Why am I passionate about this?

I have a passion for writing, and whenever I can, I try to help new writers improve their expertise so that one day they’ll complete their first book. My first book, born from a few-hundred-word short story at my writing group, turned into a three-book thriller series called FAVOURS. Since then, I’ve branched out by publishing a rom/com, a humorous ghost story as well as a standalone thriller. Agatha Christie published her first book as the result of a dare, which proves you can do it if you really want to.


I wrote

Steal a Diamond

By Maurice Holloway,

Book cover of Steal a Diamond

What is my book about?

It's a recipe for an exciting thriller with a breathtaking climax. 

Stir together a PRICELESS DIAMOND, an Afro-Brazilian beauty, a…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Maurice Holloway Why did I love this book?

What I found remarkable about this book is that it was Christie’s first published book. Written over 100 years ago, here was a fully-formed Poirot with an established fact-finding system and method of deduction. Memorable, Belgian, polite, small, slightly overweight, fastidious in dress, and reliant on his "little grey cells" to solve the crime. I loved his difference from all other detectives.

After I read it and realised it was her first novel, I imagined being the lucky publisher on whose desk it first landed. I would have broken out the champagne and celebrated my successful future. Amazingly, she was rejected by six publishing houses before being accepted. It was they who suggested changing the ending where Poirot reveals all, from a courtroom to the house’s library. And the rest . . . . At the end of this and all other Poirot stories, I find myself saying: Ah, of course!

I admire Christie’s ability to maintain this Poirot formula over so many stories and still have the reader trying to figure out the crime right to the moment when they walk into the library/lounge/dining room.

By Agatha Christie,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Mysterious Affair at Styles as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

One morning at Styles Court, an Essex country manor, the elderly owner is found dead of strychnine poisoning. Arthur Hastings, a soldier staying there on sick leave from the Western Front, ventures out to the nearby village of Styles St. Mary to ask help from his friend Hercule Poirot, an eccentric Belgian inspector. Thus, in this classic whodunit, one of the most famous characters in detective fiction makes his debut on the world stage. With a half dozen suspects who all harbor secrets, it takes all of Poirot’s prodigious sleuthing skills to untangle the mystery—but not before the inquiry undergoes…


Book cover of Last Bus to Woodstock

Maurice Holloway Why did I love this book?

I chose this book as it was the one that introduced me to Morse, not the code but the Detective Chief Inspector. Apart from being an excellent crime solver, he is also a superb Times crossword solver. I liked that this cerebral activity was a clue in itself to his method of disentangling the threads linking the criminal to the murder. In that respect, he resembles Poirot, like Morse, a man of limited physical activity.

I found the man, rather than the policeman, was an enigma. He can be charming, but mostly he’s curt, cranky, and cynical. He has a passion for Real Ale, Scotch Whisky, and pubs but loses himself in classical music and opera. He’s a bachelor, sometimes a little lecherous, but he loves and admires women.

I was amused by the fact no one knew his first name. If asked, he would say it was Inspector. In fact, his name isn’t revealed until the penultimate story in the thirteen-book series. Despite Morse’s bluntness, stubbornness, and taciturn nature, I found I had, as did his colleagues, a tremendous respect for him as a crime solver.

By Colin Dexter,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Last Bus to Woodstock as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Last Bus to Woodstock is the novel that began Colin Dexter's phenomenally successful Inspector Morse series.

'Do you think I'm wasting your time, Lewis?'
Lewis was nobody's fool and was a man of some honesty and integrity.
'Yes, sir.'
An engaging smile crept across Morse's mouth. He thought they could get on well together . . .

The death of Sylvia Kaye figured dramatically in Thursday afternoon's edition of the Oxford Mail. By Friday evening Inspector Morse had informed the nation that the police were looking for a dangerous man - facing charges of wilful murder, sexual assault and rape.…


Book cover of The Cuckoo's Calling

Maurice Holloway Why did I love this book?

As a multi-genre author, I was interested to see how the creator of a world-famous boy wizard was going to change her name and turn her hand to crime writing. I relished the result: the first outing for a new private investigator, a character called Cormoran Strike.

Known simply as Strike, he is a P.I. with a handicap (aren’t they all?). Not just the common ones; excessive drinking, difficult relationships, and so on, Strike lost half his right leg whilst serving in Afghanistan. Retiring from service, the ex-MP becomes a private investigator. He has few clients, no money, and is scruffy and unkempt because he sleeps in his office. But he does have a motto, "Do the job and do it well."

