A FORMER member of Herefordshire Constabulary will be launching his new book in Malvern on Friday, April 28.

Tom Pierce, who lives in the town, has drawn on his own experiences for his debut novel, The Sweet Taste of Death, the story of a retired police officer who becomes entangled in the smuggling of priceless archaeological artefacts.

It combines the history, travel and detective genres, against the backdrops of the historic streets of Hereford and the mountains of southern France.

At the Malvern Book Coop, St Ann's Road, on Friday at 7.30pm, the author will be giving a talk about the book’s background in his career in the police.

Mr Pierce trained in the arts and worked as a graphic designer before a dramatic change of course led him to joining the Herefordshire Constabulary, where he worked for many years he worked as an artist and cameraman recording evidence of many serious crimes.

He said: “Though much of the book is a work of imagination, there’s a lot of real life in there too. My work meant I saw many troubling scenes firsthand, and my urge to write first came from needing to release some lingering images of those scenes. Life in the police was far from entirely dark however, and it’s certainly provided inspiration for a lot more stories yet,”

Helen Barker of the bookshop said: “Supporting local authors is something we’re very proud of at the Malvern Book Co-op, so we were delighted when Tom approached us with his novel. The launch promises to be a great evening.

"As well as having written a gripping and varied novel, Tom’s quite the raconteur, so we can definitely expect some

remarkable anecdotes, both amusing and macabre, from his career.”