Lextons Magazine - Edition 5

EDITION 5

PROPERT Y & LIFEST YLE MAGAZINE

Premium Properties Discover our new homes and what they offer

Escape to a rural Sussex retreat Meet us Get to know our expanding team

Peter James On his books, his life, and our city

Brighton & Hove’s best vegan eats!

Be inspired!

Luxury interiors by local business, Mister Smith Interiors

EDITION 5

04

18

14 22

24 03 Get to Know Some of the Team

16 New Homes – The Ballantine

04 Featured Property - Carlisle Road

18 Vegan Eats in Brighton and Hove

06 Local Business Spotlight on Mister Smith Interiors

21 Lettings – Richmond Terrace

08 New Homes – Poets Mews

22 Featured Property – Surrenden Crescent

12 Stories from our Sellers

24 An Interview with Peter James

14 Escape to the Countryside with Shepherdess

30 Auctions – How it Works

2

www.lextons.co.uk

MEET THE TEAM

Meet our newest team members Riannon Edwards Sales Manager I started at Lextons this year and am the Sales Manager for the Brighton office. I have recently moved down from NorthWest London, where I was a Sales Team Manager for a large London agent.

During my time there, I oversaw £80 million worth of property transactions.

I lived in Thailand for three years and it’s nice to be back by the sea in Brighton. In my spare time, I enjoy running along the Hove Promenade and trying new independent restaurants in the city.

Sales Consultant Hi. I am Adrian Parker, I am a fairly new member to the Lextons team in which I thoroughly enjoy being a part of, whether it’s supporting each other on a professional level or catching up socially.

Having 22 years of customer experience in which 8 years of this was looking after a high net worth client base, I feel Lextons enables me to bring the same drive and experience to all of its clients as it seeks to bring a high level of customer service and satisfaction. In my spare time I like to spend time with my family and friends and keep myself fit and healthy with regular runs and playing football.

Laura King

Lauren Whiston

Property Manager

Sales Administrator

I am Laura King and I grew up in Northern Ireland but my mother is from Brighton (Elm Grove) so I used to spend school holidays with my grandmother and family here and have known and loved Brighton and Hove all my life.

I always loved the properties here and have a particular fondness for the quirky and heritage ones. I have worked in property for 23 years and am delighted to have recently joined Lextons who are building a joined up and specialist approach to Sales, Auctions, Lettings and, now, with my expertise, HMO’s. I appreciate that Lextons are all about doing things differently and innovating. In my spare time I enjoy long coastal walks with a good food pub at the end, running a writers group and my two cats.

www.lextons.co.uk

Adrian Parker

Hi, I’m Lauren Whiston and I joined Lextons last year as a Sales Administrator. Prior to Lextons I have gained 21 years of customer service experience in the catering industry and as I’ve wanted to work in property for some time, I decided that I would be the perfect match for the role that I’m currently in and I’m excited to see where my career with Lextons takes me.

I moved down to Hove in 2010 and I have no plans to leave soon as Brighton and Hove is a wonderful cityfrom the trendy cafes and restaurants of Church Road to idyllic green spaces such as Stanmer Park, Brighton and Hove has something to offer for everyone. I have two young children at home so during my free time I enjoy days out with my family, holidaying in sunny Cornwall and eating good food in nice restaurants.

3

FEATURED PROPERTY

Carlisle Road F

rom the chequered tiled floor of its wide central hallway to the cast iron radiators and heritage hues of a Farrow & Ball and Little Greene palette, the cohesive design themes of this exquisitely renovated home impeccably enhance its original features.

Step inside and you’ll find a breath-taking reception room lit by wide bow windows with a wood burning stove that creates a lovely warming atmosphere for evening entertaining. Equally discerning, a double aspect office with panelled walls and a distinguished fireplace proffers a huge degree of versatility. The expansive Shaker kitchen/dining room blends Mandarin Stone tiles and extra deep quartz countertops with bespoke oak finishes, while sets of French doors connect with the terracing. Arranged around a commodious central island with bar stool seating, the kitchen area is appointed with Neff appliances, and a matching utility room is fully fitted. A tranquil studio and a stylish wetroom complete the ground floor.

4

www.lextons.co.uk

FEATURED PROPERTY

What the owner says

We instantly fell in love with the location. Having the seafront just minutes away made all the difference.

Carlisle Road was named as the ‘Best Road in Hove’ last year and it’s only just across the way from all the independent stores, butcher, deli, and coffee shops of Richardson Road.

During the renovations we changed the layout of the back of the house to give it a light and spacious feel and it opens onto one of the widest gardens on Carlisle Road. It’s incredibly sunny out there and because of its size gets the sun almost all day long. Being able to sit out there and hear the sea roar is amazing.

Upstairs on the first floor a magnificent principal bedroom with further bow windows has a luxuriously large en suite with a sumptuous resin stone bathtub, walk-in shower and artisan tiles from the Baked Tile Company. Three additional bedrooms share a glorious wetroom with a waterfall shower and contemporary inset bath. Adding to the immense sense of space, a fifth bedroom with access to an eaves/workshop sits on the top floor offering far-reaching vistas from its expanse of glazing. The studio and first floor bathrooms all benefit from underfloor heating.

