A CRIME fiction fan says she is thrilled to have bought the desk used by a best-selling author.

Sara Marchant attended an auction hosted by auctioneers Bellmans in Sussex.

She purchased a desk which had been listed by novelist Peter James.

The crime thriller writer and author of the Detective Superintendent Grace series set in Brighton said the desk had been like a second home to him.

Most of the series had been written at the desk, but Mr James said he needed a more modern piece of furniture to allow him to work.

Auctioneers put an estimate of £200 to £400 on the furniture when it went under the hammer last month.

But the modern oak pedestal desk surpassed expectations, with Ms Marchant snapping it up for £1,300.

Author Peter James is selling the desk where he wrote many of his famed books in an auction

Author Peter James is selling the desk where he wrote many of his famed books in an auction

She said: “I was lucky enough to be the successful bidder on the desk. I am a

big fan and thought it was a beautiful piece of furniture.”

Ms Marchant said she has recently been told she can work from home permanently, and was keeping her eye out for an eye-catching piece.

Now she is looking to make a dream move to Lincolnshire.

She added: “It will be my office desk where I will work to help people with a whole range of disabilities and it will be well-used and much-loved."

Previously Mr James said he had the desk specially made in about 2003 and said it was even built to contain secret compartments to protect his work and research from any would-be thieves.

"If I had been burgled, nobody would have got away with something important," he said.

Author Peter James is selling the desk where he wrote many of his famed books in an auction

Author Peter James is selling the desk where he wrote many of his famed books in an auction

His first Detective Grace novel Dead Simple was published in 2005, and aired on ITV in a television adaptation last month.

He added: “I had always wanted to design my own desk, and for me, this was like a second home. I have spent so much of my life working at it, and it was perfect for compartmenting my research and work.

“Now, with advances in technology I needed a much more modern piece of furniture.

"So it is a very sad time to part with it, I cannot put it somewhere else in the house as it is just too big."