DCI Warren Jones: Time To Kill by Paul Gitsham

DCI Warren Jones is deep into the investigation of an apparent murder-suicide when another case is thrust onto his desk.

Two cases are more than enough to handle—but things get even harder for the team when they realize the cases might be linked. And when a third suspicious death is added to the pile, it raises the question Is there a serial killer on the loose?

With all the murders taking place on Sundays, it’s a race against time to find the killer before they strike again. The only thing Warren knows for sure is that absolutely anyone could be next…

Paul Gitsham recently spent some time with The Big Thrill discussing his latest thriller, TIME TO KILL:

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

My investigative team really feel the pressure. The killer is fiendish and ruthless. I hope that the sense of responsibility the team feel to catch the killer before another person is killed comes across in my writing.

Paul Gitsham

What attracts you to this book’s genre?

I love the intellectual puzzle that writing police procedurals presents me with. By keeping it grounded in reality, I am limited by the same constraints that real-life detectives face and so have to balance their investigative skills with the ingenuity of the killer to produce a pacy read with enough twists and turns to keep my readers guessing.

How does this book make a contribution to the genre?

Serial killers come in all shapes and sizes, with all manner of motivations. I hope, when the conclusion is reached, that readers will feel that this is a fresh but believable take on the genre.

Without spoilers, are there any genre conventions you wanted to upend or challenge with this book?

My main character, DCI Warren Jones, is a happily married man, with no substance abuse problems.

No spoilers, but what can you tell us about your book that we won’t find in the jacket copy or the PR material?

The ultimate motivation for the killer is hopefully realistic but surprising. Whilst the book can be easily read as a standalone, I hope that those readers who have followed Warren’s journey from the start will like the direction that I have chosen for him and his team.

Is there a question that you feel is important to you and/or your novel? Write it in below, but be sure to answer it too!

How do you keep the police procedure accurate without delving too far into the minutiae?

I get much of the procedure and ‘feel’ of modern policing from watching high-quality fly-on-the-wall documentaries, such as 24 Hours in Police Custody. As regards specific details, the UK police are very transparent, and much of it is public domain, so Google and Wikipedia are my friends! I also read a couple of trusted authors who used to be police officers themselves, such as Neil Lancaster.

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Paul Gitsham started his career as a biologist, working in Manchester and Toronto before retraining as a science teacher. Along the way, he had spells as the world’s most over-qualified receptionist and spent time working for a major UK bank, ensuring that terrorists, foreign dictators, and other international ne’er-do-wells hadn’t embarrassed the institution by managing to deposit their ill-gotten gains in a Children’s Trust Fund.
Paul is the author of the DCI Warren Jones series and is a member of the Crime Writers’ Association and the International Thriller Writers organisation. He lives with his fiancée in the East of England in a house with more books than shelf space.

To learn more about the author and his work, please visit his website.