Complementing the sense of style that flows through the house, a west-facing garden is an idyllic escape from the world outside. Engendering an easy flowing extension of the kitchen/dining room it creates a coveted amount of space in which to relax. Tiered terracing steps down to an established lawn, enticing you to unwind on a landscaped seating area amidst coastal palms. A detached garage and brick paved driveway supply prized off-road parking.

www.lextons.co.uk

5

LOCAL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT

MISTER SMITH INTERIORS

6

www.lextons.co.uk

LOCAL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT

T

ucked into a small pedestrianised street in Brighton is Mister Smith Interiors, a deceptively cavernous Interior design retail showroom which stocks hundreds of fabric, flooring, and wallpaper designs.

Mister Smith Interiors 23 New Road, Brighton BN1 1UF

Tel 01273 605574 info@mistersmith.co.uk www.mistersmith.co.uk

Established in 1963 the team at Mister Smith have been quietly spearheading luxury interiors with their handwoven stair-runners and beautifully designed curtains and blinds. With personalised service and home visits they tackle everything with style from a simple home re-design to a full Turn-Key renovation, mainly residential but with some impressive commercial contracts under their belt, their customers span East Sussex and beyond.

Now also available online Mister Smith Interiors will ship fabric and wallpaper UK wide. Pop into their beautiful showroom in Brighton and see how they can help you turn your home into a space you love.

www.lextons.co.uk

7

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NEW HOMES are made from at least 80% sustainably sourced wood. These beautiful floors have a long lifetime and an extended product guarantee.

Each kitchen is fitted with a boiling water tap, which is more energy efficient and economical than boiling a kettle and also saves space on the worktop.

All houses are designed to be 19% more energy efficient than the standard building regulations relating to energy performance, in line with Brighton and Hove Council planning requirements.

The development provides sustainable transport options in the immediate vicinity; Hove mainline railway station (with direct links to London) is only a 6-minute walk and in a 2-minute walk, various bus routes provide access to central Brighton, Worthing and surrounding areas.

Secure allocated bicycle parking is provided undercover in the main entrance underpass.

All homes are being constructed to achieve a B rating Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)

INTERIOR

Poets Mews is accessed through a gated underpass to the private mews courtyard with planters separating the individual patio areas. Each house has a covered porch with a contemporary anthracite grey front door that matches the window frames and is surrounded by large windows to allow plenty of light into the hallway.

Each house has a door entry system to allow remote access to visitors at the secure mews gate.

Upon entering the hallway, the curved stairs are in front of you leading to the first floor, the fully fitted kitchen is to the right and the living room to the left.

Oak laminate flooring with underfloor heating is fitted throughout.

The most striking feature of the kitchen is the huge floor to ceiling window, which makes up the entire south facing aspect of the kitchen and creates a bright and welcoming space.

The kitchen is fully fitted and comes with a fullsize dishwasher, a full height 50/50 fridge freezer, integrated electric oven and induction hob with an extractor fan above. Eye level cupboards wrap around the kitchen area providing ample storage. The stainlesssteel sink is fitted under the counter for a sleek look and a 3 in 1 boiling water tap is fitted to provide hot, cold or boiling water with the turn of a tap.

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NEW HOMES

The kitchen units are in matt white, with a sleek handle-less design and soft close doors and drawers throughout. The worktop is a contemporary compact laminate in a grey concrete effect to subtly contrast with the white units, with a matching backboard for a clean unfussy look.

An adjustable Scandi-style rise and fall pendant lamp is fitted over the dining area to allow for an intimate dinner setting when lowered, or more head room for social gatherings when raised up. A downstairs toilet is provided for convenience and practicality.

in the en-suite of the main bedroom on the same floor. The bedrooms all have oak laminate floors with underfloor heating.

A further curved staircase leads to a large hallway on the second floor which has potential to be used as an office space with a Velux window above. This floor has a good sized bedroom and a further smaller bedroom, or study. Clever storage is built into the eaves, to maximise this space. Velux windows flood light into these rooms.

On the first floor the main bathroom is fully tiled in light grey hues with feature hexagonal tiles highlighting the beautiful freestanding bath. A floating vanity unit in oak with a white quartz worktop and soft close drawers, supports a countertop basin. An illuminated mirror with demister sits above this. The WC is a back-to-wall pan with the cistern concealed in the wall for a more attractive look. The underfloor heating will provide warmth and comfort to the porcelain floor tiles.

At one end of the bathroom a utility cupboard is situated to provide essential storage space and also plumbing and electrics for a washing machine and tumble drier.

The bath has a practical handheld shower hose, and a further full-size walk-in shower cubicle is positioned

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PO E TS

ME WS 81A SHIRLEY STREET | HOVE

N O W AVA I L A B L E FOUR 2 / 3 B ED R O O M M E W S H O US E S

01273 56 77 66 | newhomes@lextons.co.uk | www.lextons.co.uk

STORIES FROM OUR SELLERS

Ingrid & Oli

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ngrid and Oli contacted Lextons last summer to sell their home in Shirley Street, Hove. Ingrid is an interior designer and colour consultant and she had beautifully redesigned and refurbished the house over the three years they had lived there. The plan was to move to France, but when this plan changed considerably, Lextons were with them every step of the way. We caught up with them in their new home to find out more.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Lextons came highly recommended by a friend of ours. We had been thinking of a move to France for some time. Many of Oli’s French and Spanish colleagues had worked from abroad during the pandemic and so it felt like a possibility, to return to Ingrid’s home country and give our young boys a new experience. Last summer we were about to go away on holiday for a month and Ingrid suggested it would be the perfect time to market the house, so we invited Lextons to come and give us a valuation.

