Llandaf author William Vaughan has released a brand new thriller, called Blood Month Born and educated in Cardiff, the author taught English and History in schools in the Welsh capital, including The Cathedral School, Llandaf before becoming a writer of fiction.

Blood Month is a detective story set in a fictional boys’ boarding school in the Vale of Glamorgan, where a young teacher chances upon the body of the unpopular headmaster. As well as revealing a list of possible suspects, the resulting investigation also uncovers accusations of sexual misconduct and a climate of jealousy and intrigue. Blood Month is William Vaughan’s first novel for adults, following the publication of three novels for children and young adults.

“ What you did wasn’t murder… He deserved everything he got. In the old days, they slaughtered surplus animals in November. Blood Month, they called it. That’s all you did. You rid the world of a useless beast… ”

A brand new thriller set in the Vale of Glamorgan has been released by Y Lolfa publishers this week. Blood Month by William Vaughan is a detective story set in a fictional boys’ boarding school in Llanover, where a young teacher chances upon the body of the unpopular headmaster. As well as revealing a list of possible suspects, the resulting investigation also uncovers accusations of sexual misconduct and a climate of jealousy and intrigue.

Blood Month is William Vaughan’s first novel for adults, following the publication of three novels for children and young adults.

“I fancied a change from writing for children, because such books impose so many limits upon content and vocabulary,” explains William Vaughan, who taught English and History in schools in Leicestershire and Cardiff before becoming a writer of fiction. “Relationships between characters have to remain platonic in children’s fiction. However in Blood Month, sex rears its sometimes ugly head, resulting in affairs and abuse playing a part in the story. Also, a teacher having feelings for a pupil wouldn’t be a topic I would raise in a novel aimed at a younger audience.

“The novel is set in 1971 to avoid closed-circuit cameras, DNA profiling and computer databases - which makes solving crimes too easy! I found that trying to devise a plot to deceive the reader without cheating - by introducing the murderer late in the story, for instance - was an interesting challenge. But so far, readers haven’t guessed the murderer''s identity on their first read!”

Blood Month is a book of novella length, which is unusual for its genre, and the fresh, gripping and fast-paced chapters perfectly reflect the tensions and frustrations infused in such a school as Llanover Grange.

William Vaughan is the author of The Midnight Ghost (2004), The Black Legion (2008) and Gold Hunter (2010). Born and educated in Cardiff, he taught English and History in schools in Leicestershire and the Welsh capital, including The Cathedral School, Llandaf. He became a full member of The Welsh Academy in 2009 for his contribution to the literature of Wales.