Gunn is a Scottish surname from, in my case, Caithness in the far north; though I was born in Tanzania, and grew up in Nigeria, Scotland and parts of England before settling into multicultural London, where I raised my own family. ‘Husbandry’is my second novel, a foray into literary cosy crime, with horticultural and culinary twists.

It’s delicious coincidence for me that this book was ready to hit the streets just as the Woodland Trust announced its UK Tree of the Year 2025 – and thus a contender for European Tree of the Year 2026: an iconic Scottish ash tree, ‘rooted in culture’. An ash copse opens, and contributes pivotal elements to, ‘Husbandry’ and I’d learned a lot about these intriguing trees along the way.

‘Husbandry’ plays with the ways people delude and mislead each other, and themselves, into unexpectedly treacherous and, in this case, dangerous territory. How far will someone blithely go, for the sake of an unravelling friendship?

I love an acerbic character with moments of biting insight. My writing life began in the world of financial journalism, honed over a long career on a variety of UK national newspapers and magazines, and in writing some non-fiction books which explored what underlay some of the business scandals and dramas of the day.

I enjoy people-watching, art and theatre and was on the cusp of going into arts fundraising when a job in journalism lured me away. So, nearly three decades later – when, for family care reasons, newspaper deadlines were no longer a good ‘match’ – I made the fundraising leap, via an MA in Arts Management at Birkbeck in London, and worked for a time with the wonderful inclusive Chickenshed Theatre. Next, came raising contributions towards aspects of an iconic archaeological project in London’s Shoreditch, at the rediscovered site of the first purpose-built theatre since Roman times: James Burbage’s legendary and long-1ost 16th century ‘The Theatre’, where Shakespeare’s early career burgeoned.

These brushes with the past led on to another MA, this time in the History of Ideas, at Birkbeck – including modules on the history of medicine, and of psychiatry; treasure troves of inspiration.

By then, influences and ideas from Ancient Egypt were already weaving through the drafts for my first novel, ‘Felix Unbound’. Now, research for my next, third novel delves into concepts and events occurring just a few hundred years before Shakespeare’s days.

During all the above, I’ve shared my own timeline and friendships with…various cats (including the feisty inspirer of ‘Felix Unbound’), several dogs, one husband, co-raised two children; read, written, studied novel-writing; and mentor a Birkbeck student per year, frequently within the creative arts.