A PLEASANT SURPRISE We didn’t really know what the value was going to sit

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After a few days, we heard that there were four offers on the table.

We were around the pool later when we got the news that the sale had been tied up with an offer over the asking price. at. Ingrid had done so much work on the house and we knew it was looking great. When Claudia gave us the valuation it knocked us sideways. We could tell immediately that she was confident she would achieve the price for us, so we thought fantastic, let’s go on holiday and leave it with Lextons!

IN SAFE HANDS We didn’t have any other valuations, Claudia came across as professional and warm and she didn’t put any pressure on us. This was really nice, because selling your home is a big decision and we had rushed into it a little, because of the holiday. We felt we could trust her and she showed such enthusiasm for the

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STORIES FROM OUR SELLERS house and was clearly blown away by what we had done. She saw the value, and that it was unusual and different from other things around.

COMMUNICATIVE AND ORGANISED We went off to enjoy our holiday and didn’t think much more about it. We had helpful updates from Claudia, she was really organised and grouped the viewings together. After a few days, we heard that there were four offers on the table. We were around the pool later when we got the news that the sale had been tied up with an offer over the asking price.

We were delighted obviously and it honestly couldn’t have been easier.

CHANGE OF PLANS As we started to think about where in France we wanted to be, we found out that Oli’s company weren’t so sure about us moving abroad. There

were tax complications and other colleagues were returning to the office. Basically, we felt as if we had sold the house by mistake, it was really absurd, but we decided to go ahead with the move and look for a bigger house in Brighton.

WE KNEW LEXTONS WERE ON OUR SIDE Lextons were great and Claudia was fantastic. She showed us around some houses in Brighton after the change of plans and she did a great job of communicating with us and with our purchasers who were first-time buyers. Lextons were able to give us lots of advice on some of the smaller details of moving and had recommendations for solicitors and surveyors. Unlike some agents we had dealt with in the past, Lextons were really proactive at moving the sale along. When our buyers tried to knock us down on price we really felt she was on our side and she liaised with the buyer and with us really well.

E X PE RI E NCE T HE DIFFERENCE W I T H Every Estate and Lettings Agent in Brighton and Hove will tell you they are different.

Here at Lextons we really are.

Not only do we consistently achieve the best sales and rentals prices using our London background but we are the only city agent to offer Sales, Lettings, Auctions, Commercial and HMO expertise all under one roof and synergistically work together to offer you more for your money, whether that turns out to be a single process partnership or blossoms into a long term property relationship.

This means if you have a property to sell, we can offer to put that property up for Auction as well as Sale which maximises your chances of achieving the best price. The even better news is it costs you not one penny extra to do this, no matter whether your property is ultimately sold through the conventional route or via one of our bi-monthly public Auctions.

We also boast an enviable contact network of buyers looking for Brighton and Hove properties.

If you wish to buy to let, we can lead you step by step through the buying process and straight

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into pain-free Lettings for either private rental or HMO, finding you the best tenants and managing the property for you. We can even give you free advice on how best to refurbish rental properties so you spend your money in the right places and avoid costly mistakes. Furthermore can we manage your entire property portfolio if you are a multiple property landlord.

The heart of Lextons is built on a solid family property foundation but we haven’t stopped there. We have made it our business to recruit and assemble an ‘extended family’ of nice people, individuals with a wide range of specialist Auction and property knowledge, local knowledge and customer service skills so you feel you are in good hands from the first contact.

We have made it our business to become a multifaceted company offering a multi-faceted approach to property.

If dealing with other agents has felt a bit like navigating shifting sand, or wondering whether they will still be there next week, feel the difference with Lextons. We are here to stay and here to help you get the most out of your property.

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Escape to the Countryside with

SHEPHERDESS

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SUSSEX RETREATS

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hepherdess is a collection of rural dwellings located next to ancient woodland in an area of outstanding natural beauty. Each individual space has been designed by a different sister whose aim is to share the magic of the grounds with others.

We strive to provide exceptional comfort with nature at the core of our offering. An old barn with a kitchen and bathroom services the huts.

Be sure to pack sun cream and wellies as you never know what the great British weather may have in store! shepherdesssussex@gmail.com Shepherdess, Danehill, Sussex

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BALLANTINE 3 THE BALLANTINE DITCHLING ROAD DITCHLING COMMON RH15 0SJ

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eady for you to simply move in, unpack and start the next chapter of your life - this brand new single storey home combines vaulted ceilings with the warm tones of hard wood floors and the soft hues of a subtle colour scheme to generate a hugely cohesive and fluid feel. The statuesque trees and foliage of Ditchling Common add a picturesque backdrop and the nearby footpaths give every excuse to escape from the hubbub of day and take a relaxing stroll.

Behind an attractive brick and render facade a wealth of natural light tumbles in through Velux skylights and tastefully chosen aluminium windows highlighting an impeccable interior design scheme that demonstrates

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NEW HOMES

an impressive attention to detail. Underfloor heating, perfectly placed downlights and low level wall lights feature throughout, while outside the blocked paved driveway benefits from an electric car charging for three vehicles.

