Ex-Wigan journalist pens his fourth book for a good cause

Frank Malley worked for the old Evening Post and Chronicle at Brock Mill before joining the Daily Express as a sports reporter in the 1980s in a career which saw him cover four Olympics and five World Cups.

Five years ago he swapped covering sport to drive an ambulance car as a volunteer, transporting cancer patients for life-saving radiotherapy treatment.

In his spare time, he writes books and his latest novel, The 13th Assassin, combines a murder mystery with a tense spy thriller, the action sweeping from the English seaside to the university spires of Cambridge and on to the heart of Moscow.

Frank, who hails from Wallgate but lived for many years in Whitley Crescent, said:

“I got the idea for the book from a holiday on the south coast near Portland, where spies operated in the 1950s and 1960s.

“The main character is a Cambridge history professor, who finds himself pushed into a sinister world of ethical dilemmas with the lives of the Royal Family at stake. There’s codebreaking involved and it’s a cross between Midsomer Murders and John le Carre.”

It is Frank’s fourth book, the royalties from which have all been donated to charity.

They include the five-star Amazon top rugby seller Simply the Best, the inside story of Wigan’s eight consecutive Challenge Cup victories at Wembley in the 1980s and 1990s.

All royalties from that publication are donated to the Joining Jack charity.

“Simply the Best has done wonderfully and is still selling well five years from publication,” said Frank.

“It has had some lovely reviews. It is testament to Wigan’s glory days and the fondness with which fans remember players such as Martin Offiah, Jason Robinson, Ellery Hanley, Shaun Edwards and Andy Gregory.”

Malley hopes The 13th Assassin will generate funds for the Primrose Cancer Charity.

“Fiction is a completely different ball game,” he said. “But I was determined that royalties went towards helping cancer patients.

"My mum was looked after on several occasions by Wigan and Leigh Hospice in her final years and I used to take her across to Christie’s in Manchester.

"We all know someone who has been affected by cancer.”

The 13th Assassin is published by Sharpe Books and available from Amazon in ebook (£2.99). The paperback (£7.99) is scheduled for release later this month.