A THRILLER writer whose crime novels are set in the North-East gangland has met his fans at book signings across the North-East.

Howard Linskey, 47, toured book stores across the North-East and North Yorkshire to sign copies of his latest book No Name Lane which was released in March.

Mr Linskey, formerly of Ferryhill, in County Durham, is to carry out further book signings in the area up to Sunday (April 12).

He has dipped into his North-East background for his books which include the David Blake trilogy The Dead, The Damage and The Drop.

A former journalist in the North-West Mr Linskey returns to his old job for No Name Lane.

The plot revolves round Tom Carney, a tabloid hack sent home to the North-East on leave, and a local reporter Helen Norton.

They join with Detective Constable Ian Bradshaw to help to find a missing girl and are dragged into helping to unravel the 60-year cold case of a dead body.

The No Name Lane characters are to return in two further books in the series with the second, Death Knock, to be released next April.

Mr Linskey said: “This is the best part of being an author is meeting the fans. It’s a privilege to meet people who like your work and I’m having a great time.

“As a writer you fret whether people will like your work and so to see it in print and with your name on it is a relief.

“North-East people are generally supportive of writers from the region and I have met people who are not fans of crime novels buying the books.”

Mr Linskey is Waterstones, in Sunderland, between 1pm and 2pm, Waterstones, at the Emerson Chambers, Newcastle, between 5pm and 6pm, and WH Smiths, on Northumberland Street, Newcastle, from 12.30pm to 2.30pm tomorrow (Friday, April 10).

He is at Waterstones, in the MetroCentre, between 11am and 12.30pm on Sunday (April 12).