Stretching out across an impressive 31ft a fantastic open plan living/dining/kitchen area instantly creates a feeling of space. Beneath the fabulous vaulted ceiling its versatile layout is beautifully designed for you to relax and spend time together. Light filled and spacious, its French doors lead out onto the lawned front garden while the first class Ultima kitchen is superbly appointed. A freestanding central island adds to the social design of the room, and integrated

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appliances include a fridge-freezer, washing machine and dishwasher as well as the sleek clean lines of a vented hob.

The consistent design themes and vaulted ceilings are echoed in each of the two generously sized bedrooms and in a hugely stylish bathroom that adds a final touch of luxury with a floating basin, electric towel radiator and a p-shaped bath with an overhead thermostatic shower.

Outside, the landscaped frontage is as stylish as the interior with chic external lights and an easy to maintain lawn and borders. A wide block paved driveway has space for three cars together with an electric charging point.

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Vegan Eats

in Brighton & Hove

We got in touch with the five best vegan restaurants in town.

Vegan or not, these eateries are worth a visit!

What The Pitta What The Pitta is now over five years old! We started out in a bright green shed in Shoreditch, London after taking a risk on bringing a family recipe to the UK. Our mission has always been simple... Make a great tasting vegan kebab! We believe that eating meat free more often is good for your health and good for the planet. Our first dish was our signature vegan döner kebab, seasoned in our secret spice mix, and it remains the most popular choice amongst customers today.

Since then, our menu and surroundings have evolved, and we now have a range of Turkish inspired vegan dishes, as well as five stores.

We’ve been in Brighton for three years now, it was our first home outside of London! We are just a stone’s throw from the seafront, located on East Street, and love both Brighton’s vibrancy and its thriving vegan scene.

Find us at What The Pitta, 14 East Street, Brighton BN1 1HP.

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VEGAN EATS IN BRIGHTON & HOVE

Purezza Purezza is the UK’s first vegan pizzeria, and was born here in Brighton & Hove. The company holds multiple accolades, including National Pizza of the Year and awards from the prestigious World Pizza Championships. Locally, they have also won Best Vegan Restaurant in Brighton & Hove in the Brighton Restaurant Awards.

The company has branches in central Brighton (on St James Street) and in Hove (near Palmeira Square). They are renowned for fantastic Neapolitan pizzas, and crafting their own vegan mozzarella using organic rice milk.

In addition to pizzas, they also have a brilliant brunch menu with sourdough-focused dishes and a unique Italian twist on a Full English (called the Full Inglese), with free coffee for all diners. For those who prefer evening dining to breakfast and brunch, there’s a great selection of cocktails on offer too. The Banana Colada is a must!

Happy Maki Happy Maki makes delicious and healthy vegan sushi in the form of sushi burritos and customisable sushi and poke bowls. Try our fully loaded roll with “chickn”, sweet potato, avocado and teriyaki sauce and pair it with our famous popcorn cauliflower side and a spiced coconut dipping sauce. We’re also passionate about ethical business, we’re a not for profit financially transparent company run on 100% green energy. Our waste is zero to landfill and we’re a living wage employer, for each meal that we make we plant a tree and feed a child. All of our sauces, salads and sweet treats are made in house and our menu is 100% gluten free healthy fast food at its best. Find our restaurant @23 Sydney Street for lunch in The Laines and our takeaway @8 Pool Valley for sushi picnics on the beach.

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VEGAN BRIGHTON

Green Kitchen Green Kitchen is a friendly, 100% vegan cafe in Preston Circus. Run by wife & wife team Catherine and Katie, our aim is to provide great vegan food in a welcoming environment; showing how easy it is to eat kindly.

From Full English breakfasts, pancakes and burgers to brunch options, salads, smoothies and great coffee, there’s something for everyone.

We also make our own meat alternatives which we serve in-house and sell through great independent shops across the city and beyond.

Through the sale of these, we support the wonderful work of the Retreat Animal Rescue in Kent.

Helping them to help more animals. Green Kitchen – Preston Road, Brighton

The Vurger Co The Vurger Co was born with a mission of revolutionising fast food through the power of plants.

We started as a small market stall back in 2016 just to test our concept and gain that initial immediate feedback! We developed from market stall to events, pop ups, festivals and progressed to crowd funding our first ever restaurant in Shoreditch in March 2018.

We have collaborated with amazing chefs such as Gaz Oakley who became our Executive Chef in 2018 as well as Chloe Coscarelli at Eat Drink Vegan Festival Los Angeles in May 2018. We have worked with amazing brands such as Tabasco Sauce and attended amazing events and festivals over the years.

We currently have four restaurants (and counting) throughout London, Brighton and Manchester, stay tuned for more! We opened our Brighton site in July 2020 right in the middle of a pandemic, the team have been phenomenal throughout!

We have grand plans for The Vurger Co, all in keeping with our mission of revolutionising fast food through the power of plants and to make vegan food as accessible and convenient as possible.

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LETTINGS

LET

Richmond Terrace Brighton

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wonderful opportunity to live in one of the most beautiful buildings in Brighton, Old College House. The apartment benefits from having two bedrooms, two bathrooms, as well as access to communal gardens and concierge.

