Nick Brownlee is a British journalist and crime thriller writer. His critically acclaimed

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

, ''Bait'', published in December 2008 by Piatkus, was the first in a series featuring Kenyan crimebusting duo Jake Moore and Detective Inspector Daniel Jouma. The second, ''Burn'', was published in June 2009, and the third, ''Machete'' in July 2010. The fourth in the series, ''Snakepit'', was published in 2011. In 2014, writing as Jim Ford, Brownlee produced three crime novellas set in his native Newcastle and featuring Detective Superintendent Theo Vos. "The Bug House", "Punch Drunk" and "In Vitro" were issued as ebooks by Constable & Robinson, and later bought by German publishing house Goldmann.

Biography

Brownlee was born in

Blyth, Northumberland Blyth () is a town and civil parish in southeast Northumberland, England. It lies on the coast, to the south of the River Blyth and is approximately northeast of Newcastle upon Tyne. It has a population of about 37,000, as of 2011. The port o ...

, and educated at the

Royal Grammar School, Newcastle (By Learning, You Will Lead) , established = , closed = , type = Grammar SchoolIndependent school (UK), Independent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Geoffrey Stanford , r_head_label = , r_head ...

, and the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

. After leaving university he joined the

Newcastle Evening Chronicle The ''Evening Chronicle'', now referred to as ''The Comical'', is a daily newspaper produced in Newcastle upon Tyne covering North regional news, but primarily focused on Newcastle upon Tyne and surrounding area. The ''Comical'' is published by ...

as a reporter, and continued to work for local newspapers in the North-East for several years before moving to London to work as a feature writer for

The People The ''Sunday People'' is a British tabloid Sunday newspaper. It was founded as ''The People'' on 16 October 1881. At one point owned by Odhams Press, The ''People'' was acquired along with Odhams by the Mirror Group in 1961, along with the ' ...

. In 2000 he became a freelance writer, contributing to national newspapers and magazines. He now lives in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

with his wife, daughter and dog.

Non-Fiction Work

Brownlee's first book, a guide to

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

, was published shortly after leaving

. Since then he has written several non-fiction titles on subjects ranging from cannabis to manufactured pop music. His last book was a history of the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

, entitled ''Vive Le Tour'', published in 2007. This book was reissued in May 2010 and May 2013 by

Anova Books HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Corp ...

, with updated entries and foreword. He has also updated a book of World Cup football trivia, ''The Amazing World Cup Compendium'', to coincide with the 2010 World Cup Finals.

The Jake & Jouma Series

In late 2007, Brownlee's manuscript for ''Bait'' was one of a handful selected for publication by

Macmillan New Writing Macmillan New Writing is an imprint of the British publishing company Pan Macmillan. Designed to attract previously unpublished authors, it offers aspiring novelists 20% of royalties from the sale of their book but no advance on signing. Books Mac ...

. However the same day he was also offered a contract by London-based literary agency Gregory & Company. Choosing to go with the latter, ''Bait'' was subsequently bought by Piatkus, an imprint of

Little, Brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily D ...

publishers, as part of a two-book deal featuring the characters Daniel Jouma and Jake Moore. The novel was published in December 2008, and the sequel, ''Burn'', in June 2009. Two more Jake and Jouma novels were published by Piatkus: ''Machete'', in July 2010, and ''Snakepit'', in July 2011. In January 2009 ''Bait'' was reviewed on the Simon Mayo Book Panel on

BBC Radio Five Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...

. Brownlee himself has appeared as a reviewer on the show on several occasions in 2009. In April 2010, US magazine

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

included the book in its list of Best Crime Novels of the Year.

The Bug House Series

Set in Newcastle and featuring investigations carried out by a small team of detectives under the watchful eye of Detective Superintendent Theo Vos, the "Bug House" series (the name derives from the office where the detectives are based) was purchased by Constable Robinson in 2013 and published as three ebook novellas throughout 2014. For this series, Brownlee wrote under the pen name Jim Ford.

''Other Fiction''

In April 2010, one of Brownlee's short stories, ''Withholding The Evidence'', was included in an anthology entitled ''No Man & Other Stories To Help Haiti''. The collection, which also features the work of

Alexander McCall Smith Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE (born 24 August 1948), is a British writer. He was raised in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and formerly Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. He became an expert on medical law and ...

and

William Peter Blatty William Peter Blatty (January 7, 1928 – January 12, 2017) was an American writer, director and producer. He is best known for his 1971 novel, ''The Exorcist'', and for his 1974 screenplay for the film adaptation of the same name. Blatty won ...

, is available exclusively in

ebook An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

form, with all profits going to

Unicef UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

to aid victims of the

Haiti earthquake Some of the earthquakes in Haiti have been very destructive to the country. The widespread damage and high-number of casualties of events in 2010 and 2021 can be partially blamed on the fact that most of the population in Haiti resides in struct ...

References

Piatkus

Reviews for "Bait"

Gregory & Co Literary Agency

Interview in News & Star
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"Short Stories to Help Haiti"

Booklist Online's Best Crime Novels of The Year
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brownlee, Nick Alumni of the University of Leeds English crime fiction writers English crime writers English thriller writers English mystery writers British crime journalists People educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne Living people People from Blyth, Northumberland The Sunday People people 1967 births