Big book day

Congratulations today to Wanstead’s favourite crime writer, A. K. Turner, also known as Anya Lipska. The second instalment of her Cassie Raven series, Life Sentence, is being published today and, because we’ve had a sneak preview, we know it will delight people who like their crime writing a bit macabre.

A.K. (or Alison as she is also also known as) was a much celebrated resident when writing as Anya Lipska, with novels set near to Wanstead, and sometimes even mentioning it.

Her new protagonist Cassie Raven is a young mortuary technician who lives on a house boat in Camden and believes she has an uncanny knack of somehow hearing what a deceased person’s last thoughts might have been. Imagined or not, she does has a real ability to look at cases in different ways and also to find some answers.

The series (which fellow crime writer Ellie Griffiths has enthusiastically endorsed, saying: “I love this series!”) started with Cassie’s debut in Body Language. It’s now being published in seven different languages.

The launch for Life Sentence is being hosted by Wanstead Bookshop and will take place next Wednesday in Wanstead at the Bull at 6.30pm, when Alison will read from the book and answer questions. Tickets are £3, available below, but this will be refunded against the cost of a copy of the book.