As you enter from the communal areas, the hallway allows access to all rooms. On the floor, of which you enter is the generously sized reception room with an open plan kitchen area. There is plenty of space for dining and lounge areas, ideal for anyone who likes to entertain with its generous square footage and breathtaking vaulted ceilings. As well as the reception there is a modern family shower room.

On the mezzanine floor are two large bedrooms.

The master bedroom has a walk-in wardrobe and an en-suite bathroom, whilst the second bedroom has plenty of space for any additional storage that may be required.

Old College House is located on Richmond Terrace, moments away from the hustle and bustle of North Laine, Brighton Station and plenty of green areas.

The seafront is South of the property continuing on Richmond Terrace.

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FEATURED PROPERTY

Surrenden Crescent, Brighton

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his stunning and generous four-bedroom detached house with large West-facing garden offers wonderful family living on one of Brighton’s most sought-after roads.

Arriving through the entrance vestibule, the hallway provides access to all rooms. The large reception room offers excellent entertaining space and overlooks the sun-drenched terrace. The fantastic kitchen benefits from a thoughtfully designed cooking area and island to give a natural divide in a great size room. Access onto the terrace and landscaped garden is through both the kitchen and the reception room. There is a separate self-contained studio room

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FEATURED PROPERTY

What the owner says

Having lived here for 20 years we will be sad to leave, - the house has served us perfectly with its space and adaptability and Surrenden Crescent has been a great community to bring up our children.

The views from the house has given us so much pleasure and we will miss watching the sun go down from the terrace, as well as the wonderful wildlife that makes the garden feel as though we are in the country - despite being so close to both the centre of the city and the sea.

It’s just a short walk to the station for mainline London trains, easy to get out of Brighton by car and there is a very frequent bus service into the town, making everything hugely accessible for all ages. We don’t think we will be moving very far!

adjacent to the reception room which would be perfect for multi-generation families, or families looking to have an au-pair. Alternatively, this could be rented out as this room has its own entrance, or incorporated back into the home.

Four bedrooms are to the first floor, the large, sunny principal bedroom has an abundance of space for storage and benefits from a large en-suite bathroom.

The additional bedrooms on this floor are good sized doubles, with a family bathroom, modern in style, separating them nicely.

If the off-street parking for multiple cars wasn’t enough, there is an integral garage which could be used for a car or storage, as well as a large office/ studio which looks into the garden. The Westfacing garden is a lovely size and the terrace offers wonderful views of verdant green over the hills of Brighton. Put simply, one of the best houses to come to the market this year.

Surrenden Crescent is within the incredibly popular Surrenden district. Primary and secondary schools, plus a sixth form college, are all less than 10 minutes’ walk away. Withdean Park and Preston Park give plenty of options for entertaining your family, with Fiveways offering local independent shops and access in and out of Brighton easy via Preston Park stations and the A23/A27.

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AN INTERVIEW WITH

Peter James We put questions to the author about his books, life, and our city. Fun fact, the Directors of Lextons are called Peter and James.

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INTERVIEW - PETER JAMES HOW DO YOU START YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS FOR WRITING A BOOK? I have a ritual with my “real life” Roy Grace – retired Detective Chief Superintendent David Gaylor. When I start a new Roy Grace novel, we meet in a Sussex pub near Henfield, The Ginger Fox, always at the same table, open a new black Moleskine notebook and work through a basic plot and the high points of the story. I go away and write the first 150 pages, which Dave and my wife Lara then read. She comments on the character and general story aspects and Dave on how Roy Grace and his team would really think and act as detectives.

ARE ALL YOUR CHARACTERS BASED ON REAL PEOPLE YOU HAVE MET? I base all characters on people I know. I find I can write characters who come across much more “real” if they are based on real people. Not necessarily the same jobs but just the way they look, speak, act, etc. It is very important to me when I read a book that I care about the characters – and not just the good guys – I like to care about the villains also – or at least understand them as human beings, and what made them become the way they are.

I do also “collect:” characters – I’ll meet someone – they could be a taxi driver, a lawyer, a doctor, a medical centre receptionist - anything - and I’ll think to myself, ‘you could be a great future character in a book!”

At that Eureka moment in my life, I knew that one day I wanted to create a fictional detective with such powers of observation like that. Then, when I was 14, growing up in Brighton, I read Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock. That novel blew me away: It was the first time I had read a crime novel which broke the mould of the traditional English detective story – the kind of Agatha Christie scenario which began with a dead body and was all about the puzzle of solving it.

Brighton Rock had little detective work in it, instead focusing on the inner lives of the criminals, and creating one of the most chilling portrayals of evil, in the teenage gangster Pinkie, that I have ever read.

I base all characters on people I know.

I find I can write characters who come across much more “real” if they are based on real people.

Also, I have a fun thing several times a year, which raises a lot of money for my charitable foundation, where people and business can bid in auctions either to be a character or have a name check in a future book.

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WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THE GRACE SERIES? When I was nine, I read my first Sherlock Holmes story. In it, at one stage, Watson said “Gosh Holmes, how did you deduce that?” Holmes replied, “My dear Watson, because I knew we were looking for a man whose bathroom window was to the left of his washbasin.” Watson said, “But how did you know that?”

Holmes retorted, ‘Have you never noticed he is always better shaved on the left hand side of his face? From the light source, of course!”

