The Story Behind Sword of Damocles

Sword of Damocles was born around 2007 in the form of script written for Yorkshire Television by myself and co-writer and good friend, Graeme Bottomley. It was to be a two-hour drama, and was the third episode of the four we’d already written. 

Sometimes things don’t work out as planned though, and the drama department within YTV was scrapped (except for Emmerdale and Heartbeat) by ITV because the arse was about to fall out of the economy. But anyway, that’s a whole new story… 

But I loved this tale; of the four it was my favourite and (sorry, I hate using clichés, but it happens to sit quite well here) ticked all the boxes for me. 

There are many facets to this story. It’s not the longest book I’ve written by a long way; in fact it just scrapes over the 80k word mark – short by my standards. But inside you’ll find a continuation of Eddie’s life, beginning where we left off in Black by Rose with him working in the Major Crime Unit’s CSI department, and on a personal basis, with Eddie being in love with Ros. This idyllic situation doesn’t last long though – and really, when you’re writing a book, ‘idyllic’ is the death knell – you need change (something I hate). 

On a professional basis, Eddie finds himself in hot water with those in authority, but has the tables turned somewhat by being promoted. So those he used to work alongside now dislike him! Not that they were exactly in love with him before, you understand. But it gives Eddie a new impetus in that he has to cure this problem before his whole department disintegrates. But you know Eddie, he’s not the kind of man who pussyfoots around. 

After completing Black by Rose, I wondered if might be able to modify the script and adapt it to fit a novel format. I basically reviewed each of the 300 scenes that formed the script, chopped out the bits not pertinent to Eddie’s situation, chopped out the bits that didn’t focus entirely on the story I wanted, and welded what was left around Eddie’s current situation. I hope it worked. 

The main plot begins with an apparent suicide in the most horrific of circumstances (I just had an email from one of my readers who said it put her right off the lasagne she was eating at the time!). But there are some anomalies that Eddie comes across. These pique his curiosity, and before long he’s like a dog with a bone – not willing to let it lie, despite pressure from above, until he’s reached the truth. And if reaching the truth means breaking the law, then so be it. 

Eddie joins forced with his old enemy, DI Benson, and they both end up in hot water, and they both decide to go it alone rather than wait for the inevitable disciplinary action. As I’ve mentioned, there are several sub-plots running through the book, not least of which is Eddie’s estranged father, Charles. Charles is burgled and beaten, and practically made homeless. Eventually he tracks Eddie down, and reluctantly, Eddie invites him to stay. But that’s not the end of their story. Eddie can’t rest until the wrong done to his father is righted. 

And here’s the blurb… 

Crime Scene Investigator, Eddie Collins, finds himself suspended from duty – not for breaking the rules, but for smashing them to pieces.

It looked like a straightforward burn-out with a dead body in the driver’s seat. CSI Eddie Collins finds out that this apparent suicide isn’t a suicide at all. And the deeper he digs, the more twisted this case becomes.

Eddie’s attention is focused on the victim’s husband, a curious man who seemingly has nothing to gain from his wife’s death. Only when he teams up with DI Benson do they make headway, determining that the motive for the killing is buried in the past.

But there’s more to it than anyone could have suspected, another layer – a mysterious stranger, a kidnapping, and a murder that has its roots in the 1970s – details of which are extremely sensitive, but ignored by Eddie as he relentlessly pursues the killer in a race towards his final victim.

Even Eddie makes mistakes, and he has no idea of the danger waiting for him as the heart-breaking climax approaches.

Some things are scarier than dead bodies.