Many people will know Jackie Kabler from her time as a news reporter for GMTV, ITN and BBC.

Throughout her career she covered national and international stories, including the 2004 Olympics, the Asian Tsunami and the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.

Nowadays she is still working on TV – as a presenter for QVC – but has also taken to creating her own stories, as a novelist.

“I’ve always been a big reader and at school I enjoyed writing really long essays, but I never really thought about writing a book until I was in my 40s,” she explained.

“I’ve travelled a lot throughout my career and writing was a good way to pass the time.”

Jackie made her writing debut with the first of her ‘Cora Baxter mysteries’ in 2015, with ‘The Dead Dog Day’.

“I began writing the Cora Baxter trilogy while I was working for GMTV,” she continued.

“They’re about a news reporter who gets involved in solving crimes. They’re known as ‘cosy crime’ – quite light-hearted with humour throughout.”

The book received hugely positive reviews, as did the sequels – ‘The Deadline’ (2016) and ‘The Development’ (2018).

Originally from Coventry, Jackie’s career took her all over the UK and beyond, including a stint in Gloucestershire writing for the Echo.

She returned to live in Cheltenham this March after 10 years away, and says living in the town has provided inspiration, namely as the setting for her latest novel.

“The main character lives in Montpellier, because I’m too lazy to research any other locations,” she laughed.

“I live in Cheltenham and work in London and drive there four times a week. I listen to a lot of true crime podcasts and get a lot of story ideas in the car.

“I thought of the plot of ‘Am I Guilty?’ at 1am driving home one night. When I got in at 3am I spent another two hours writing it down!”

‘Am I Guilty?’ was released in April 2019 after Jackie signed a two-book deal with Harper Collins in the summer of 2018.

A psychological thriller, the themes in the book are, she explains, much darker than those of the Cora Baxter stories.

“It was a big leap for me to go from the lighter side of crime writing to darker, psychological thrillers.

“I wasn’t sure I’d be able to pull it off. I think a lot of authors get insecure and I was convinced no one would read it and no publisher would want it.

“But the response has been incredible, and it’s done really well in the Amazon crime charts.”

Jackie’s experience in the world of news has had a huge influence on her writing.

She says the stories she has reported on over the years have given her a valuable insight into the world she writes about.

“I’ve always covered crime stories, including things like the Madeleine McCann case, and always been fascinated by them.

“I love going to report on court cases, thinking about, psychologically, why people commit crimes.

“There’s themes in the books directly relating to stories I’ve covered over the years.

“Although in one of the Cora Baxter stories the newsroom editor is murdered – that never happened to me!”

With ‘Am I Guilty?’ still practically warm off the press, Jackie has wasted no time in starting her next book.

And as if splitting time between writing a novel and presenting TV in London wasn’t enough, she has also set herself a challenge to raise money for a charity that is close to her heart.

She added: “I’m aiming to run 1,000 miles – the equivalent of 38 marathons – to raise money for the brain injury charity Headway. My sister Deborah died of a brain injury nine years ago so it’s an important cause to me.”

“Living in Prestbury and being right by Cleeve Hill is definitely a good way to get the miles in!”

For more information on Jackie and her work, visit www.jackiekabler.com

And to donate to her efforts to reach 1,000 miles on behalf of Headway, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jackie-kabler2