Colin’s journey,
from firefighter to Author

With eight published novels, Colin Mardell creates captivating crime thrillers that resonate with diverse audiences, earning accolades and a loyal following for his engaging narratives.

Inspirations
Colin would be the first to admit that by most people’s standards, he was a late reader, but a new teacher in his primary school, and the gift of Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons, changed all that.  Having caught the bug, he’s never since been without at least one book on the go.  Despite that, he left school convinced that translating that passion into his own written work was beyond him.  Of course, life has a way of educating you, even when you don’t go looking for it, and the need to communicate demands you learn how to do it or suffer the consequences.
Driven by a desire to prove to himself that he could, when forced to retire from the fire service Colin set himself the goal of writing a book, and in 1998 he did just that.  Unsurprisingly, that first work was subject to some quite scathing criticism by the few people he chose to show it to.  Nevertheless, he had enjoyed the experience of creating the written piece so much that he continued writing purely for the pleasure of doing it.
When the Covid pandemic descended on us with its long days of confinement, Colin decided to put the lessons he thought he’d learned to the test and in 2021 he offered a short autobiographical piece for publication.  To his surprise and delight it was accepted, becoming the spark that ignited his desire to see some of his fiction in print, hence his first novel, ‘Keep Her Safe’ was born.  Since then, another seven have been published, including the award-winning ‘Wolf in the Henhouse’.
Colin says that he draws his inspiration from writers such as Frederick Forsyth, Tom Clancy, Michael Connelly, Lee Child, Linwood Barclay, and Harlan Coben.