My Inspiration for NEXT VICTIM by Helen H Durrant
The inspiration for ‘Next Victim’ came from the stories of the ‘Manchester pusher’. The alleged serial killer who stalks the canal banks of central Manchester looking for likely victims. Four bodies have been pulled from the stretch that runs along Canal Street itself in the last decade. Manchester city has about ten miles of canals, dating back to its industrial heyday.
However, as the tale took form, it changed somewhat. There is a serial killer, but his prey is more focused than the drunken reveller who strays from his friends on the way home from a night out. Besides which, GMP have no proof that there is a ‘pusher’ at all.
I kept the Canal Street location for part of the book. One victim is picked up there, and for the second it is the meeting place. I also used the Rochdale canal as a dumping ground.
Canal Street in Manchester is the hub of the Gay Village. A colourful street of bars and eateries that runs alongside the Rochdale Canal. It is a magnet for the gay community and others looking for a night out, particularly in the summer months.
DCI Rachel King is a feisty redhead, divorcee who has worked hard to fulfil her ambition to be a detective. But it hasn’t been easy. She has two teenage daughters, one who has type one diabetes and needs careful monitoring. 
The other is at a local university. Both are headstrong girls and Rachel gets her fair share of grief. She copes because her ex-husband, Alan, lives next door and helps with the girls. He lives in hope of a reconciliation, Rachel does not.
The big love in Rachel’s life is a man she met many years ago while at university. But he is a man denied to her because of who he is and things he’s done. Her past relationship with him is her closest secret.
I very often look to the news for inspiration for my books and am looking at another local story for the second Rachel King tale. The location, Manchester city, is a very different environment from the other books I’ve written and gives a deal more scope.
NEXT VICTIM (DCI Rachel King)
Available for just 99p/99c from Amazon
MEET DETECTIVE RACHEL KING IN THIS BRILLIANT NEW CRIME SERIES.
DISCOVER A BRAND NEW MYSTERY FROM #1 BEST-SELLING AUTHOR HELEN H. DURRANT THAT WILL HAVE YOU GRIPPED FROM START TO NERVE-SHREDDING FINISH.
A young man’s body is found burnt and tortured by a Manchester canal.
Detective Rachel King investigates. But she has a secret, the love of her life is a well-known villain. He has recently come back on the scene. But what does he really want?
A brutal serial killer with a taste for good-looking young blonde men.
A student who believes she has a lost brother. But even her own father doesn’t believe her. She was involved with the first victim.
As the murders continue, can Rachel keep her family together and stop the killer?
THE DETECTIVE
DCI Rachel King. Thirty-nine year-old mother of two teenage daughters. Divorced from Alan. She lives in the Cheshire village of Poynton – about ten miles from central Manchester. She is good at her job, gets results but does make mistakes. One of them was getting involved with a budding villain in her teens. No one, family, friends or colleagues know anything about this.
ALSO BY HELEN H. DURRANT
THE CALLADINE & BAYLISS MYSTERY SERIES
Book 1: DEAD WRONG
Book 2: DEAD SILENT
Book 3: DEAD LIST
Book 4: DEAD LOST
Book 5: DEAD & BURIED
Book 6: DEAD NASTY
Book 7: DEAD JEALOUS
THE DCI GRECO BOOKS
Book 1: DARK MURDER – read more here
Book 2: DARK HOUSES – read more here
Book 3: DARK TRADE – read more here
Book 3: DARK ANGEL – read more here
ALSO AVAILABLE – The first 3 books in the Bayliss and Calladine series are now available as a Box Set for a bargain £3.99 from Amazon
I have just finished reading, Next Victim. As I started it I could not believe how close I was to the story. From 1978 to 1983 I was the Manager of Walton House, a common lodging house with 305 beds, in Ancoats. I lived in Poynton. Whilst at Walton House we had two murders and 25 arson attacks. I had a phone call in the night to say the hostel was on fire. I knew about rushing to Manchester from Poynton. When it stated, “He was not sleeping rough”, I knew how true that was. I was once called by the poice to identify a man at the Northern Hospital. My depuyu came with me, when the police asked him, “Is this the man you know as XXX YYYY”? He replied, “First time I have seen the old c–t clean since I’ve known him”.
Thank you for a good read.
Thank you that is really interesting I will pass this on to Helen 🙂