As an author that loves gritty Detective fiction that is influenced by cinema and film noir, I enjoy telling stories from decades ago that are becoming long forgotten. My first book Beyond the Pale, I toyed with the first-person narrative – a hardboiled narration placing you right into the head of the protagonist to add to that claustrophobia you need for noir albeit not set in the 40s/50s! Is the ‘hero’ telling it how it really happened or are they deluded, confused or just plain lying?

However, I’m also a huge fan of anything World War II – with an ever expanding collection of memorabilia as some of you are aware. Without knowing the full facts of exactly what went on, I enjoy having the artistic license that fiction offers. I recently came across this colour image recovery and it really hit home what our relatives went through so we can have the freedom we enjoy today. In a world of uncertainties I’d like you see this photo; roughly 80 years ago the Luftwaffe Blitz on London had been going for nearly a month and was reaching it’s Zenith. At this point it was in midst of being systematically bombed 56 days out of 57! Here is an iconic image of a young girl clutching and comforting her doll after her home had been completely bombed out! The look on the girl’s face speaks volumes.