I was born in the Highlands of Scotland and educated in England.

After graduating from university with an honours degree in literature and history, I joined the police where I served in both uniform and CID roles and gained a Masters degree in Investigative Psychology.

When I retired from policing I wrote a thriller entitled ‘Crossing the Lines’ which immediately attracted the attention of Wallace Publishing and was published in November 2025.

The story revolves around County Lines drug-dealing, a corrupt senior police detective, and a highly-skilled SAS protagonist named Thomas Dekker who is wrongfully accused of murder and ruthlessly sets about proving his innocence.

This led to the second book in the series entitled ‘The Kill Chain’, which encouraged Wallace to offer me a multi-book contract, and is due to be published in 2026/2027.

Stephen lives in the northwest of England with his wife, their 19-year-old son, and two black Labs.

You can contact me  on my author website: https://stephenfilkin.com.