A former regional journalist has written a sequel to a novel dubbed “The Godfather in Great Yarmouth” by a well-known crime writer.

Henry Sutton’s Red Hot Front is the second in a trilogy of crime books set in the Norfolk seaside resort.

Henry began his career with Archant forerunner Eastern Counties newspapers, and went on to become books editor at the Daily Mirror.

The series, written under the pen name Harry Brett, follows a crime family headed by “feisty” widow Tatty, who is stepping up to the challenge of replacing her late husband Rich at the top of Yarmouth’s underworld after his sudden death.

The first book, Time to Win, was dubbed “The Godfather in Great Yarmouth” by celebrated crime author Ian Rankin.

Discussing the series, Henry told the Eastern Daily Press: “There’s very little crime fiction told from the perspective of criminals.

“And I wanted to write about a crime family. I wanted a matriarch. I’m bored with male-dominated crime fiction.”

Henry, who lectures in creative writing at the University of East Anglia, added: “A number of people have come up to me, a couple of ex-police, to say, ‘Yes, I get this. I see these characters.’ They may’ve been being nice. No one has come up to me and said ‘Yarmouth isn’t like this.’

“Yarmouth is a town that has a certain amount of deprivation… It’s got some extraordinary things and some bleak things.

“If you look at the statistics in relation to crime and mental health and drug abuse, Yarmouth doesn’t do very well. That shouldn’t be forgotten. My criminal family want to address this. They might be addressing it by ill-gotten gains.”