A RETIRED police officer who was born in Upton-upon-Severn and is celebrating his 80th birthday this week has released his first novel.
Philip Lovel has had a decades-long ambition to write a book and his vintage crime thriller ‘The Tribulations of Miss Glass’ is a classic whodunit.
The story takes place in the 1920s and 1930s and centres on a missing headmistress, a murder and mysterious goings-on in and around Malvern and Worcester.
The former Malvern Girls College, Graham Road, Como Road and Malvern railway station all feature in the book.
The enigmatic schoolteacher Letitia Glass and her disappearing colleague are at the centre of the action – with fictional Worcestershire Constabulary detectives Ch Insp Martin and Insp Carlsen on their trail.
The book’s twists and turns aim to keep readers guessing. Will Miss Glass – who can be cruel and kind in quick succession – reveal her secrets? And whose is the body in the quarry?
Philip said: “I had great fun writing it and am delighted the book has now been published in my 80th year.
“I drew on my policing experience from the 1960s and 1970s and then adapted it.
“Policing a century ago was very different to now – no radios, no DNA, and operating under different laws and procedures.’
“A few of the characters are amalgamations of teachers and other people I knew from my childhood growing up around Upton-on-Severn and later at work and the name of my family home even creeps in somewhere along the line.
“But I don’t think anyone will recognise themselves – it’s definitely a work of fiction.”
The book has been released through London publishing house Austin Macauley and is available on Amazon here and at bookshops.
