Sam Turner
Created by John
Baker
According
to his creator, John Baker, "SAM TURNER is
a world weary British PI working out of York, England. He's a
loner, still looking for THE woman, though he's now way over his
sell-by-date. He's got a head full of Bob Dylan and old-fashioned
ideas about justice and compassion. Pet hates are the cops and
the government." He's also a bit of a loser. When we first
meet up with him, in 1996's Poet in the Gutter, he's broke,
just recently off the booze and yet another failed marriage, and
with no real prospects in the near future for any great improvment
in his life. He more or less becomes a private detective by accident.
With his motley crew of assistants, which includes a snooker hall
owner, an elderly spinster and a teenage runaway, Sam probes behind
the respectable facade of a York the numerous tourists seldom
see.
John Baker, like Sam Turner, lives in York. "It's a city
I know," Baker explains. "After a spell in Scandinavia
we came to live in York around 1980. Reluctantly on my part, as
it seemed like coming to live in a fairground. The centre of the
city is always packed with tourists, and a new hotel and a new
museum seem to open every week. But after a time it struck me
that there are two cities: the public one that everyone sees,
and a hidden one that is in its turn divided between rich and
poor. A lot of cash is spent every year making sure that the old
city walls are teeming with daffodils, but there are other, residential,
parts of the city where the only things that grow are neglect
and corruption. It seemed to me that that would make a good setting
for a series of contemporary crime novels. A city of contrasts.
A city with a smile on its face, but with fear in its guts. That's
York."
Baker is a member of a British crime writers group called Murder
Squad, which also includes Cath Staincliffe (Sal
Kilkenny), Stuart Pawson, Martin Edwards (Harry
Devlin), Chaz Brenchley, Margaret Murphy and Ann Cleeves.
UNDER OATH
- "Once again, Baker has combined an eccentric but endearing
cast of characters with a truly creepy villain and produced an
unputdownable book. Despite multiple plotlines and multiple points
of view, Baker never loses control of the story - the pacing
is excellent and there's just the right mix of humour and compassion,
with a good helping of action and suspense. Another excellent
entry in an excellent series."
(MysInDepth's
Shauna Scott on Walking With Ghosts)
NOVELS
- Poet in the Gutter (1996)
- Death Minus Zero (1997)
- King of the Streets (1998)
- Walking With Ghosts (1999)
- Shooting in the Dark (2001)
RELATED LINKS
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. And thanks to John
for the heads up!
