A MESSAGE FROM P.F. FORD

Our ARC readers were fascinated by the way the story of A Body in the Garden ended and are keen to know more. Could you tell us a little about your writing process (did you know how it was going to end going into it?) And, without giving away too many spoilers, how do you see Norman Norman's story developing from here?

I don’t always know a story is going to end, and in the past I have even written books without knowing what was going to happen after the first page! However, in this case I felt I had taken the West Wales series as far as I could and it was time to bring it to a close. I already had a plot for the story, so it was just a case of coming up with plausible endings that would allow the five detectives to go their separate ways.

As for how I see Norm’s story, I can tell you that he and Faye are now married! And now Norm has retired he’s decided to turn his hand to gardening. It’s something he’s always wanted to try but never actually had the time, or place, to do it properly although he did get a taste for it when he bought his cottage in Llangwelli. So, to indulge Norm in his new hobby, and to get away from Llangwelli, the Normans have now sold their cottage in Llangwelli and moved to a small village a few miles away called Pontyfelin where they have bought a house with a big, but neglected garden.

They hope to blend in and become part of the local community and already Norm has joined the gardening club, and Faye has become a member of the local WI group. It’s all quite idyllic, but you know what these small villages are like . . .