Published: Thursday, 12th March, 2009 10:30am

Mike's got murder on his mind ...

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WEST FIFE writer Mike McBride has set his debut novel, a murder story, in and around Dunfermline.

The streets run with blood as two characters are quickly bumped off and mystery surrounds who is the guilty party.

The dark, dangerous world of Mike"s imagination is light years away from his day job as a health and safety consultant.

His book, "Hunt Hunted Murder Murdered", is published by an internet showcase for new writers, youwriteon.com, and is available through Amazon.

'I"ve always written whether it be song lyrics or poems and I have 40 or 50 stories going at a time, which are at various stages,' said Mike, of Webster Place, Rosyth.

'However, it was only after winning a short story competition on the internet that I thought maybe the stories weren"t as bad I thought.'

Mike (33) is a safety adviser in the wind energy industry, a job that takes him travelling around the country.

'I have to stay in hotels a lot and so I"ve plenty of time to write when I"m there,' he explained.

Mike, a husband and dad, uses the services of his schoolteacher mum to check his finished work.

Did his wife, Hilary, also offer encouragement to the budding author?

'Yeah, well she did read it and she said, "It"s like a real book". I said "It"s supposed to be a real book!"

'The murder happened in a fictional place, near Muckhart, but there are parts set in Dunfermline, Rosyth, North Queensferry and out to Cairneyhill.'

A group of friends turn amateur sleuths after a girl and a man"s body are found. The girl"s father is jailed for the double murder but the friends start receiving letters.

These letters ask questions, make accusations and make them all look at themselves and their friends in a new light as they realise one of them must have done it.

Mike"s inspiration was a murder mystery theme event organised by his friend and the book took around six months to write.

'It"s a whodunnit up until about the last third when it becomes pretty obvious who done it but there are still twists in it,' said Mike.

He is already working on a couple of new stories and, asked if he could follow in the footsteps of best-selling crime writer and fellow Fifer Ian Rankin, Mike said, 'I"ll always write even if it"s just a hobby. I"ll just take each game as it comes as they say in football.'

Indeed, as well as his interest in grim horror stories, Mike is a Pars fan and a regular at East End Park.

He even used a regularly heard profanity - uttered by supporters when Pars are not performing at their peak - in the book.