An 81-year-old man channelled childhood memories of growing up in Seven Kings for his first novel, which features an Ilford Recorder reporter as a key character.
Ken Irons grew up in Aldborough Road and even though he moved to the Isle of Wight almost 60 years ago he returned to the streets of Ilford for his debut novel, Scenes of Crime.
His twin brother Roy, who was a Second World War historian, was interviewed in 2002 by the Ilford Recorder when his book, Hitler’s Terror Weapons, was published in 2002.
The brothers were boxing fanatics and would watch every match they could when they were living in Seven Kings.
Ken set his novel in the seedy underworld of boxing. A ruthless East Ender named Mike moves to Ilford and manages a professional champion but ends up getting him killed in the process.
Mike is disowned by the boxer’s family and a friend, who is a reporter on the Ilford Recorder. Mike ends up fleeing to America where he gets involved with the mafia.
Ken told the Recorder: “Growing up we loved reading the Ilford Recorder, particularly the sports section.
“I’ve always had a passion for boxing and a fascination with organised crime so it was great to combine all those things with where I grew up into this book.”
Ken, who worked at a Jobcentre on the Isle of Wight for more than 40 years, first started writing the book nine years ago but never finished it.
He has had poetry published in The Daily Mail but Scenes of Crime is his first crack at long-form writing.
After Roy died in January and while Ken was stuck at home during lockdown he decided to finally finish the book.
And on August 3 it was first published as a Kindle e-book.
Ken said re-reading it after nine years brought back a lot of memories of his time growing up in Seven Kings.
“It’s been a rough year with my brother dying and with coronavirus so I’m hoping people like the book and it’s a positive turn.”
To purchase Scenes of Crime visit https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08F8MQQM5
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