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In The Blood
My greatgrandfather, grandfather,father and sister all served in the Metropolitan police, and one of my cousins was a
senior forensic scientist at New Scotland Yard. You might say I broke the mould. But I was weaned on Moriarty's Police Law,
and the mould never quite left me.
As a short arms expert in the Met. Grandad found himself covering the Home Secretary during the
notorious 'Battle of London'. He went on from the Thames Water Police, to the Flying Squad which he led at one point. An amnesty
was declared for the duration of his funeral. The Police Band led the cortege, police officers and criminals in procession
to and from the Brompton Oratory, after which they all drank a toast to his memory. The Amnesty ended, and the criminals dispersed.
He would have loved it!
I've now received a copy of the two books my Canadian cousin - Brendan - has had printed containing loads of press
cuttings from Grandad's career - including ones I remember avidly devouring as a six year old in the basement front parlour
of his house in Sidney Street [the Chelsea one, not the East End one] - and a smaller book containing his diaries. Fascinating.
Grandad at the Siege of Sidney Street 1911
with Winston Churchill
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Next Stop the Flying Squad!
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Creative Influences
Orphaned at eleven, I was fortunate to have my eighteen year old sister Pat to care for me. She persuaded
the council to bend the rules to allow us to live together even though I had no legal guardian, and she was under 21. A
corollary was that I attend a boarding school under what turned out to be a tyrannical headteacher who desperate
to raise the status of the school led a reign of terror. I found refuge in reading books by day and night, creative
writing, and sport. I revived the dramatic society.
There were also three life changing trips abroad with more enlightened staff to Norway, Germany and Italy. Only
made possible by my sister persuading officials at the Passport Office to let me have a passport - despite the fact that I
was not officially owned by anyone - including the state! Then went to Teacher Training College to study English with
Drama, and History. There we had an inspirational Drama lecturer -Collette King - and one of the first studio theatre's
'in the round', we worked with Bill Gaskell of Royal Court fame, and had Laban dance training to boot. So it turned out
fine in the end...of the beginning. Continued...
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My liaison role between the Education Department and Greater Manchester Police, during which I helped to set up the Police
Schools Liaison included initiatives to raise drug awareness, reduce muggings - on and by - pupils and
students, reduce the carrying of knives by pupils, and pilot community initiatives to improve reporting of racist incidents,
and diverting pupils at risk of becoming snared in youth gangs. Don't be surprised if some of this appears as
a sub text to Tom Caton's burgeoning workload.
Literary Influences.
I have read for as long as I can remember, and devour as many classical and mainstream books as I do crime novels. But
If you're wondering what genre the Tom Caton novels belong to - these are some of the crime and thriller writers I most
admire:
Ted Albeury, John Le Carre, Gerald Seymour, John Grisham, Graham Green, John Le Carre, PD James, Peter Robinson, Ian
Rankin, Patricia Cornwell, Kathy Reichs,Tess Geritson, Ed McBain, Michael Connelly, Andrea Camilleri, John Harvey, Harlan
Coben, Karin Slaughter, Ian McKewan, Val McDermid, Susan Hill, Henning Mankell, Donna Leon,...and many, many more.
Make of that what you will!
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