BESTSELLING novelist Tony Parsons steps out of his romantic comfort zone for his latest murder mystery book.

Inspired by the likes of James Bond, he wanted to create a character that would stand the test of time.

Throughout history, crime buffs have savoured the talents of great fictional detectives, from Sherlock Holmes to Hercule Poirot, Maigret to Morse, Wexford to Wallander.

Now, award-winning writer Tony Parsons, famed for his romantic, heart-rending tales of love, loss, parenthood and personal relationships, in novels including Man And Boy, Man And Wife and One For My Baby, is hoping to join the ranks of the great and the good in crime writing with The Murder Bag, his first thriller in a new series.

The new series introduces detective and single dad Max Wolfe, recently arrived in the homicide division of London’s West End Central, 27 Savile Row. He’s a man who likes boxing, loves his work but equally dotes on his five-year-old daughter Scout and their Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Stan.

The first instalment sees DC Wolfe on the trail of a serial killer who brutally cuts his victims’ throats. Wolfe finds a link from a picture of seven schoolboys taken 20 years previously, who are now being systematically bumped off. They were all pupils at the same posh private school years before. Think of stereotypical public school bullies and the worst behaviour of the privileged and you get the picture.

The Murder Bag is an impressive page-turner, an exciting read with a clearly thought-out plot, enough characters to keep you guessing and the trademark pathos and emotion expressed by his hero when it comes to his daughter, his dog and even his ex-wife.

The idea for a crime series came about in 2010 when the author attended a film screening organised by the director Sam Mendes, who told Parsons he was going to make the next James Bond film and was reading all the Ian Fleming books again.

Parsons recently turned 60, but didn’t see his age as a milestone.

“It was a huge milestone for me selling this book in 24 hours,” he observes, explaining that he parted company with his publisher HarperCollins to write the thriller and cashed in a large part of his pension to be able to afford to take time to write it.