Ken Lussey

Ken Lussey spent his first 17 years following his family around the world; his father was a Royal Air Force navigator. This was a process involving seven schools and a dozen different postal addresses. He went to Hull University in 1975, where he spent much of his time hitch-hiking around Great Britain, met his wife Maureen and did just enough actual work to gain a reasonable degree in philosophy, that most useful of subjects!

Before getting a 'proper job', he researched and wrote 'A Hitch-Hiker's Guide to Great Britain', which was published by Penguin Books in 1983. He spent the next couple of decades as a civil servant, during which time he fulfilled the long-held ambition of moving to Scotland. In more recent times he has helped Maureen establish the website 'Undiscovered Scotland' as the ultimate online guide to Scotland and come full circle by returning to writing.

Ken's latest novel, published by Arachnid Press in November 2023, is 'A Tangled Web', a fast-paced contemporary thriller set in northern Scotland. It follows on from 'The High Road', which was published in September 2023. 'Hide and Seek', published earlier in 2023, is the fifth in his series of thrillers set in Scotland and beyond during World War Two. Its four predecessors, 'Eyes Turned Skywards', 'The Danger of Life', 'Bloody Orkney' and 'The Stockholm Run' were published between 2018 and 2022. He has also written 'The House With 46 Chimneys', a spooky adventure story for younger readers set in central Scotland against the background of the early days of the coronavirus lockdown. This was published in late 2020.

Thanks to Carolyn Henry Photography for these photographs. The first was taken at the Houstoun House Hotel in Uphall. The fictional Callum Anderson stays here at the beginning of 'The High Road', the first of Ken's two contemporary thrillers, so it seems a fitting backdrop. The collection of images was taken at the Angus BookFest in Montrose on 18 November 2023 where Ken appeared on an authors' panel.

Ken Lussey
Ken Lussey

A Tangled Web

Cover of A Tangled Web

'A Tangled Web' is a fast-paced contemporary thriller set in northern Scotland.

Callum Anderson returns to north-west Sutherland to help local GP Jenny Mackay investigate the death of her husband. The authorities say he committed suicide but she’s convinced he was murdered.

As an accountant and a councillor, Iain Mackay was an upstanding pillar of society. Or was he? Callum soon discovers that Iain lied to everyone who thought he loved them: especially his wife and his daughters. He was also a philanderer, a blackmailer and thoroughly corrupt. The possible motives for both murder and suicide begin to mount.

What Callum discovers puts his fledgling relationship with Jenny under real strain. But that becomes the least of their problems when they come up against people who have already killed and would have no qualms about killing again.

'A Tangled Web' was published as an eBook by Arachnid Press on 15 November 2023. The cover design is the work of Carolyn Henry Photography

The High Road

Cover of The High Road

'The High Road' is a fast-paced contemporary thriller set mainly in central Scotland and the far north-west.

Callum Anderson is in Scotland to scatter his father’s ashes when he’s asked by a cousin to look for her missing sister, Alexandra. With his life in London in tatters and suspended from duty by the Metropolitan Police, why not?

It soon becomes clear that Alex is on the run from a local criminal. But someone much more dangerous is after her too and sees Callum as a means of finding her and adding to a trail of bodies that extends across two countries.

After a brief entanglement with a Police Scotland anti-terrorist operation, Callum drops off the radar to follow the only lead he has left, which takes him to the far north-west of Scotland. But can he find Alex before his own hunter finds him?

'The High Road' was published as an eBook by Arachnid Press on 15 September 2023. The cover design is the work of Carolyn Henry Photography


Hide and Seek

Cover of Hide and Seek

'Hide and Seek' is a fast-paced thriller set in Stirling Castle and more widely across Scotland during World War Two.

It’s April 1943. Medical student Helen Erickson is followed from London to her aunt’s farm in Perthshire. What do her pursuers want?

Meanwhile Monique Dubois is attending a secret meeting at Stirling Castle when an old adversary is murdered in a chilling echo of a dark episode in the castle’s history. Bob Sutherland and the MI11 team are called in and discover that almost everyone who knew the victim had a motive.

