A Keighley crime novelist is to open a new chapter in her career after being offered a fresh book deal.

Lesley Horton (pictured), from Utley, is celebrating after being handed a new two-book contract and £20,000 advance by her publishers Orion.

The news reached Lesley during a writers' conference she was attending in South Wales. "I have to say that when my agent rang me up I was with a group of people and had great difficulty in keeping my dignity!" said Lesley.

"Everyone at the conference was told and that helps other people who are still struggling to get published because it shows that it can happen."

The former Keighley News village correspondent is already hard at work on her third novel, Devils in the Mirror, which starts with a girl being found dead on Druid's Altar, at Bingley, after accusing her teacher of indecent assault. It is a subject that is clearly close to the former teacher's heart.

She said: "It is based around the trials of professionals who are accused of something -- teachers in particular -- who go to court, are found not guilty, but still the local authority deems to hold an inquiry that can ruin their lives."

The new novel re-unites Lesley's very own Morse and Lewis, Det Insp John Handford and his sergeant Khalid Ali, who featured in the first two novels Snares of Guilt, released last year, and On Dangerous Ground, launched this year. Her gritty crime novels set in this area have won her an increasing legion of literary fans in this country, as well as further afield, with some flattering comparisons being thrown in for good measure.

"I went down to London recently for an event and thought that no one would know me and that I would spend my time doing some retail therapy, but I ended up signing 100 books and didn't get any shopping done," she said.

"There have been quite a few e-mails from people who enjoyed Snares of Guilt, even from as far away as Australia. "It's very difficult to think about people in Britain reading your books, but to think of people reading them across the world is quite scary."

Snares of Guilt has been translated for both the German and Dutch markets, with On Dangerous Ground also set to be released in Germany.

"Someone in Germany described me as the new PD James," added Lesley. "I think our styles are quite different, but I wouldn't mind achieving that level of success."