Having written increasing amounts of police involvement in my early thrillers, in 2001 my publishers, Macmillan approached me through my agent and asked if I would consider creating a new fictional detective character, with a view to writing a crime series with that person as the central character.

I thought very hard about all the fictional detectives currently around, and there seemed to be common issues between many of them: an almost universal theme: An alcohol problem and a broken marriage.

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Yet in my experience, no detective with a drink problem would last 24 hours in today’s modern police world. It just would not happen. I decided to take a completely different approach: Fifteen years ago, I had been introduced to a young Detective Inspector called David Gaylor, a rising star in Sussex CID. I remember going into his office and finding it full of plastic crates bulging with manila folders. I asked him if he was moving offices and he explained to me that in addition to his current homicide investigation work, he had been tasked with reopening cold cases and applying new forensic developments to them. He said something that really touched me: “Each of these crates contains the principal case files of an unsolved murder: I am the last chance each of the victims has for justice, and I am the last chance each of their families have for closure.”

I loved the deeply human aspects of Dave Gaylor.

During his work he saw the most terrible sights imaginable - and almost unimaginable - yet he retained a calm gentle humanity – and it is this aspect which is one of the key characteristics of almost every good homicide detective I have met: They are calm, kind and very caring people. In very many cases they develop a close relationship with the victim’s loved ones, and solving the crime becomes personal to them. It is the reason why so often, even years after they have left from the force, that many detectives still continue to work away on any case they could not solve during their career.

FBI founder, J Edgar Hoover, said: “No greater honour will ever be bestowed on an officer, nor a more profound duty imposed on him, than when he or she is entrusted with the investigation of the death of a fellow human being.”

At this first encounter with DI David Gaylor, he asked me about the novel I was then working on, and immediately started coming up with creative suggestions involving the policing aspects – and other aspects too. I realised that to be a good homicide investigator you had to have not only a very analytical mind, but also a very creative one.

This is because the solving of every major crime is a massive puzzle, usually with a key bit missing, and one that can sometimes be solved by really creative out-of-the-box blue sky thinking.

From that day onwards, I would discuss the plots of my next novels in advance with him. At the

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time Macmillan approached me to create a fictional detective, David had risen to become Detective Chief Superintendent in Sussex Police, in charge of Major Crime Reviews. I asked him how he would feel about becoming a fictional character – and he loved the idea! The rest as they say is history…

There is another major contributing factor to the series: My beloved city of Brighton and Hove itself.

It has long historical crime antecedents going right back to Regency days. In 1932 Brighton was given the soubriquet of “Crime capital of the UK and Murder Capital of Europe.” Fortunately for me, not too much has changed! Three consecutive past Chief Constables of Sussex Police have all told me that Brighton is the favoured place to live in the UK for first division criminals. The reasons are: firstly, it has a lot of escape routes – very important to all criminals.

It has the Channel ports, Eurotunnel and Gatwick Airport and London is 50 mins by train. It has a major seaport on either side – Shoreham and Newhaven – perfect for importing drugs and people smuggling, and for exporting stolen cars, antiques and cash.

It had for decades the largest number of antiques shops in the UK – perfect for laundering stolen goods and cash. As relatively recently as 1993 the Independent newspaper ran a front page headline, IF YOU ARE EVER BURGLED, HEAD STRAIGHT FOR BRIGHTON’S LANES! For eleven years running it held the unwelcome title of “Injecting Drug Death Capital of England”. Being a major party city, with a large and diverse youthful population combined with a history of tolerance (“only in Brighton!”), two universities, and a huge number of nightclubs there’s always been a big market for recreational drugs. Importantly, and to my great good fortune, it has not been over-written by other writers.

The only previous authors to delve into its criminal underbelly – and quite brilliantly – were first Patrick Hamilton in The West Pier and then Graham Green in Brighton Rock in 1938. Brighton Rock is quite simply the book that made me want to be a writer, the first time I read it, when I was a teenager. It is also the inspiration behind my setting of the Roy Grace series in Brighton. Green captures so vividly the dark, criminal underbelly of Brighton and Hove, as relevant now as when the book was first written.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR ROY GRACE? WHEN CAN WE EXPECT THE NEXT BOOK, AND WILL IT BE THE LAST? The next Roy Grace novel, PICTURE YOU DEAD will be published this September. It tells the story of a

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INTERVIEW - PETER JAMES

couple in Brighton who buy a horrible portrait in a car boot sale for £20 because they love the frame. They plan to cut the picture out, but after they get home, they discover there is another painting beneath, a painting which, if genuine, could be an Old Master worth millions of pounds. Roy Grace finds himself plunged into the skulduggery of the artworld, a far murkier and more dangerous world than he could ever have imagined.

I can assure everyone this is a very long way from being the last Roy Grace novel: I’ve recently signed a contract to write the next five and I have many more planned beyond that!

DO YOU EVER GET WRITERS BLOCK? IF SO, HOW DO YOU GET OUT OF IT? I honestly believe “writers block” is a myth, and used as an excuse! If you are a professional writer, you have to get on with it. You don’t hear solicitors saying they have “lawyers’ block” or electricians getting “electricians block” to taxi drivers having “cab drivers’ block”. I’m not being frivolous. I write for a living, and I don’t have the luxury of the excuse of writer’s block – if I don’t deliver, I don’t get paid! That’s not to say I don’t get stuck from time to time. But when that

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happens, I take the dogs out for half an hour, think it through and something will pop.

