Introduction

Author Darryl Donaghue is a former British police detective. This means he is uniquely positioned to write British police procedural novels, which are among my very favorite type of mystery novel. (One day I might even work up the guts to write one of my own.)

One of the writing challenges Darryl put to himself for his Sarah Gladstone series is to examine what life is like for a police detective and explore how that career affects someone who is also a wife and mother. Will Sarah be able to continue with her chosen career and how will she handle the pressures from both police work and in her role in her family?

Darryl himself was faced with the choice between his passion for writing, and his detective career. He chose writing, much to readers’ delight. As with so many of the authors on this podcast, Darryl offers his first book for free on all platforms, so that readers can try it at no risk. He also has a Sarah Gladstone short story available for free on his website.

You can find out more about Darryl and his books on his website DarrylDonaghue.com. He’s also on Twitter.

Press play (above) to listen to the show, or read the transcript below. Remember you can also subscribe to the show on iTunes. And listen on Stitcher.

You can also click here to watch the interview on YouTube.

Transcription of Interview with Darryl Donaghue

Alexandra: Hello, mystery readers. I am Alexandra Amor. This is It’s a Mystery podcast, and I’m here today with Darryl Donaghue. Hi, Darryl.

Darryl: Hi. How are you doing?

Alexandra: Very well. How are you?

Darryl: Good, good.

Alexandra: Good, good. I’m very excited to have you on the show today. So let me give our listeners a bit of an introduction to you.

Darryl is a former British detective who now writes crime fiction novels. He quit the police two years ago to concentrate on writing and now, independently publishes the Sarah Gladstone thriller series via Amazon and all the other e-book retailers. The series offers a realistic modern view of policing from the unique perspective of a young police officer starting her career. He is currently working on the third book in the series which will be out soon. So we’ll look forward to that, and we should point out as well, right off the top, why don’t we, that there’s a short story, a Sarah Gladstone short story available on your website.

Darryl: Yes.

Alexandra: So people can check that out if they want to, and the first book in the series is free…

Darryl: That’s right.

Alexandra: …so people can really get a feel for what Sarah is like.

Why don’t you tell us a little bit about her. So she’s a mother and a wife and a young PC, as you say in the U.K., when she starts out.

Darryl: She is 33 years old, and she’s got twin girls, sort of a happy family situation. She’s just started in the police. So in “A Journal of Sin,” the first book, she’s about two years into service of that one, so she’s not a detective yet. And the short story, it gets you inside into her first day out as a uniformed officer.