Born in Nigeria and now based in Namibia, Femi Kayode trained as a clinical psychologist and has had successful careers in TV and advertising.

His debut thriller, Lightseekers, is published by Bloomsbury and he is currently doing a PhD at Bath Spa University.

My debut crime novel, Lightseeker, was my MA thesis in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, so for quite a long time, it was more of an academic exercise rather than one meant for commercial release. The story itself was inspired by the necklace killing of four undergraduates in a university town in Nigeria and at first, I pitched the story as a non-fiction novel, having just done a critical analysis of the brilliant In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. The realities of living in Namibia, studying in the UK and writing a factual account of a crime in Nigeria proved too much for me, so I reconsidered approaching the story from a fictional point, especially since the idea of creating a crime series appealed to me.

‘My writing routine has