Scarborough childhood 'paranormal' events inspire Sheffield author to write debut novel in style of Victorian ghost story

Now this interest has led to her releasing Silent Accusation, a mystery novel in the style of a Victorian ghost story but set in 1980s London.

It follows stockbroker Peter, who unintentionally pockets a book in a shop and is suddenly plagued by strange incidents. He realises there is a link to the book and becomes determined to solve the mystery, following a trail that leads to his ghostly tormentor, Edward Featherstone, who is searching for his lost son.

Former civil servant Lesley says: “I've always loved ghost stories. And often they're Victorian, aren't they? Your quintessential ghost story, MR James, is set in that sort of period.

"I wanted to bring it more up to date and I know the 80s really well.

"I've always had an interest (in the paranormal). We had some spooky experiences as a family in our family home."

While there’s no relation to those events in her fiction, they “intrigued and inspired” her from a young age.

On another occasion during her youth in the North Yorkshire seaside town, she had just switched off the bedroom lamp to go to sleep “when a large poster fell from the wall beside me and fluttered to the floor.

"I even felt a breeze as it swooped past my head. It took a moment before I realised – there wasn’t a poster on that wall. I switched on the light and sure enough, found nothing there.”

The family moved to London in 1985 as Lesley was about to turn 16, and says that there her mother recounted experiencing the sound of someone humming in their home. Referring to her belief in such events, Lesley says: “I can't explain it away. So without a doubt, I think these phenomena definitely happen, and I've had other experiences as an adult.”

She adds: “What's driving it, where it comes from is something that I'm going to explore in my next book, actually, my theories of what it could be.”

After her years in London, Lesley returned to Yorkshire and now lives in the village of Worrall near Sheffield.

And aged 53, she is “thrilled” to release her debut book, but it’s with a “mixture of disbelief” too.

She still goes back to her hometown, too, when visiting her sister.

"Scarborough can be an extremely enigmatic place in the dark months of winter as the streets empty from holiday makers and the sea frets roll in,” she says. “This, coupled with my experiences, no doubt ignited my fertile imagination and drew me into writing about the supernatural.”

Silent Accusation is available to order now, ISBN 9781915352422.