The Mashego File

After working as an actor, director and teacher in theatre, film and television, Ian Patrick turned to an academic career. He believes his years as an actor, director and researcher play a modest part in his writing. 'My fiction is based to the best of my ability on research and field work. I have to believe every word my fictive characters say, every action they undertake,' he says. Which explains why he has accompanied detectives to the front line, interviewed forensics investigators, and spent many hours scouring actual locations for his crime scenes: many of them based on actual events.