AFTER years of primary school teaching a Hampshire woman is delving into a dark new realm as she celebrates the release of her second novel.

Jane Chipperfield, a former teacher at Pilgrims School in Winchester, has penned Devan’s Debt, a thriller exploring high-level corruption in foreign aid across continents.

It follows on from her debut release Milo’s Scale in 2013, and forms the second book in the Rick Devan trilogy.

The Chilworth resident said she is excited about its release.

“It was a natural progression from the first book and they are both action-packed,” she said.

“I tried to make sure that something happened on every page.”

Jane said the books are ideal for holiday reading, but are slightly different to the usual thrillers picked up at the airport.

She said: “I got fed up reading stuff with back stories, and the hero has parents who have been killed. There’s always some sad bad story so I wanted to make it action-packed.”

The page-turner follows Rick Devan after he takes a call from old college friend, Lars, a journalist who is in fear of his life after stumbling on a story which has set people after him.

He fears he is punching above his weight, and calls on Rick for help.

As they meet, a fatal bullet finds Lars and the murder leads Rick on a pursuit which takes him to a world of blackmail, high-level corruption and assassination.

Devan’s Debt, published by Village Times Productions, is available from Amazon in paperback and as an e-Book.

Jane is working on the currently untitled third book in the trilogy, and has another novel in the pipeline.