Author
Novelist and scriptwriter Lewis Hinton's mystery thrillers published by The Book Guild are set in the late 1960's and early 1970's and feature special investigator Jack Sangster. The books centre around searches for missing children, which in turn uncover deeper enigmas that often challenge the protagonist's core beliefs. With hints of the supernatural, The Face Stone, its sequel Angel's Blade, and the recently published third Sangster novel, Jehovah's Wind, step away from the traditional detective story, using detailed settings to evoke an ambiance in keeping with plots that are designed to leave the reader guessing until the very end.
This approach has struck a chord amongst readers, with many reviewers saying they particularly liked the 'is it/isn't it supernatural?' aspect of the plots. With a keen (albeit skeptical) interest in the paranormal, Lewis Hinton is a member of The Ghost Club, the world’s oldest society dedicated to the study of psychic research, which he cites as a marvellous source of inspiration for spookier elements of the Sangster books.
"I was always fascinated by the countryside and folklore of the places I've lived," he adds when explaining the series' vividly drawn locations, "and have used some of those places as backdrops to the Sangster stories. I think the area where you grow up leaves a particular imprint on the mind, and I was lucky enough to spend my early years in south-west Wirral, with its red sandstone hills, heathland, and views across the Dee estuary to Wales. This was a perfect setting for The Face Stone, with the atmosphere of the local woodlands, especially at dusk, making it easy to imagine that ancient spirits still guarded rock and tree."
Angel's Blade, brings Sangster to south west Cornwall and the countryside around the river Fal, a setting, according to Hinton, "so steeped in legend and natural beauty that the story almost wrote itself."
Jehovah's Wind primarily takes place in Devon, with additional scenes set in Donegal and Cheshire. "I particularly wanted to send Sangster to Dartmoor," says Hinton. "The place has a brooding atmosphere all of its own, very different to the gentle beauty of the surrounding Devon countryside, so that it's not hard to imagine the moor harbouring profound secrets." Hinton also notes that reviewer feedback from the first two books influenced the plot.
"I was surprised and delighted with the many wonderful reader responses to the first two Sangster books," he says, "and took note of the bits people really liked, then focused on bigging them up in Jehovah's Wind."
Besides novels, Hinton has also written a number of short film screenplays and is currently contracted by UK production company Triskelion Pictures to write a feature length film script. The screenplay, for a murder mystery set in the London and Luxembourg of 1986, will be adapted from his novella 'The Arrangement'.
