The Brixton riots, the Wapping printers’ dispute, the wedding of Charles and Diana – these significant events are all etched into Britain’s recent history.
But they’re also closely connected to a Banchory author who’s recently unveiled his debut novel.
Mike Masson, a former Metropolitan police officer, oversaw many significant events in the UK and around the world during his 37-year career in the police force.
Now semi-retired, Mike returned home to Aberdeenshire in 2003 after retiring as a detective inspector in London.
He still works occasionally to keep active, assisting with drug and alcohol testing at workplaces around the north-east. But it is in writing that Mike has found his new passion.
“I’ve been an avid reader since childhood,” says Mike.
“I always harboured ambitions to write a book, but I’d never really done anything about it.
“Life got in the way somewhat.”
Life in the Met
Born in Balmoral, Mike moved to London aged 16.
He left school with very few qualifications but succeeded in the first job he applied for as a member of the police support staff at Scotland Yard.
After seven years, Mike progressed to the frontline force during a bygone era for policing.
“I joined in the late ’70s when policing was very, very different to what it is now,” he explains.
“It was the start of the Thatcher era, so there was a lot of unemployment and a lot of policing issues presented themselves.
“It was a time of civil unrest.”
Mike lost friends and colleagues during the IRA bombing campaigns in the 1980s.
He was also on the picket lines of the Wapping printers’ dispute in 1986 and was even held at gun point in South Africa in an incident where he was “very lucky to get away with [his] life”.
Health scare
Yet, after retiring, Mike found himself facing an altogether different life challenge just a few years ago, and writing proved to be his saviour.
“The real catalyst for me writing this book was when I was diagnosed with throat cancer,” says Mike.
“I’ve made a full recovery now, but whilst I was recovering, I belonged to an organisation called the International Police Association (IPA) which is a worldwide, police friendship organisation.
“They were considering setting up a writers’ group, and having always been interested in writing, I thought this might be an opportunity to explore it.”
Writing bug
Mike travelled to Gimborn in Germany to take part in the IPA seminar in 2018 and left having caught the “writing bug”.
Back home, he quickly set about writing his debut novel, The Final Crossing, which was published last month.
“I sometimes sit back and think to myself, ‘I’ve been incredibly lucky writing this book’,” says Mike, in reference to the enjoyment he had pulling his debut novel together.
They always say in writing that you should write what you know about.
“So, what I know about is obviously police procedure – of which there’s quite a lot of elements.
“There’s a certain level of authenticity there.”
Positive feedback
But as well as policing know-how, Mike has also spent a lot of his retired life on cruises with his family and has implemented details of the cruise ship from his last journey into the book’s storyline.
“I didn’t have a specific audience in mind,” Mike explains, “but I was thinking that it might appeal to the older generations who might enjoy a summer read whilst going on cruises.
“The feedback has given me a lot of confidence, actually.
“I’ve learned that I’m probably a better writer than I gave myself credit for.
“Initially, what I set out to do was to try and get a book published – which is what all debut authors want to do.
“Now that I’ve gotten to that stage, I want to progress and carry on writing.”
Never too late
With a wide array of experiences from his policing career to look back on, even including the arrest of Diana Ross at Heathrow, it’s no surprise that Mike’s already started writing his police memoirs.
But above all, he is immensely pleased to have discovered his passion for writing, which has given him a new lease of life after his cancer scare.
“[Writing] was something that I always wanted to do, but I just needed that push,” says Mike.
I would say to any aspiring writer, you’re never too late.
“I had the impetus of my diagnosis, and fortuitously the IPA seminar, so the two of them came together for me very nicely.
“I’d have regretted it for the rest of my life if I hadn’t done it, but here I am.”
The Final Crossing by Mike Masson (£9.99, The Conrad Press) is available online and in selected independent book stores across the north-east.
