A HAMPSHIRE author has released a new book as part of her best-selling series.

Jessie Keane, a Sunday Times bestselling author, has announced the release of her new book Never Go Back.

Published by Hodder & Stoughton, this will be her 17th book release since her first publication in 2008. 

The new novel follows Annie Carter and her gangster ex-husband, Max Carter, spanning both their lives and the lives of their families from East End 1950s poverty, right through to the 1990s. 

Jessie said: “This is the seventh of the Annie Carter series and the fans were screaming to have another Annie Carter book.”

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The announcement of Never Go Back also marks the 15-year anniversary since the release of her first published book, Dirty Game.

She said: “I wrote this straight crime thriller and I was very poor at the time and huddled under a duvet on the sofa writing this thing. It just absorbed me totally, I was so completely in it, I loved it and I wrote it very quickly, about three months.”

Jessie was born just outside of Winchester inside a traditional caravan, owned by her grandmother. 

Jessie said: “My gran was Romany and she had this barrel-topped wagon in my parents' back garden and I was actually born in that wagon.”

Jessie’s passion for writing has stuck with her throughout her life. She said: “It just carried on really, just rumbling away in the background while I progressed through all these horrible jobs that I had and just stuck with me. I always have done it and I always will do it I suspect, I can see me at 90 still scribbling away.

“All my readers have supported me all the way through, everybody has been absolutely wonderful and I really appreciate it, I really do. It's so nice when you are sitting here thumping away at the typewriter, trying to think of the next thing, but you know that they’re there waiting for it.” 

Jessie is already looking to add another book to the series. She said: “I think there’s going to be another one after that, another Annie book, I’m sure there is.”

Never Go Back is available for purchase from Thursday, February 2 for £16.99 in hardback.