Where I think this notion of “writers block“ originates from is writers not having properly worked the concept and structure of their novel. The first question I ask a writer who tells me they have writers block is, ‘Do you know the ending of your novel?’ Invariably they will say they do not. I reply, ‘Would you get in your car and just start driving without having any idea where are going, whether it is to your local supermarket, or to Lands’ End???” If you know the ending you want to get to, then you won’t get blocked.

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU NEED IN YOUR WRITING SPACE TO STAY FOCUSED; HOW DO YOU GET IN THE WRITING ZONE? My whole writing day is back to front. It is from the time when I was writing novels whilst working full time in film and television as a screen writer and producer, so I had to make my “Me time” to write. My writing day starts at 6pm in the evening, when I mix a large vodka martini, with four olives, put on some music, and get into the zone. I try to ensure that whatever I’m doing, I leave myself time to write 1000 words 6 days a week, taking a total break on the seventh. I find that

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the best way to stay focused is to not miss a day of writing, six days a week, until the first draft is finished.

ground, and is a big influence on the way I write my Roy Grace crime novels today.

WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR? It is a big question, because there are so many authors whose work I love and which has inspired me over the years, and it is a very eclectic mix. And there are certain books from authors that stay with me, and which I love to re-read. These include Conan Doyle’s Hound of the Baskervilles, Graham Green’s Brighton Rock and also his The Human Factor, Arthur Hailey’s Hotel, Steven King’s The Shining. Elmore Leonard, Get Shorty. Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby. Thomas Harris’s The Silence of the Lambs, and very recently, Michael Connelly’s The Dark Hours.

I was hooked by the first line – surely one of the most grabbing opening sentences ever: Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to kill him. I defy anyone, having read that, to put the book down! It made me realize just how important that first sentence of a book is. I think of that line every time I start a new book, and try to come up with one that is as grabbing. And it is not just that first sentence, either - Brighton Rock has an equally strong last line.

Devastatingly clever, and extremely dark. It makes you put the book down, tingling, your imagination soaring.

ROY GRACE HAS BEEN A HUGE SUCCESS, LEXTON’S ARE BASED IN BRIGHTON AND HOVE, WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT THE CITY? DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE SPOT? I have so many favourite spots. I love the whole seafront all the way from Hove to Kemp Town.

The Undercliff walk at Rottingdean. Being up on the Devil’s Dyke on a fine day. Meandering through the Lanes absorbing the sheer history of the city.

Visiting the Royal Pavilion – I just love it. Built by George IV to impress his mistress it must surely be the world’s grandest ever shag pad. And of course, the Palace Pier, where I spent so many of my early childhood days fishing off the end, when there was a grid there is not only quite glorious, but gives you sensational views of Brighton’s waterfront.

I have so many favourite spots.

I love the whole seafront all the way from Hove to Kemp Town. The Undercliff walk at Rottingdean.

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK AS A CHILD, WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO START WRITING NOVELS? Graham Greene’s BRIGHTON ROCK is, very simply, the book that changed my life. When I first read it at the age of 14, as a kid growing up in Brighton, I knew, the moment I put it down, that I wanted to be a writer, too. I promised myself that one day I would try to write a novel set in Brighton, too, and hope that it would be even 10% as good as Brighton Rock…

As a gentle homage, I created a villain called Spicer in my Roy Grace novel, Dead Like You, the name of one of the criminals in Brighton Rock!

I’d been addicted to crime novels from a very early age, especially Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, yet until Brighton Rock it seemed to me that the British crime novel was all about the ingenious solving of a complex puzzle but little more. A body would be discovered early on, frequently in the first chapter, and the rest of the narrative was about the detective hero finding and ultimately confronting and arresting the perpetrator. Graham Greene threw the rule book out of the window. This was the first crime thriller I read, that dealt with the inner lives of the villains, and made them the central characters. It truly broke new

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WHICH PARTS OF BRIGHTON AND HOVE HAVE YOU LIVED IN? DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE PROPERTY? I lived in Carlisle Road, Hove until I was four, then we moved to Withdean Road. My first house when I got married was in North Gardens and after that Onslow Road, Hove, then I moved out to near Ditchling, after that to Beddingham, and more recently Woodmancote.

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INTERVIEW - PETER JAMES IT IS KNOWN YOU LIKE CLASSIC CARS; DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE? My current favourite is my 1962 C1 Corvette, which I’ve been lucky enough to race on a number of occasions at the wonderful Goodwood Revival, and hope to be racing here there again this year. I also love my 1964 racing Mini Cooper S, which I will be racing at a number of circuits this year, along with the Corvette.

I also have a big soft spot for classic Alfa Romeos – and of course Roy Grace shares my passion for these cars and drives one himself, although a more modern one.

WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES/INTERESTS? Racing classic cars is a major passion. I’m a keen runner, tennis player and skier, and my wife and I have a menagerie of animals which we love and they take a lot of time up. It includes two dogs – a Labradoodle and a Golden Doodle - two Burmese cats, 4 Pigmy goats, 2 rescue educational rabbits, 60 hens of various breeds, 40 Indian Runner and Tufted ducks, 5 quail, 7 guinea fowl. In addition to this we used to have 5 alpacas and two emus!

