A GRANDAD from Kingsmead has published a fourth novel in his exciting children’s series set in Northwich.

Alan Fleet’s ‘Team Bella’ series is aimed at a reading age of seven to 10 and centres around four children who are ‘child detectives’.

The first book, ‘See Bella’, told the story of Primrose, Pearl, Milly and Reggie as they worked together to locate a stolen dog.

A further two books followed – ‘Team Bella and the Mystery of the Lost River’ and ‘Team Bella and the Legend of the Crystal Ballroom’ – and the fourth was published last month.

‘Team Bella and the Case of the Imaginary Friend’ follows the four children on a staycation in Llandudno as they discover what happens to imaginary friends when they are forgotten about.

This was inspired by the increase in staycations due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its impact on travel.

The book is available as a paperback or ebook from Amazon.

“I just love writing this children’s series,” Alan said.

“When you’ve got four children who are child detectives, there are a lot of things you can come up with."

And Alan has some hard critics to impress.

“Pearl and Primrose are named after our grandchildren," he explained.

"When they read it they think of themselves as the characters.

“They love the books and each Christmas they expect another one.

“When it was first written, I had it levelled by a professional leveller just to check the content, so I know I’m using the right style of phrasing for the reading age.

“My sister was a primary school teacher for many years and she is always the first to read it – it’s good to have another pair of eyes.”

Alan Fleet’s first novel, ‘Woollyback’, was selected for a tutored adaptation into a feature film at the prestigious Bournemouth Film School.

After many years as a marine geophysicist in the international oil industry, Alan went on to study for a Master of Arts degree in screenwriting.

To date, he has scripted eight feature films, a four-part TV drama, made numerous short films and written a total of nine novels.