Neal James' latest book 'Full Marks' receives great publicity boost in the Leicester Mercury

How you can follow in writer's footsteps WHILE working as a financial controller in Leicester, Philip Neale dreamed of becoming a published crime author. But he knew that thousands of would-be writers shared that ambition and that most would be rejected, their precious work left to gather dust on the shelf at home. But the accountant's persistence paid off and, in 2008, his novel A Ticket to Tewkesbury provided the breakthrough. He's gone on to publish four more books with the latest addition to his bibliography, Full Marks, released earlier this month. Leicester, like the rest of the East Midlands where he has always lived and worked, remains an inspiration – his serial killer novel Two Little Dicky Birds opens with the murder of a prostitute on the streets of Leicester.