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SONG OR SINGER? I love the Kinks – they wrote such great lyrics – Mr Pleasant is one of my favourites of their songs – it is so wonderfully nasty and sinister!!!, I also love Scott Mackenzie’s ‘If You’re Going to San Francisco… (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair). It reminds me so much of that time when the hippy movement brought so much positive energy to the world, the amazing Swinging 60s, the huge sense of optimism that so many felt that anything, absolutely anything, was possible.

WHICH IS YOUR FAVOURITE SEASON AND WHY? I honestly love all the seasons. Brighton in winter is particularly magical – I love, as Roy Grace does (!) to go along the undercliff walk at Rottingdean on a really blustery day.

YOUR MOTHER’S COMPANY WAS FAMOUS FOR MAKING GLOVES. WHAT WAS HER SECRET? My mother, Cornelia James believed that gloves should be a perfect fit and comfortable enough to be worn all day long. She created her own fabrics, and I think she got something right! Her Majesty The Queen has been wearing them since her marriage in 1947.

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT ANYONE HAS EVER SAID TO YOU? My first novel was a spy thriller called Dead Letter Drop. I wrote the book when I was in my late 20s, after reading an article in The Times that there was

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a shortage of spy thrillers, at the end of the 1970s, following the deaths of Ian Fleming and a number of other spy writers. I was desperate to be a published author so I thought to myself that this could be my break! Well, it was, to my amazement Dead Letter Drop got me an agent and he got it published, but to my even bigger amazement, it totally did not sell!

Nor did the next, Atom Bomb Angel, nor the third, Billionaire. At a party I poured my heart out to a young lady called Elizabeth Buchan, who was then working on jacket blurb at Penguin in London (she is now a hugely successful novelist herself) and she gave me a piece of life changing advice: “You will never succeed as an author unless you write what you are passionate about and what you can know and understand – and research. You can never know the world of spies without ever having been in it, like Ian Fleming or John Le Carre were.” She was absolutely right: A few weeks later my former wife and I were burgled.

A young detective, Mike Harris came to the house to take fingerprints and saw my books. He said if I ever wanted to do any research with the police, to give him a call. Mike was married to a detective, Renate, and my wife and I became friends with them. They invited us to a barbecue at their home and there were a dozen of their friends there, also cops – homicide, traffic, response, neighbourhood – and I found them fascinating to talk to. And, I realized very rapidly, no one sees more of human life in the course of their career than a police officer.

When they realized I was genuinely interested, over the next couple of years they started inviting me to spend time with them – out in a response or a traffic car, or in an office, Eventually, when they realised, they could trust me, they would take me out on raids, and even to crime scenes. Very soon I knew beyond any doubt it was the world of the police I wanted to write about – and it excites me just as much over three decades on.

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED? I always smile at Woody Allen’s answer to that question. He said, ‘I don’t want to live on through my work, I want to live on in my apartment.

But on a serious note, life is a gift. I know that everyone gets dealt a different hand, but I believe that the one obligation we all have is to try to leave the world in a slightly better place than when we came into it. I’d like to be remembered for doing my bit for that.

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LEX TONS AUC TIONS

How does the Auction process work?

A

sale by auction provides both buyer and seller the opportunity to buy and sell quickly, efficiently, and transparently with contracts being exchanged at the fall of the hammer during the auction and completion taking place just 28 days later.

HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN? Auction buyers are cash only, do not require mortgages, are 100% chain free and rarely have surveys undertaken whilst this, in conjunction with all the legal documents being in place comfortably prior to the auction, it is a recipe for success for both parties.

With the seller fully protected by the reserve price (the minimum amount the property will sell for and by no means the maximum) in a competitive bidding environment, the final selling prices can often exceed expectation and market value by as much as 15%.

A perfect example of this is a flat just off Brighton seafront that sold during one of our recent auctions.

It had a marketing guide of £250,000 to £275,000 for the leasehold interest with the final selling price reaching an astonishing £331,000, some £51,000 and just over 18% above expectation with the reason for this being that during the auction itself, we received no less than 51 bids for the flat!

The benefits of The Auction Room The Online Auction

vs

The Auction Room

The Online Auction

1 Is the auctioneer able to use their skill, technique and experience to influence proceedings during the auction itself to ensure a higher selling price is achieved?

2 If the auction stalls for a particular lot is the auctioneer able to re start it?

3 Is the auctioneer able to change the incremental bids during the auction to the benefit of the seller?

4 Will the competitive nature and buzz of the auction room with buyers actively bidding against each other significantly increase the final selling price?

5 Can I continue without an Internet connection?

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Redhill

Crawley Horsham

Haywards Heath

W ES T S USS E X

EAST S USS E X

Burgess Hill

Lewes

Chichester

Littlehampton Bognor Regis

Worthing

Shoreham by-Sea

Brighton & Hove

St Leonards on-Sea Seaford

Hastings

Eastbourne

Our auctioneer really does have

Sussex covered. x

AUCTIONS, SALES, RESIDENTIAL LETTINGS, COMMERCIAL SALES & LETTINGS, VALUATIONS, MANAGEMENT

L AU NCH I NG SO O N