Did she fall or did she jump? Accident or suicide?

This novel begins in the court room as the Coroner tries to determine the answer. Lisa Wright was a talented violist who fell – or jumped – from a cliff top while out on a training run. Her running partner and trainer, friend and some-time lover, Mike Nicholls, ex military, ex Hollywood stuntman, was running ahead; he heard and saw nothing. When he sensed she was no longer behind him, he looked over the edge and saw her body on the rocks below. His evidence is key even if he does withhold the most useful information in order to keep his promise to the deceased and preserve her reputation. Knowing what he does, he suspects her death was not accidental as does her former best friend, Sally Palmer, who is a nurse in the local hospital and a volunteer therapist at a crisis centre for sexually abused women. Sally is next to give evidence and unlike Mike, she does not hold back.

We follow the case through the eyes of Mike, mentally scarred from his experiences as a marine at war and physically scarred from the stunt which went badly wrong and ended his second career. The evidence reveals a sad case of child sexual grooming and abuse, graphic enough to make anyone squirm. Fortunately, there is a tone to the narrative which distances the reader and makes them feel very much like an onlooker, a spectator of events.

After more evidence, the Coroner’s verdict pleases most but convinces very few.

Given its intensity and unusual style (and content), this novel is, thankfully, not long but it is thought-provoking...

Sally and Mike make an odd pairing as they join forces to uncover the truth. Lisa’s story has appeared as a work of graphic sexual fiction and they want to know who provided the author with the details. First, however, they have to identify the author: his real name is not J D Hammerhead.

There are relatively few characters which intensifies the mood as Field explores the idea of revenge and the importance of reputation, bereavement and injustice as well as the abuse of power and the grooming of children. He defines the genre as ‘Northumberland noir’ and sets the novel around the rugged North Sea cliffs of Berwick, intending the environment to ‘amplify the tension and reflect the emotional states of my characters’.

Given its intensity and unusual style (and content), this novel is, thankfully, not long but it is thought-provoking, given that the two main protagonists are trying desperately to find someone else to blame for the death of their friend and so assuage their own guilt.


Accidents Will Happen is published by Hit the North