The Rector of Pepynbridge

Peter Morrell was born just before D Day. After school and university, where he read French, he qualified, first as a solicitor, and then as a barrister. He practised at the Bar until 1992, when he was appointed a circuit judge, trying criminal and civil cases in London and the East Midlands. Peter retired from the Circuit Bench in 2009, but continued to preside over Mental Health Tribunals until 2014. Peter has been an observant Christian since childhood and, in 2008, was ordained a deacon of the Church of England; and a year later, a priest. He currently ministers in country parishes near his home where he has lived for over forty years. Peter wrote two thrillers in the 1980s, which were not published. In 1998, he started to write The Rector of Pepynbridge, his first published novel. However professional commitments meant it was not completed until after he retired in 2014. The novel is set in Pepynbridge, a village in Northamptonshire, and draws upon Peter's professional experiences as barrister, judge and clergyman; and upon his knowledge of rural life. Currently, Peter is working on his next novel, which is set in the same village and features Islamism. It will be ready for publication in 2015. Peter is married to Mary, with two grown-up daughters and a granddaughter.