Mike Hollow’s Blitz Detective mysteries are set in London in 1940-41, when the Blitz is wreaking destruction on the streets and homes of London. The bombs rain down night after night, sleep is scarce and life uncertain, but crime doesn’t stop. For Detective Inspector John Jago of the Metropolitan Police, a murder is still a murder, and justice must be done.

Mike’s interest in crime fiction was first sparked when he read Dorothy Sayers’ Golden Age classic Gaudy Night, which opened a fascinating window on a vanished world. Jago’s is a very different world, but equally remote today, and Mike loves recreating it in fiction. Readers commend the books for the depth and quality of his historical research, and the Daily Mail says, ‘His portrayal of a London battered by war is entirely convincing.’

Mike was born in West Ham, went to school in Romford, and studied Russian and French at Cambridge. After working many years for the BBC and then in the charity sector, he became a freelance copywriter, editor, journalist and translator, before embarking on a new life as a novelist. He’s married, with two children and four grandchildren, and lives in Hampshire, where he spends his days at home in his cellar, writing Blitz Detective stories.

So far there are ten books in the series, the latest being The Bloomsbury Murder, published in October 2025. Top-selling author Lee Child says, ‘This is A-grade crime fiction set during British history’s most dramatic era … thoughtful, tense, tight – and totally recommended.’