An Oxford professor has written a crime thriller partly inspired by Harry Potter author JK Rowling.
Roger Teichmann is a philosophy lecturer at Oxford University's St Hilda's College.
When he is not teaching philosophy he has been writing fiction and his self-published novel Dog's Twilight is out now.
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It is largely set in Oxford and features a bestselling author called Tessa Wainwright, who ends up being blackmailed when she comes to stay at a hotel in the city.
In the novel one of the hotel waiters, Conrad Merrivale, gets hold of personal documents from the author's laptop and starts to send her ransom notes.
This sparks a train of events which spirals into violence and death.
Mr Teichmann said he started out writing short stories before completing two novels.
His second novel, The Echo Dies, could be published later this year and the author is hoping the novels will get noticed by a publisher.
There is one direct reference to the Harry Potter author in Dog's Twilight but Mr Teichmann admitted he had the famous writer in mind when he created Tessa Wainwright.
At one stage Tessa receives an email from HarperCollins alerting her to an article in an American paper comparing her approach to writing with JK Rowling's.
"JK Rowling is a hugely successful middle-aged writer of fantasy and Tessa Wainwright is vaguely based on her," he said.
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He added: "The Marlborough Hotel, scene of more than one crime, does not exist but the Randolph Hotel and Godstow Nunnery can be visited by any tourist and other landmarks and public spaces will be familiar to many.
"I'm happy to say I have never encountered, personally or professionally, any student resembling Conrad Merrivale."
Mr Teichmann was a student at Cambridge from 1982 to 1985 then completed a doctorate at Merton College and has been a philosophy lecturer at St Hilda's since 1997.
He said: "I wanted to write something challenging where the protagonist is a really nasty piece of work.
"It's perhaps more of a psychological thriller than a traditional crime novel.
Mr Teichmann said Conrad was not based on any of his students but might have been partly inspired by students he knew when he was at college.
When he is not teaching or writing Mr Teichmann likes to visit pubs in Oxford including The Harcourt Arms in Jericho, and The Angel and Greyhound in St Clement's.
He is also a keen musician and has composed music for a chamber opera called A Practical Man.
Dog's Twilight is published by Eucalyptus Titles.
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