Civil Service in the news
CPS novelist on the up
29/10/2007 - Crown Prosecution Service [External website] 
After self-publishing a novel in 2004, CPS Lancashire Senior Crown Prosecutor, Neil White, has had his second novel published by Avon - a new division of HarperCollins Publishers.
So far his new novel, Fallen Idols, has seen him been interviewed by BBC radio in Lancashire, Kent and Shropshire.
With 30,000 copies of his book hitting the shelves, Neil said the pressure is on.
“I have a contract with Avon to produce three books in three years. My next novel will be completed in September," he said. "But it's exciting.”
Neil, who joined the CPS as a prosecutor in 1998 after qualifying in 1995, said that having flexible working arrangements at the CPS has enabled him to write.
“I have a really good work-life balance and am able to get a lot of writing done after work,” he commented.
Fallen Idols follows the story of murder, conspiracy, police corruption, revenge and the high price of fame.
“It's about the shooting of Premiership footballers and the blackmail process which follows something that happened ten years earlier,” said Neil.
Neil, whose favourite authors include Michael Connolly and Lee Child, said the novel took two-and-a-half years to write.
“It was easier to write than my first novel Salem - as I knew what I wanted to do from the beginning,” he said.
“However I am pleased with the results. The only hard thing was proof-reading the book again and again - searching for any faults!”