I used to write books for business, covering everything from the gambling industry to new developments in printing technology. Now I write about love and adventure in the 19th century, which is not nearly as well paid, but much more fun. It also allows me to pretend that travelling in the Far East and South America is research. My main interest is avoiding doing any honest work and this leaves me with time to ski, skate and dance tango.

The first three books in my series about Napoleonic era spy, James Burke, have just been republished and a fourth, ‘Burke in the Peninsula’ is due out at the end of September.