and Ali are plunged into their most shocking investigation so far, uncovering not only an entrenched child prostitution problem in the city, but murderous corruption and twisted minds in the most respected sections of the community.

Devils in the Mirror - Published By Orion Fiction 2005 It is almost midnight on Halloween. Firefighters following up a fourth hoax call to Druids Altar, a local beauty spot high on Harden Moor, discover the body of Shayla Richards, a young black girl. The post-mortem shows that Shayla was suffocated and sexually assaulted; photographs of her body at the crime-scene suggest a ritual sacrifice. DI John and Handford and DS Khalid Ali soon discover that Shayla's past is anything but straightforward. Over a year before her death, she accused a teacher of a sexual attack while in school. Although the teacher was suspended, the case collapsed when it came to trial. The murder investigation is never going to be easy and the police find themselves caught between factions who insist the dead girl had been a compulsive liar. Yet events take a more sinister turn when Handford discovers his prime suspect seems to be a man without a past. In fact, he doesn't even seem to exist...