Nicholas Rhea
Join the mailing list to receive information about books, events and other news:
| The Nicholas Rhea Mailing List |
|
|
Privacy statement: All mailings to this list will be sent out by or on behalf of Peter N. Walker; we won't pass your name or email address on to anyone else.
The man who inspired Heartbeat...
For the last 30 years, Nicholas Rhea has been writing books, drawing on his experiences in the police force, his never-ending enthusiasm for Yorkshire and his continuing interest in crime fact and fiction. His best known work, the Constable stories, provided the inspiration for the hugely popular Heartbeat TV series, and he remained involved with the series as a consultant until filming ended in 2009.
This is Nicholas Rhea's official website, and on it you will find not only his news and information about the man, his books and, of course, Heartbeat, but also a country diary kept by Nicholas Rhea himself, in which he shares his observations about the county of Yorkshire, its countryside and traditions.
Heartbeat Farewell
As all fans will be aware, at the end of filming the current series of Heartbeat, the cast were released to other projects, and it now seems unlikely that the show will continue. The final episode was completed in May 2009, and was marked by a grand party for all those who have been part of the series over the years. You can read Rhoda Walker (Mrs Nicholas Rhea)'s account of the party on the Heartbeat main page.
This is not the end for Heartbeat. In December 2009, viewing figures reported by the Times Online placed it in the top ten most watched programmes of the decade. And we understand that the show has now been taken by television stations in Estonia and the Netherlands.
Nicholas Rhea writes:
"It would seem, even though Heartbeat has finished filming, the Constable stories are still popular and I'll write them as long as people want to read them. For me, personally, it has always been a delight to have my stories and characters portrayed in such a successful television series and I have been involved right from the start. Heartbeat filming is finished but the screening will go on, so keep watching and I will keep writing my Constable books.
Read the article in full in the Yorkshire Post.
New Books, new formats
True to his promise, Nicholas Rhea has more news from Aidensfield in the pipeline. There will be a completely new book in May, Constable at the Fair, in which Constable Nick reminisces about times gone by in Aidensfield and recalls the variety of fairs he has attended; mop fairs, country fairs, game fairs, fun fairs, horse fairs and Scarborough Fair itself have all formed part of the rich pageant of history on his patch.
But before that, Constable in the Country will make its long-awaited paperback debut in April - and there are other formats to look out for, too: look out for an e-book of Constable Beats the Bounds, sighted at Waterstones! This is not exactly Nicholas Rhea's e-book debut (look for Pollinger in Print e-book editions of Death of a Princess and Murders and Mysteries of the North Yorkshire Moors) but it is Constable Nick's first venture into this popular new format.
And we have news of another first for Constable Nick, too: he is about to be translated into Finnish, and other translations will follow. Keep watching this page for all the latest news.
If you are new to the Constable books, there couldn't be a better time to trace the Heartbeat story back to its origins. Although the original editions have become collectors' items, Áccent Press have reissued some of those sought-after titles, in a smart new "Heartbeat" livery.
More about Constable at the Fair and all the Constable books »
More about the Accent Press reissue of Nicholas Rhea's Constable books »
Visible, Audible, Accessible
Nicholas Rhea is very aware that some of his readers find things harder to see than others; he does his best to make his books accessible to visually impaired readers. He is always pleased when his books are published in large print and audio book formats, as many of them are. Constable on View - the latest in the Constable series - is already available as an unabridged Audio Book from from ISIS Soundings and can be downloaded from Audible.co.uk (where you can also listen to a sample clip), and Magna will be publishing a Large Print edition in the autumn.
A new feature on this web site aims to make it easier to find those books which are published in accessible formats; look out for the logos indicating ISIS Soundings or Magna Large Print editions on the individual book listings; visit the Accessible Formats home page to learn about a new large print venture which is bringing some of Nicholas Rhea's books back into print; and keep watching for further developments.
More about books in accessible formats »
Other Books
Nicholas Rhea is also the author of many other books, among them the Pemberton series (described by one critic as "distinctive and deserves to be better known"). In Murder under the Midnight Sun, the most recent of these, DS Mark Pemberton embarks on a cruise to the Arctic Circle. He simply wants to enjoy his holiday, experience the spectacle of the Midnight Sun and admire the splendour of the glaciers and fjords. But then a man is found stabbed in a locked cabin and the captain turns to Pemberton - can he assist in investigating the death without alarming the other passengers? Murder under the Midnight Sun is now available in audio and Large Print editions.
Others include the 'Assured' series, set in the Yorkshire Dales a generation before Heartbeat, and the Montague Pluke books, about an eccentric detective with a passion for horse troughs. The latest Montague Pluke book is Prize Murder. Nicholas Rhea tells us: "Lots of us have received letters offering chances of winning wonderful competitions, but suppose first prize was your own murder! When Detective Inspector Montague Pluke receives such a letter, he needs all his luck if he is to survive." And Prize Murder is now available in audiobook and large print formats, too.
More about Murder under the Midnight Sun and all the Pemberton books »
More about the Montague Pluke books »
More about all Nicholas Rhea's books »
Links
If you don't find what you are looking for on this site, try these links to other sites »
