A JOURNALIST turned author will have his new crime thriller launched by a Coronation Street actor, a best selling author and a West End star.

Tony Flood, from Eastbourne, is releasing his new novel Triple Tease with an event at the West Rocks Hotel in town.

At the launch on Tuesday will be Brian Capron, best known as serial killer Richard Hillman in Coronation Street, and Tamara McKinley, who has written ten books, and former West End actor Alan Baker who will reading an extract from the novel.

Mr Flood, who is also the chairman of the Anderida Writers group, worked for the Sunday People, the Sunday Express and was controller of information at Sky TV before turning his hand to penning books.

In his latest work the heroine Katrina Merton takes revenge for an assault on her sister and is placed under suspicion from the police.

She then challenges compassionate copper DCI Livermore to ignore the rule book and offers to help him nail a serial killer terrorising Sussex by acting as the bait in a trap.

The novel is set across Eastbourne, Brighton, Bexhill, and Newhaven.

Mr Flood said: “Triple Tease is mainly a crime thriller but is also laced with humour and steamy sex scenes. I have not included these scenes just to titillate – they are very important to the story and the characters in it.

“In order to capture the true flavour of murder suspects who come into contact with lap dancers and the nightclub scene, or belong to a dating agency, it is necessary to describe some of the things they get up to.”

He has previously written celebrity book My Life With The Stars which tells anecdotes from his time as a working journalist and meetings with pop culture icons such as Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Joan Collins, Britt Ekland, Mohammad Ali and George Best.

The launch event takes place on March 29 at 7.30pm at the hotel in Grand Parade, Eastbourne and will include a flash fiction short story competition with cash prizes.

Argus readers can get a £3.90 discount when they buy the book at celebritiesconfessions.com