The Charter is a crime thriller, based around North Wales and the island of Anglesey; a place I know very well as my family have a home there. Its roots lie in the local legend of missing treasure from a real-life shipwreck, The Royal Charter in 1859. I’ve created a modern day murder hunt to run alongside the historical thread.

Tell us more.
My main characters are formed around the CID department in Bangor, North Wales. And my lead female in The Charter is Sarah Morton who comes back to the island for her father’s funeral after being estranged from him and her home for many years. Living in her father’s old home, Charter House, on the cliffs above the wreck site, her life spirals out of control and she is left with the feeling she is not alone …

Sounds spooky. What genre is this novel?
Crime fiction with a hint of spooky thriller and a dose of historical fiction!

That sounds complicated, but basically I like to write a modern day crime thriller but with a twist, and I usually base them on some historical fact.

If you like Susan Hill, Ian Rankin and Barbara Erskine you’ll love my books.

Anglesey is a beautiful- if rainy – part of the world. Will you return there in any future books?
I have written two other spooky thrillers, also set on Anglesey, called Closure and Complicit.

Oh good.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I have been writing seriously for about ten years, after developing it from a hobby. I’ve taken creative writing courses and also a forensics course with the OU so I knew more about the subjects I write about. I split my time between the Midlands and a remote cottage on Anglesey. In real life I’m a company director in the retail sector – but writing and books are my real passion. I’ve had three agents, who have been unsuccessful in getting me a traditional publishing deal, for reasons which always felt out of my control. I am a co-founder of Triskele Books and now publishing independently through them.

Do you have a website where we can keep up with your work?
Yes. www.gillianhamer.com

How can we follow you on Twitter and/or Facebook?
Twitter – @gillyhamer
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/gillian.hamer.14

What’s next?
Lots of editing for the next few months, deciding on book covers, hopefully a visit to London Book Fair in April to join up with other members of the Alliance of Indie Authors – and then the big release in June!