Thriller writer turns to family for latest book
AFORMER school administrator and mentor turned author is working on a fourth book.
Catherine Marshall has lived in Rawtenstall for 25 years and has had her books published by independent publisher, Sharpes.
She based one of her books, Excluded, on her experiences while she worked as a student mentor and in administration at a secondary school.
Her new book, titled Glories, is ‘in the early stages’, but she says it differs from the others in that it is not a thriller.
Catherine, 57, has worked at several schools, including Fearns Community Sports College, in
Bacup, St John with St Michael CE Primary School in Shawforth, Altrincham Grammar School for Girls, and Our Lady & St Paul’s RC Primary School in Heywood.
The author kicked off her career in 1991, writing for Jackie, a magazine aimed at teenage girls which ran from the early sixties until 1993.
Catherine then went on to write short stories for magazines, and two romance novels, before she turned her pen to crime and thrillers.
She said: “I am working on a new novel which isn’t a thriller, set from the 1960s to the 1980s, which concentrates on one family, two brothers and a sister. One of the brothers is a tennis player and the other is a doctor. The girl is an artist in 1960s London. There’s a wide range of locations.”
Catherine has published three thrillers - Excluded, Masquerade, and Still Water.
She added: “Excluded is set in the valley, and it’s about the headteacher and an ex-convict who comes back to the valley seeking justice. It’s quite dark. I worked at a school here which was the inspiration, and just the general area of Rossendale.”
Catherine also previously worked in theatre, and has directed children’s plays during her work in education. She has worked at The Octagon Theatre, in Bolton. Her son Daniel attended Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School, and daughter Kirsty went to Haslingden High School.
Catherine moved to the Valley 25 years ago, when her husband Stuart moved from London to Manchester when his job relocated. He now works at Manchester University, and the couple have been married for 34 years.
Bolthole, on Bank Street, Rawtenstall, stocks some of her books.