Helen Taylor

And then there’s the other world — the one I built quietly, in the early mornings and late evenings, in notebooks, in half‑formed ideas held in my head. The world of stories. The world of DI Matthew Goodwin and Penny Stock. The world where I get to decide the pace, the stakes, the silence.

When readers think of Aloha Goodbye, they picture the Pearl of the Pacific: the ocean, the heat, the endless decks, and the murder that pulls DI Matthew Goodwin into an investigation he never planned to lead.

Some detectives walk into a room and make noise. Penny Stock walks in and makes progress. Her introduction in Connecting Trains is classic Penny: no drama, no ego, no need to announce herself. She simply steps in and starts organising the evidence, computers and the murder board.