Disarmingly violent criminals are all in a day’s work for Martina Cole

WITH her gravelly Essex twang and no-nonsense attitude, Martina Cole sounds just like a character in one of her books.

Mention that her gangland novels are the most borrowed books in prison libraries and the most stolen from shops, and she merely laughs huskily.

Perhaps her readers can relate to the criminal underworld in her stories, or have experience of the rough estates on which they are set — or maybe she’s just giving them food for thought.