Stuart Pawson had a career as a mining engineer, followed by a spell working for the probation service, before he became a full-time writer. This background gave him an insight into the justice system and helped him craft the Detective Charlie Priest Mysteries. He mixed his dry humour and his adoration of Yorkshire to form the basis for his stories. He was later shortlisted for the CWA Dagger in the Library Award 2004. Pawson joined some of the best crime writers to form <a href="" target="_blank">The Murder Squad</a>. Stuart believed he must have some cowboy genes somewhere in his genome because he always had a strong affinity for the American West. His first visit to the USA was to work for a month at a Wyoming coalmine, and he holidayed over there many times. Although tone-deaf (some would say stone-deaf) he always thought it would be good fun to be a songwriter. The thought of composing a three-minute song as opposed to a 300-page book had a certain attraction. He managed to combine the two themes - song writing and the West - in the opening chapters of ***Laughing Boy***, and he enjoyed writing that one immensely.