Steve Marson

Stephen Marson is a not-so-young writer with a passion for travel, photography and, bizarrely, car-building.

He spends his spare time going for long walks with his partner, Tracey, and their black Labrador, Riley.

This is his first venture into story-telling and says he still smiles when he reads and edits the book for the hundredth time.

The Tram is his debut novel, a crime caper inspired by a real incident in his home city of Exeter and he’s already thinking up the next adventure for his hero, Carrie Grey.

The Tram

Carrie has a new job as a filing clerk in Exeter in the early 1900s. Fascinated by the stories of Sherlock Holmes, her job at a local solicitor's office comes in handy after she witnesses a fatal tram crash in which a young woman dies, before handing Carrie a curious calling card with a scribbled note on the back.

Carrie decides to find out what really caused the accident; the police think it was the driver’s fault, but she knows this can’t be true, and she suspects foul play. 

But who stands to gain the most from the accident? And why is a photographer already in place, with his camera set up in time to take pictures of the incident? 

Inspired by a true story about the fatal tram crash in Exeter in 1917 in which a woman died, this story is based slightly earlier in 1910.

The inspiration behind The Tram.

There’s an old, rusty metal box in my garage. It has a hinged top and a faded name hand-painted on the front. It’s my surname and this box belonged to a long-dead relative.Inside are dozens of postcards, letters, receipts and a Last Will and Testament, hand-written on stiff parchment paper.

One of the postcards was sent by a distant cousin called Carrie. The writing has faded over time, but on this card, she mentions her very first ride on an Omnibus.

The year was 1900 and my story is inspired by her letters found in the old metal box.

The box is stored in my garage, with all the postcards bundled together for the next person to discuss.