L.M. Krier Books In Order
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L M Krier
Lesley Tither, aka L M Krier, is the author of the highly popular Ted Darling Crime Series. Ms. Krier has a full schedule, besides writing her series of novels, being a copy editor and a freelance copywriter.
A retired journalist, she worked as a criminal court reporter and a coroner’s court reporter. Ms. Krier has also worked for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) as a case tracker, working investigating offshore finance irregularities. She has also owned and operated a holiday riding center and, for fun, acted as a “charity mugger”. Those persons lie in wait to get shoppers to sign up for a wildlife charity.
Ms. Krier achieved a major writing contract at the astonishingly young age of sixteen. She sold a piece to a production company in Hollywood for a television production. Her father thought is was a fortune. He was a newspaper editor and he said it was more than he had ever been paid for one of his single pieces of writing.
Ms. Krier has other interests as well. She has an extensive interest in wildlife and nature, wild camping, and organic gardening. Dogs are also an important interest in her life. She currently has two rescued border collies. She lives in Central France in the Auvergne region and is a holder of dual citizenship of Britian and France.
Ms. Krier has generously answered readers’ questions. Some are here…
What do you think the is the best about being a writer? She says she has license to write and talk to your own imaginary friends. When asked how she gets her inspirations to write she says “I can’t stop! I’m obsessed!” Ms. Krier says she has to force herself to take breaks. She would write all the time, she loves it so much.
Ms. Krier said writing is worth it if you can determine what you want to get out of it. She said it’s seldom a way to make much money. Being self-published, writing as an “Indie”, gives her total control, she has a lot of fun, and rather than being obligated to a publishing contract she can call her own shots.
Her ideas for books come from current affairs. A story in the news or in the papers might start a light bulb reaction in her brain. It can be a great start for the next story. Ms. Krier’s career as a former journalist, court and coroner court reporting, and CPS had her handling a wide variety of criminal offenses has given her a rich source of inspiration and material for her stories.
Crime fiction has been her preferred genre to read. Agatha Christie, Ed McBain, television shows, all drew her in. It took years for the idea to write crime fictions to occur to her. She’s had a long career writing non-fiction, travel memoirs, etc. She said she literally had a dream with a complete synopsis for a crime fiction story. She got it down on her computer and it seemed to work for her.
Every author has a writing routine. It’s as individual as their stories. Ms. Krier tends to start her writing in her head while out walking her dogs or working in the garden. She kicks stuff around mentally, passages of dialogue and narrative. She tends to type them up right away, not wanting to trust her memory to hold.
She writes a chapter or two a day, editing as she goes. She’ll then send her day’s work off to a friend- her “Alpha beta” reader who is a good enough friend to be honest about the product who gives the thumbs up or down. Ms. Krier will polish it a bit more and then she moves on to the next part of the story.
One interesting detail is that she keeps what she calls a “Ted Bible”. It has all the details about each character, taste in music, favorite foods, etc. It gives her stories consistency all novels need.
For fear of jinxing herself, it’s “the kiss of death”, Ms. Krier says writer’s block is something she hasn’t encountered – yet. With her experience in journalism of writing on absurdly tight deadlines, she’s learned to avoid that particular affliction.
As part of the preface to her books, Ms. Krier, ever the journalist, explains the many possible “typos” in the writing. The stories are set in Stockport and Greater Manchester and her writing reflects the local sayings and dialects. Common speech patterns may include dropping the article and you’ll read ‘I’ll do it if I get chance’. Trev and Ted also have an insider saying that looks like a blooper… ‘billirant’, but it’s not a typo, it’s just their way.
The first novel, Baby’s Got Blue Eyes, was surprisingly well received. Ms. Krier wasn’t expecting the huge positive response from the initial offering and it has gone on to become a long-running series.
She wrote The First Time Ever two years later. It’s a retrospective prequel to satisfy readers who requested more about detective DI Ted Darling and his background. As a result, although she wrote Baby’s Got Blue Eyes (2015) first, The First Time Ever (2017) is frequently listed as book number one on some lists.
DI Ted Darling is not happy. His patch has too many dead bodies being dumped. He’s known as a solid, good copper and has an excellent clear-up rate. He’s not known for being a typical cop.
He’s been different in a few ways since he was a young boy. He’s on the small side and his surname of ‘Darling’ has brought on enough heat alone. He’s been in a gay relationship for ten years, a better track record than most heterosexual officers.
He has his ways of dealing with prejudices his differences attract. Some are more diplomatic than others. Knowledge of his four black belts in various martial arts and a stint in the SFO- Specialist Firearms Officer will usually shut up any mouthy officers. Darling is proud of the diversity of his group and their high level of teamwork.
Book Series In Order » Authors »
Any issues with the book list you are seeing? Or is there an author or series we don’t have? Let me know!
Hello Helene
Apologies for the long delay in replying but I have only just discovered this site !
There are now 21 books in the Ted Darling series and I’m shortly going to start No 22.
I hope you will keep on enjoying them.
Best wishes
LM Krier
I love your books, and like thousands of other readers love Ted and Trevor. I was wondering when your next book was being published, I am anxiously waiting.
All the best.
Helene