AN author from Darwen has been selected as the first-ever writer to promote the Great North West Read.

And tonight Sharon Bolton is set to return to the place where books first came alive for the award-winning wordsmith.

The creation of her latest masterpiece, The Craftsman, will be explored for guests at Darwen Library.

She has previously spoken of how the venue first introduced her to the likes of JRR Tolkien, Dennis Wheatley and Steven King. Her first research into the Pendle Witches, the territory around which her new books is based, was also conducted within the same grandiose setting.

Sharon, a Crime Writers Association honouree, said: "I'm particularly looking forward to speaking at my hometown library in Darwen, which features in the book.

"I've written several books but I’m very glad this one has been chosen because it's a story I've had in my own mind for many years.

"I was born and brought up in the north west, not far from Pendle Hill, and I grew up with stories of the Pendle Witches as many people do in that part of the world.

"I was always very conscious that they could have been my ancestors and I was very interested in their story, particular what happened to turn the villagers against them. Something made an entire community turn against a group of very poor, very weak individuals.

"So it was that idea I wanted to explore in The Craftsman.We don’t believe in witches anymore but we still see witch hunts today. We still societies turning upon people who are a little bit weaker or a little bit different."

In her novel, the first in a triology, readers are introduced to Florence Lovelady, a detective who first made her name tracking down a child killer, Larry Glassbrook. His macabre quirk was burying his victims alive. But fast forward 30 years and similar killings emerge.

The Great North West Read tour also takes Sharon to Ramsbottom and Oldham today, and Bebington and Warrington tomorrow.