In 2016, environmental health officer, Robert Crouch, hung up his probe thermometer and turned to murder. He combined his extensive experience of environmental health with his love of the classic whodunit to create Kent Fisher, a sleuth unique in crime literature, an environmental health officer with more baggage than an airport carousel.
It started when Robert watched TV’s Lieutenant Columbo unpick perfect murders with an affable but dogged pursuit of incongruous details. A healthy diet of crime fiction and drama followed, including Sherlock Holmes, Inspector Morse, and Miss Marple. When he became an avid fan of Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone, he realized he wanted to create a different kind of private detective to solve his murders.
Robert recalls – “I used to drive around my district in the South Downs of East Sussex, wondering where I could hide a body. I envisaged life and death struggles on the cliff edge at the Seven Sisters, and murder, mystery and secrets lurking within the beautiful villages and their tea rooms.”
Now four books in, Robert is joining me today with a guest post explaining his inspiration for Kent Fisher in a post entitled ‘Something fresh but familiar’
[ Guest Post ]
‘Something fresh but familiar’
When you set out to bring something fresh to the classic whodunit, you risk tampering with a format that’s as popular today as it was when Agatha Christie wrote her first murder mystery novel.
Whether it’s a private detective or a police procedural, the whodunit is a staple of crime fiction that shows no signs of flagging. People love a mystery to solve.
My inspiration came from Miss Marple, Inspector Morse, and US private eye, Kinsey Millhone. Between them, Agatha Christie, Colin Dexter and Sue Grafton, gave me a template for the kind of novels I wanted to write.
My goal was to produce something fresh but familiar – a contemporary murder mystery that paid homage to the classic whodunit.
I worked as an environmental health officer (EHO) in and around the beautiful South Downs of East Sussex. EHOs are law enforcement officers, protecting the public from risks to their health, safety and well-being.
While I didn’t investigate murder, my workplace health and safety role meant I dealt with work accidents, several of them fatal. This led to me working with the police, Coroner’s Officer and other agencies. I collected evidence, interviewed suspects and prosecuted offenders.
It wasn’t long before I wondered whether a murder could be disguised as a work accident. No one had done that before, had they? Not with an EHO investigating, at any rate.
These early thoughts led to No Accident, the first Kent Fisher mystery.
When he investigates a serious accident at an adventure park, he uncovers details that don’t make sense. The owner of the park resists his investigation at every stage, but Kent Fisher won’t be deterred, especially when he realises he’s looking at a murder. But by then, he’s already made some shattering discoveries about his family and personal life, which continue to exert their effect through the novels in the series.
Being an EHO makes Kent Fisher a unique detective. He’s different from every police inspector and private eye in crime fiction by virtue of his background. But he still has to be believable and engaging as a character.
That’s why he comes with more baggage than an airport carousel, as readers discover in No Accident. He also has a blind spot for his assistant, Gemma, adding sexual tension and more conflict to the mix.
He’s also a man for today, living a healthy life, defending and protecting the environment, and living in an animal sanctuary with his West Highland white terrier, Columbo. He’s a long way from chain-smoking police detectives with broken marriages and damaged careers, but he shares their values of fairness and justice.
When No Accident was released, I had no idea if readers would enjoy the story. Thankfully, bloggers, reviewers and readers liked something a little different from the usual crime fiction. They liked the characters, the insights into environmental health and the engaging backstory.
No Bodies, the second Kent Fisher mystery soon followed. With Kent a local hero after solving a murder, he’s approached by an old family friend, whose wife went missing a year earlier. It appears she ran off with a dodgy caterer, which is Kent’s territory, but the husband believes she’s dead.
No Remorse takes Kent into the world of residential homes for the elderly when a resident with a secret claims he’s about to be killed. When he dies a few weeks later, he leaves a cryptic code for Kent to solve.
In No More Lies, released in May 2019, an ambitious detective inspector enlists Kent’s help with a cold case, linked to a restaurant he once closed down for poor hygiene. His help is not all she’s after.
