ROBERT GODDARD

According to Wikipedia: "Goddard was educated at Bathampton County Primary School then Wallisdean County Junior School and Price's Grammar School in Fareham before going on to study history at Peterhouse at the University of Cambridge. After unsuccessful attempts at careers in both journalism and teaching, he worked for a time as an educational administrator in Devon before becoming a full-time novelist. His thrillers usually have a historical element and settings in provincial English towns and cities, and many plot twists. They usually involve the lead character gradually uncovering a conspiracy which has long been kept secret, by means of historical documents such as diaries or by means of word-of-mouth accounts that have been handed down from one person to another. Goddard's first novel, Past Caring, was published in 1986. He has since written more than twenty novels; the majority were Sunday Times Top Ten best-sellers in the UK."