John’s passion for Agatha Christie’s detective stories ignited at the age of 11 in 1967, captivated by Tom Adams’ striking paperback covers. Joining the Agatha Christie Crime Collection in 1969, he treasured his Membership Certificate. In the following years, he voraciously consumed all of Christie’s detective tales, drawn by the intricate forensic analysis of clues.

Christie’s passing in 1976 coincided with his studies at Magdalene College, Cambridge, and a waning frequency of re-readings. John Le Carré’s “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” emerged as a new favorite. Balancing a legal career in London, culminating in partnership at Freshfields, with his hobby of naval medal research and writing, he laid the groundwork for his later literary endeavors.

In the late 1990s, he encountered Professor Robert Barnard’s “A Talent to Deceive,” sparking a new analytical approach to Christie’s work. From 2005 onward, he meticulously researched and wrote about Christie’s novels, drawing on his legal background for forensic insight.

Retiring in 2010, he dedicated himself fully to writing from his Wimbledon home, shared with his wife Linda, two adult children, and a loquacious feline companion.