While Kent Fisher may be different and bring something new to the murder mystery, the stories remain faithful to the classic whodunit format with their red herrings and false trails. Without forensic science, DNA profiling, a national database and a team of detectives, Kent has to solve complex murders using only his knowledge, connections and deductive skills, like so many detectives before him.
[ Bio ]
During his 39 years as an environmental health officer (EHO), Robert Crouch has worked with and alongside the police on many occasions, investigating fatal workplace accidents, bonfire celebrations that got out of hand and antisocial behaviour.
EHOs often investigate complex cases, gather evidence, interview suspects and take prosecutions, following the same rules of investigation and evidence as the police. EHOs work closely with businesses and residents on a daily basis in their communities, having extensive networks and contacts.
This gives an EHO the necessary skills and contacts to investigate a murder, especially one disguised as a workplace accident.
Inspired by his love of classic murder mysteries, Robert Crouch wanted to create a fresh and contemporary whodunit to offer readers something familiar but different.
Above all he wanted to show that an ordinary person could solve a murder. Not that there’s anything ordinary about Kent Fisher, an environmental health officer with more baggage than an airport carousel.
Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B01HFPCYOM
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robertcrouchauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/robertcrouchuk
Website: https://robertcrouch.co.uk
[ About the Books ]
A former gangster is dead. It looks like an accident. Only Kent Fisher suspects murder.
When the police decide Syd Collins’ death is a work accident, they hand over the investigation to environmental health officer, Kent Fisher, a man with more baggage than an airport carousel.
He defies a restraining order to enter Tombstone Adventure Park and confronts the owner, Miles Birchill, who has his own reasons for blocking the investigation. Thwarted at every turn, Kent’s forced to bend the rules and is soon suspended from duty.
He battles on, unearthing secrets and corruption that could destroy those he loves. With his personal and professional worlds on a collision course, he knows life will never be the same again.
Inspired by Agatha Christie and Sue Grafton, Robert Crouch brings a fresh voice and a new twist to the traditional murder mystery.
‘Agatha Christie fans will love it.’ Tamara McKinley.
A missing wife. A crooked caterer. A recipe for love or murder?
Colonel Witherington doesn’t believe his wife, Daphne, ran off with caterer, Colin Miller. Neither does family friend, Kent Fisher, when he discovers she left behind her most valued possessions.
He picks up a trail that went cold over a year ago and uncovers a second missing wife.
Is there a serial killer on the loose in Downland?
When a young girl is rushed to hospital after a visit to Kent’s animal sanctuary, he faces ruin.
But it’s nothing compared to the horrors he faces when he closes in on a killer who leaves no bodies.
Inspired by Agatha Christie and Sue Grafton, Robert Crouch brings a fresh voice and a new twist to the traditional murder mystery.
An old man dead. Dementia or murder? Threats won’t stop Kent Fisher from finding out.
At luxury retirement home, Nightingales, appearance matters more than the truth. But what is the truth? Was Anthony Trimble killed as he predicted? If so, who wanted him out of the way, and why?
Kent puzzles over the only clue Trimble left him. Do the numbers come from a takeaway menu or are they a mysterious code that could reveal his darkest secret?
As Kent digs deep, people start dying.
Will Kent win the race to discover the truth, or become the next victim?
Inspired by Agatha Christie and Sue Grafton, Robert Crouch brings a fresh voice and a new twist to the traditional murder mystery
Kent Fisher gets more than he bargained for when Detective Inspector Ashley Goodman enlists his help with a ten year old murder. She’s on a mission and needs a big case to put her career back on track.
And they don’t come much bigger than Miles Birchill, Downland’s wealthiest and most divisive resident.
Not for the first time, Kent has doubts about the case, forcing him to make choices. But who do you trust when everyone has something to hide?
Caught in the middle, he has no alternative but to solve the murder, unaware that his every move is being watched.
The Kent Fisher novels offer a fresh and contemporary reworking of the classic whodunit and murder mysteries of authors like Agatha Christie.
This is another great read from the talented Mr Crouch – I’m halfway through it at the moment.
Fantastic Colin. He mentioned yesterday he deep in book 5…so more to come 🙂