A grandfather's second novel is set to be published this week, imagining a high-octane version of Hampshire full of murder and intrigue.

Norman Townsend’s follow-up to his 2018 thriller Trashed! sees the aftermath of the events of the first novel, in which a gang uses the Andover recycling centre as a guise for their narcotics operation.

It follows protagonist Major Paul Stafford, a veteran of counter-terrorism operations who is seconded to the Hampshire Constabulary to bring the criminals to justice.

Norman’s novels have been warmly received by Hampshire locals: “Everybody writes about exotic locations, I thought it would be good to set my book in the places I know, Basingstoke, Aldershot and Andover!” he told the Gazette.

Norman has had an unconventional route to becoming an author, having worked as a milkman before going on to sell wax products which culminated in him helping to build the world’s tallest candle in 1989 which was lit by legendary astronomer Sir Patrick Moore.

He regularly visited the tip to salvage items being thrown away, something that led to him being offered a job.

“It was perfect, I was getting paid for something I was doing for free anyway.”

For the next 25 years, he worked at the dump, something that sparked his creative side with all the weird and wonderful things people threw away.

“People throw away all kinds of things,” he said. “I have seen at least 40 guitars being thrown away and even an entire record deck.”

In 2006, his foray into writing began when he had an article published in Yours Magazine on the interesting things he had recovered from the tip: “Prior to that, the only thing I had published was an article in my school newspaper when I was 14.”

Over the following years, he began putting together the ideas that would become Trashed!, looking at a grimy side of crime in which gangsters are making a killing – figuratively and literally.

Following a good response from readers, he set about producing a sequel. Whist many have struggled over the past year with the lockdown, for Norman it was a blessing: “It meant I could legitimately sit at home all day and do nothing but write!”

“I’ve always thought writing a book would be a nice thing to do, but I always thought it was a rather different type of person to me who writes a book. They say everyone has at least one novel in them, I suppose I am testament to that.”

Norman, who now has a two-year-old grandson, still frequents the tip looking for hidden gems and has restored a wide variety of things from furniture to electronic equipment.

He is not letting up on writing and is currently working on novel number three.

Regarding his second novel, he says his family have been “surprised that I have finished it but very supportive.”

Lethal Response can be pre-ordered from Waterstones now, and is released on April 28: https://www.waterstones.com/book/lethal-response/norman-townsend//9781800463141