In social relationships, Strike isn’t a likable character; demanding and sometimes just plain rude. He has lost his last assistant. I warmed to him the more his traits stacked up against him. The more the writer developed the character in the story, the more I loved Strike’s individuality, eye for detail, and determination to solve the crime, which he does with the help of his new, extremely able assistant.

By Robert Galbraith,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Cuckoo's Calling as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'The Cuckoo's Calling reminds me why I fell in love with crime fiction in the first place' VAL MCDERMID

-----

Now a major BBC drama: The Strike series

When a troubled model falls to her death from a snow-covered Mayfair balcony, it is assumed that she has committed suicide. However, her brother has his doubts, and calls in private investigator Cormoran Strike to look into the case.

Strike is a war veteran - wounded both physically and psychologically - and his life is in disarray. The case gives him a financial lifeline, but it comes at a personal cost: the…


Book cover of Dissolution

Maurice Holloway Why did I love this book?

CJ Sansom, a renowned historian, released this first fiction novel to huge acclaim. I was fascinated to find the investigator was a London lawyer during the reign of Henry VIII. It ticked all the boxes: history, a juicy murder, crime, and mystery. I was not disappointed. In my own writing, I endeavour to make my characters individual and memorable and, therefore, look for that in books I read.

The protagonist, lawyer Matthew Shardlake, has the brain, persistence, and vision of a Holmes or Poirot in uncovering the clues and is admired by all for his ability to win cases. Despite this, one thing continually erodes his confidence: he is a hunchback. Not restricted by twenty-first-century political correctness, his enemies take delight in reminding him of this. I loved the way the author handled that.

I enjoyed the detective story in an entirely different setting. It is a magnificent first book; I have continued to enjoy Shardlake stories.

By C.J. Sansom,

Why should I read it?

14 authors picked Dissolution as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Awarded the CWA Diamond Dagger - the highest honor in British crime writing

From the bestselling author of Winter in Madrid and Dominion comes the exciting and elegantly written first novel in the Matthew Shardlake Tudor Mystery series

Dissolution is an utterly riveting portrayal of Tudor England. The year is 1537, and the country is divided between those faithful to the Catholic Church and those loyal to the king and the newly established Church of England. When a royal commissioner is brutally murdered in a monastery on the south coast of England, Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's feared vicar general, summons…


Book cover of Killing Floor

Maurice Holloway Why did I love this book?

This was Lee Child’s first Jack Reacher novel written after leaving a lengthy career in television. I read it years before I got the writing bug. Along with the rest of the world, I loved Reacher from the outset, a no-nonsense ex-US Army military policeman. A loner who believes in justice, he freewheels around America, walking into trouble and bumping into people with problems that he helps to solve. He’s a big man you can’t forget or miss; Reacher is six feet five.

I knew the theme was familiar, but the character was original, exciting, and tough. Frequently called hardboiled, Reacher hurts people if he has to, sometimes has to kill the ones who want him dead, but he’s a man you want on your side. He doesn’t pussyfoot around. He gets things done. A genuine hero.

I found, like the man, that the writing was sharp, tight, and concise. Every word mattered. When writing a book containing violence, depending on the scene, I have found myself thinking: What would Jack Reacher do?

By Lee Child,

Why should I read it?

14 authors picked Killing Floor as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Ex-military policeman Jack Reacher is a drifter. He's just passing through Margrave, Georgia, and in less than an hour, he's arrested for murder. Not much of a welcome. All Reacher knows is that he didn't kill anybody. At least not here. Not lately. But he doesn't stand a chance of convincing anyone. Not in Margrave, Georgia. Not a chance in hell.


Explore my book 😀

Steal a Diamond

By Maurice Holloway,

Book cover of Steal a Diamond

What is my book about?

It's a recipe for an exciting thriller with a breathtaking climax. 

Stir together a PRICELESS DIAMOND, an Afro-Brazilian beauty, a young lawyer, a Maharajah, an uncle, and a wealthy businessman. Infuse with FAVOURS, given and taken; theft, frame-up, and betrayal. Toss in a $12 million reward. Spread the blend across three continents, sit back and enjoy.

Book cover of The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Book cover of Last Bus to Woodstock
Book cover of The Cuckoo's Calling

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What is my book about?

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1 author picked Edge of the Known World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

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