Fylde author leads the way with gripping true crime chronicles

A former Cleveleys man is leading the way in the burgeoning genre of true crime.

Peter Walsh has written gritty books about drugs gangs, the men and women who combat the drugs trade and an enlightening story on football hooligans, among others.

And his books are proving incredibly popular with readers who can’t get enough of these real stories.

Peter, who is back living on the Fylde coast in a quiet village community after years away, is a former Fleet Street journalist who once chronicled the crimes of a Blackpool drugs kingpin.

A former pupil of the old St Joseph’s RC School in Blackpool, Peter turned to writing the books because he wanted to dig deeper and investigate the kind of stories that interested him most - the crimes of real people.

And he set up his own publishing company to do it after being convinced that there was a genuine market for that kind of book, even though the big publishing houses didn’t seem to be interested at the time.

Peter’s most recent book, Drug War: The Secret History, published last year, tells the tale of the UK’s war on drugs, largely from the perspective of the Investigation Division of HM Customs.

The book also unearthed fresh details of smuggler John Alan Brooks, aka Mr Big, the ringleader behind a plot to smuggle 1.5 tonnes of cocaine into Britain.

Peter, a 57 year old father-of-two, said: “People like these stories because they give them a close-up view of the sort of life that many people never live and wouldn’t want to be caught up in, but still want to know more.

“It allows them to do it from the comfort and safety of their own homes.

“The fact that these people really existed and these things actually happened makes it even better.

“When I worked on newspapers I covered these kind of stories but after a while I wanted to dig into it at a deeper level and more detail, and that could only be done by writing a book.”

Peter used his investigative skills to good effect when he interviewed football thugs, drug dealers, policemen and HM Customs men to get the kind of details which would have readers eagerly turning the pages.

He said: “One of the tricks is that people you have spoken to tend to give you the names of other contacts.

“It would be harder if you just went in cold.”

Dealing with stories about men who sometimes have a propensity for violence, did he ever feel scared at any point?

He said: “I’ve never felt scared, and the stories I write are ones that are already in the public domain.

“These people have been convicted of their offences, so it’s not as if you are making allegations about them.”

Peter started off as a press officer and did some articles for the Blackpool Gazette and the Citizen before eventually moving on to casual jobs at The Sun and The Daily Mail.

He also worked as a radio investigator for the BBC in Manchester.

Peter’s writing career was boosted when he set up his own publishing company, Milo Books.

He said: “Things really changed in the 1990s when technology meant people could publish their own stuff. All you needed was a personal computer, a fax and a phone and you were away.”

One of Peter’s notable books was Guvnors: Story of a Soccer Hooligan Gang by the Man Who Led It.

This was first-hand account of how Michael Francis and his brothers ran the Guvnors, a Manchester City based hooligan gang that wreaked havoc on the streets and terraces of Britain.

Peter wrote the book with Francis.

Another of the books he co-wrote was Cocky, the story of Liverpool gangster Curtis Warren, who was formerly Interpol’s Target One.

Peter can spend up to six years on his books and is already at work on his next.

But he can't say what this one's about - we may have to wait another six years for this next gripping chronicle.