Local author invents new genre for his debut novel, combining murder and an appreciation of fine food and drink.

A new book by Yarlington resident and accompalished author Peter Coe is out now.
A Nasty Way to Die is Peter’s first novel, and was published on his 81st birthday!

The idea for the story was borne out of lockdown, and Peter’s frustration at not being able to travel. “I decided that I would visit the places I love through a novel instead,” he explains.

The story is set in Lisbon, Portugal, during the Salazar regime which, Peter explains, “largely went under the radar in the UK, and provides great material.

“I have two detectives: Commander Sam Redwood and Inspector Julia Tremaine. They meet first in Somerset, where the book starts with a murder in a village.

“Later Julia is invited to join Redwood at the Met and they both go to Lisbon to assist the Policia Judicaria on a complicated case to find the killers of three men who had a dark past. There is quite a lot of food and wine in my books… Maybe I’ve invented a new genre – GastroCrime!”

A Nasty Way to Die by Peter Coe; London: Austin Macauley Publishers.