AN acclaimed Stourbridge thriller writer is celebrating the release of her third novel.

Former schoolteacher Kerry Hadley-Pryce’s two previous offerings The Black Country and Gamble, released in 2015 and 2018 respectively, went down a storm with readers and critics.

The author, who taught English at Redhill School from 2001 to 2006, has become synonymous with menacing fiction from the Black Country and her latest offering, God’s Country, promises to keep fans gripped.

Just 141-pages long, the chilling tale follows Guy Flood as he returns to the Black Country with his girlfriend, Alison, to attend his identical twin brother's funeral. The reasons he left, and the secrets he left behind, slowly become clear as an unknown and all-seeing narrator tells the story.

Kerry said: “It’s a short novel but quite a lot happens in a very intense and deep kind of way. “ Familiar locations like the Stourbridge Canal and the town’s looming viaduct are among local landmarks that feature in the book.

Kerry, who lives in King William Street, Amblecote, explained: “I was born in the Black Country and have lived here most of my life. I've always felt that it, and the texture of its part-industrial, part-rural landscape provokes a unique sensation of place, and I try to emulate that in my writing.

“In God's Country, the Black Country doesn't just operate as background scenery, but as a resonant, ever-present figure, and my characters have to deal with that.”

Kerry, who worked nights in a petrol station before becoming a teacher, is currently a lecturer at University of Wolverhampton, teaching creative and professional writing, having completed a PhD in psychogeography and Black Country writing at Manchester Metropolitan University in December.

God’s Country, published by Salt Publishing, is available from book sellers from today (Wednesday February 15), priced £10.99.

A launch event will be held at Voce Books, Digbeth, Birmingham, on Thursday February 22 from 7pm.