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David West
ALLi Author Member
Location: United Kingdom (the)
Genres: Crime, Historical Fiction, Business
Skills: Press/Media Interview, Reading/Literary Event, Self-publishing Workshop/Training, Speaking Engagement/Lecture, Writing Workshop
I started writing seriously when I was commissioned by, what was then Gower Publishing, now Routledge, to write Project Sponsorship - An Essential Guide for Those Sponsoring Projects Within Their Organizations. To turn the pages of my own, published book was thrilling. I had the bug. I enrolled on the Open University’s Creative Writing course, then the Advanced Creative Writing course. I submitted a short story to a competition run by Bridge House Publishing and was shortlisted. My story, There Must be More, is published in their anthology, Something Hidden.
Whilst reading George Malcolm Thomson’s biography of Sir Francis Drake, I learnt of Sir Anthony Standen. “The time had come when Walsingham was no longer satisfied with news that came to him at second-hand, whether from Santa Cruz’s kitchen or from the Governor of Guernsey’s reports of the gossip on Breton ships or in Rouen taverns. He needed an accurate and detailed stream of information about the number of Philip’s ships, their tonnage, the sailors who would man them and the soldiers they would carry. Thanks above all to Standen, he got what he wanted.”
My mother’s maiden name was Standen, so I became intrigued by this potential ancestor, an Elizabethan spy. I read his ODNB entry and was captivated, but I kept asking myself why did he do that, and how did he do that? In between my day job and writing articles for magazines on project management, I started to write about Standen. This project received the boost it required from the COVID lockdown. I completed The Spy who Sank the Armada, then moved on to Fire & Earth, The Suggested Assassin and Called to Acccount. I have every intention of continuing the Standen dynasty saga until I run out of history, or I become history myself.
David West's books
The Spy who Sank the Armada
The story of Sir Anthony Standen who really was Francis Walsingham’s spy providing intelligence on the Spanish Armada.
Spy techniques, fight scenes, and an array of attractive supporting characters give the novel a James Bond–esque atmosphere while staying rooted in historical context. – Kirkus
Fire and Earth
The second book in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures is set in Rome in 1607. A serial killer is torching priests in their churches. The pope hires Sir Anthony to find the killer.
This is a very entertaining and thought-provoking story. Above all, this novel illustrates how unscrupulous, hypocritical, and power-hungry religious and political leaders were back then, and it still continues to this day. The theological and philosophical questions posed in this novel reminded me of some questions that I have often pondered myself. That is why I recommend this book to open-minded people who like exploring possible explanations for the meaning of life, the nature of God, and the foundations of the universe. Fans of historical fiction will also enjoy this publication. – Online book club
The Suggested Assassin
The third book in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures finds Sir Anthony and his daughter Maria hired by Marie de Medici to help with her son’s speech defect and discover who is plotting the murder of her husband, King Henry IV of France.
“An entertaining adventure that’s packed with diverse and intriguing historical morsels” - Kirkus
Called to Account
It is 1612. Maria and Antonio set off to the Frankfurt fair to find a buyer for their wine, and expand their vineyard. They find a buyer, and Maria finds an admirer. When they visit the man preparing their bill of exchange, he and his wife have been strangled. The victims are Jewish, so the mayor isn’t interested. They hunt for the killer, as a pogrom explodes. Maria and Manuel fall in love. Manuel is hiding something. Which will prevail, love or hate?
There are murders, forensic science, sword fights, romance, witch trials and a pogrom. It all starts with an account book and climate change.
“ Tender love and chilling mob violence alternate in this engaging, disturbing period drama.” - Kirkus