WORCESTER News editor Michael Purton will be signing copies of his new crime novel at a city coffee shop this Saturday (September 15).

Michael will be at the Costa in High Street, Worcester, opposite the Guildhall, from 11am to 1pm, to sign copies of crime drama Flickering Lights.

The novel tells the story of a 17-year-old boy trying to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of his adoptive father.

Published by Ink Hills based in Malvern, the book is Michael’s second novel following the release of Silhouettes in 2016.

Paperback editions of Flickering Lights will be available to buy at the Costa on the day, or readers can bring along their own copy for Michael to sign.

Michael, 33, who has been editor of the Worcester News since January, said: “The novel is a dark, atmospheric story about characters driven by grief.

“Although it’s fiction, I was inspired by cases I covered as a reporter, especially some of the trials I covered at the Old Bailey when I started out as a reporter in London.

"Two of the key characters are a magistrate and a former taxi company boss, and they were partly inspired by various people I've met while working as a journalist."

On the setting of the book, Michael added: "Flickering Lights is set in an unnamed place but there are similarities with Worcester.”

Michael is also the editor of the Malvern Gazette, Ledbury Reporter, Evesham Journal and Cotswold Journal.

Before taking charge in Worcester, he was the editor of three newspapers in Gloucestershire – the Stroud News & Journal, Wilts & Glos Standard and Gazette Series. Prior to that, he worked as a reporter in London and then Tokyo.

Flickering Lights is available now in paperback and e-book, on Amazon, iTunes and in other book shops.

Sales of the book at Costa on Saturday will be cash only.

More book signings are planned this autumn, with locations and dates to be announced.