Rather to Be Pitied by Jan Newton

Published on 21 March 2019 as an £8.99 paperback original
ISBN: 9781909983861

Author Jan Newton is this month publishing the eagerly awaited next book in her female detective series set in mid-Wales:
Newly promoted DS Julie Kite has been in sleepy mid-Wales for mere months when she’s faced with her second murder case. A body has been found by school kids trekking the Monks’ Trod.

The trail takes Julie back north to her parents in Manchester and to a housing estate in a Lancashire town. It’s not a simple case – a young mother has disappeared, but so has her son and her next door neighbour’s wife. And the husband of the landlady of the B&B where the girl was staying. When Julie encounters an exserviceman farmhand with PTSD the case gets more complex still.

Jan says of her inspiration: “I’m always inspired to write by places which make me think. In the case of Rather To Be Pitied, it is the area known by the names of both ‘Elenydd’ and the ‘Green Desert of Wales’ which was the catalyst. Walking a section of the Monks’ Trod, an ancient path above the Elan Valley Reservoirs, it occurred to me that not only is this area true wilderness country, it would also be an incredibly good place to hide from modern society. Then, of course, the reasons for wanting to hide had to be explored…”

About the author:

Jan Newton grew up in Manchester and Derbyshire, spending her formative years on the back of a pony, exploring the hills and moorland around her home. She lived and worked in London and Buckinghamshire for 19 years until moving to Wales in 2005, where she learnt to speak fluent Welsh. Jan has won several writing competitions, including the Allen Raine Short Story competition, the WI Lady Denman Cup, and the Oriel Davies Gallery competition for nature-writing. She has been published in New Welsh Review.