Helen disappears and it becomes clear that national security is at stake. Monique sets out to find the missing woman before anyone else does, even if it means killing to protect her. Can Monique find Helen? Can Bob track down the killer at Stirling Castle? And just how dangerous have things become for both of them?

'Hide and Seek' was published by Arachnid Press on 26 May 2023.

The Stockholm Run

Cover of The Stockholm Run

'The Stockholm Run' is a fast-paced thriller set largely in Edinburgh and Stockholm during World War Two.

It’s March 1943. The death of an intruder reveals a hidden military bunker at Dundas Castle near Edinburgh, a living relic of an anti-invasion scheme from earlier in the war. Bob Sutherland and the Military Intelligence 11 team follow a trail that leads to a much larger secret, buried beneath Edinburgh Castle.

As the mystery in Edinburgh unravels, Bob Sutherland and Monique Dubois are sent to Stockholm, a city supposedly at peace in a world at war. There they are to take delivery of a message of critical national importance.

Or is it all a carefully crafted trap? Both encounter ghosts from the past in Sweden. Can their relationship survive what they uncover? Will they live long enough for that to matter?

'The Stockholm Run' was published by Arachnid Press on 26 May 2022.


Bloody Orkney

Cover of Bloody Orkney

'Bloody Orkney' is my fourth novel and the third of my thrillers set in Scotland during World War Two. It's November 1942. Bob Sutherland, Monique Dubois and the Military Intelligence 11 team visit Orkney and its hugely important naval base. But an unidentified body has been found. It becomes clear that powerful men have things they’d rather keep hidden and MI11’s arrival threatens the status quo.

Then Bob stumbles over a ghost from his past and things get far too personal. He and Monique are called away to resolve a crisis at a secret experimental base at Gruinard Bay in Wester Ross. When they return to Orkney, they find that the rules have been rewritten and they are in very real danger.

'Bloody Orkney' was published by Arachnid Press on 29 June 2021.

The House With 46 Chimneys

Cover of The House With 46 Chimneys

'The House With 46 Chimneys' is my third novel and my first for a younger audience. It is set in April 2020, during the early days of the coronavirus lockdown. Life changes dramatically for Kaleb, Jude and Sequoia when they move to live with their aunt in a rural corner of central Scotland. Three local children they meet – in a socially distanced way – draw them into a two-century-old family mystery involving the haunting of the nearby ruins of Dunmore Park, 'The House With 46 Chimneys'. As the book builds to its climax, the children are faced with a decision. Do they try to right a wrong that was done in 1828, a wrong that has had consequences ever since? Or is doing so simply too dangerous?

'The House With 46 Chimneys' was published by Arachnid Press on 10 November 2020.


The Danger of Life

Cover of The Danger of Life

'The Danger of Life' is the second of my World War Two thrillers set in Scotland and was published by Fledgling Press on 10 May 2019. The book is available as a paperback via this link, signed and dedicated at no extra cost if you wish, or as a Kindle edition from Amazon.

You can find out much more about 'The Danger of Life' on my page about the book, which gives a fuller synposis and links to background information, articles and reviews. Or you can read about and view photographs of the locations used in the book on this page.


Eyes Turned Skywards

Cover of Eyes Turned Skywards

'Eyes Turned Skywards' is a thriller set in Scotland in World War Two and was published by Fledgling Press on 31 May 2018. The book is available as a paperback via this link, signed and dedicated at no extra cost if you wish, or as a Kindle edition from Amazon.

You can find out much more about 'Eyes Turned Skywards' on my page about the book, which gives a fuller synposis and links to background information and articles, reviews, and a radio interview. Or you can read about and view photographs of the locations used in the book on this page.

A Hitch-Hiker's Guide to Great Britain

Cover of A Hitch-Hiker's Guide to Great Britain

'A Hitch-Hiker's Guide to Great Britain' was published by Penguin Books on 26 May 1983. I am rather amazed to be able to report that second-hand copies are still sometimes available on Amazon. After all this time it should probably be regarded as more of historical interest than practical value.

When 'Eyes Turned Skywards' was published, 35 years and 5 days after 'A Hitch-Hiker's Guide to Great Britain', I did wonder whether it might be some sort of record for the gap between first and second books by an author. Not a chance. It took Harper Lee 55 years to publish her second book and there are a few other very long gaps too.


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