David L Haigh

My first twenty years were spent in a small Westmorland village. I grew up in a world where humans lived in harmony with other animals and plants.Childhood days were spent picking rose hips in the hedgerows and wild mushrooms from fields in which horses grazed. My first three crime fiction books have at the core my connection to the natural world. A world in which too many people fail to realise or care sufficiently about the interdependence of species.

My writing journey began by writing gardening articles for a local newspaper. My role as Head of Horticulture at a rural campus of The University of Central Lancashire involved creating new courses and writing the marketing brochures to aid recruitment. After I took early retirement the paper asked if I would continue my weekly column. Articles for various magazines followed and I still get asked to contribute to this day.

But, I had a strong desire to succeed in a new discipline. That’s when my crime writing came into being. However I can’t leave gardening and the natural world behind which explains the frequent links in my crime fiction novels to my love of plants and the soils in which they grow.

The main protagonist in my series of books is DCI Jeff Spencer. Like me he loves growing plants on his allotment whilst chatting to other plot holders. Time spent on his plot relieves the stress of demanding cases. His recognition and understanding of different soil types and the crops which flourish in them provide insights which on occasions yield clues in the quest for justice. The antagonists are not excluded from this natural togetherness.

In my writing I utilise the use of forensic botany and the part which plants, seeds and spores play in providing admissible evidence in court to prove the presence of a suspect at a crime scene.

To date there are 3 books in the DCI Spencer series. Namely Land Kill,Hooked by the Past, and A Fruitless Revenge.