Olly Smith dedicates 'wine crime' novel to Sussex
Alun CallenderTV sommelier Olly Smith has described his debut novel as "a love letter to Lewes".
The murder mystery, Death by Noir, follows a wine merchant living in East Sussex as he searches for answers to his friend's disappearance.
The television presenter and wine expert, known for appearances in shows such as BBC's Saturday Kitchen, began his career as a screenwriter for children's television.
He says his novel unites his passions for storytelling, Sussex, and wine.
Originally from County Durham, Smith has lived in East Sussex with his family for more than 20 years.
His interest in wine began only a few years later, appearing as an expert voice on television and writing wine-related columns.
"There's a huge amount of East Sussex in the plot," Smith says. "There's a whole lot of love for wine in the character.
"It's really my dream job to be writing this book."
Rather than being a traditional thriller, he says the novel belongs to its own genre, which he calls "wine crime".
Sussex heritage
Smith says his adopted home county "has informed every aspect of the writing", including the way characters speak.
"There's actually some old Sussex dialect one of the characters uses," he notes.
"That came about because when I first moved to Lewes, I met a chap walking the dog and I couldn't quite understand what he was on about."
After that, Smith said he taught himself some of the local dialect.
"That sort of heritage really interests me," he says.
Other aspects of Lewes life feature in the novel, including the famous bonfire parade.
"Sussex is full of different pockets of wonderful things going on," Smith explained.
'Death by Noir' comes out on 18 June.
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