A RETIRED Detective Inspector from East Lothian has become a published author with the launch of his first crime thriller, Noble Cause.

Peter Ritchie, originally from Musselburgh, has drawn from his years on the force to produce a trilogy of novels around fictional character Grace van Herder.

The character – a former lawyer who switches career to join the Royal Ulster Constabulary before moving to Lothian and Borders Police – goes through highs and lows, but Peter is keen to point out she is not based on him.

Speaking to the Courier as Noble Cause was launched as an e-book by Amazon, Peter said: “My best friend was convinced the central character was really me, but nothing could be further from the truth.” Peter started out his working life as a fisherman, following his family’s tradition and spending eight years on the boats.

He joined Lothian and Borders Police when he was 23 and served in CID, the Serious Crime Squad and then the Regional Crime Squad as a DI.

Peter then moved to London to head up the Organised Crime Unit in the National Criminal Intelligence Service, before being appointed as a UK liaison officer to Europol in The Hague, Netherlands, for five years.

But it was his time after he retired which provide the focus for much of Noble Cause.

He spent four years in Northern Ireland, working with the public inquiry by Lord McLean into the murder of loyalist leader Billy Wright in the Maze Prison, and worked on the yet-to-be published Vale of Leven Inquiry.

Peter, who now lives in Port Seton, said: “I have a great affection for Northern Ireland from my time there and it was a good inspiration as the starting point of the trilogy.” The title of the first novel refers to a recognised phenomenon known as ‘noble cause corruption’.

In the prologue it is described as “an approach to the ethical dilemma when law enforcement officers use unethical or illegal means to obtain a desired result”.

It adds: “These are not normally what we would call ‘dirty’ officers but good men and women who feel forced to break the rules to get who they’ve decided is guilty.” Peter said: “I think it is a very human reaction and the recognition of noble cause corruption is real because police officers are, after all, human.

“I know the frustration when a case doesn’t go the way you hoped because of evidence you cannot produce in court or legal restrictions. They used to say in training that if you care about what happens in court don’t become a detective.” Noble Cause was launched on Amazon last week. The second book in the trilogy will be available from May with the third, still to be completed, due for release in August.