So crime does pay, at least for scriptwriters. That was my first thought when seeing Douglas Watkinson's beautiful thatched home in Dinton, east of Thame. He has written for top TV shows, including Z Cars, The Professionals, Juliet Bravo, Boon, Lovejoy and most recently Midsomer Murders. My second thought was to wonder whether picture-postcard Dinton was the setting for Doug's latest criminal venture - a novel, Haggard Hawk, written under the pseudonym of Marcus Barr. This was going to be an interesting interrogation.

First though, the book. Nathan Hawk is a recently retired police officer who has moved to a beautiful English village. He's also a widower with four children who are scattered across the world. With anger-management issues, a determination not to spend the rest of his days gardening and a bit of a drink problem, basically he's a decent man with a wry take on life.

While driving home one evening from a dinner party, he comes across the brutally murdered body of his local publican and soon finds out what it's like being on the outside of a murder investigation. Although it's made obvious that his involvement is not wanted, over the course of the book, Nathan not only tracks down the killers, but the person who paid them and also discovers a whole heap of things about his fellow villagers, some funny, some sad, some just plain unsavoury.

Having enjoyed the book, I rather agree with the reviews on the back: Haggard Hawk is witty, well-observed and keeps you guessing. Hawk is a psychologically complex policeman and the book is packed with humour, humanity and red, red wine.

This is Doug's first novel and was partner-published with Pen Press. Partner publishing seems to be a hybrid form of self-publishing, whereby the author pays initial costs, but if the book goes into reprint, then the publisher bears all subsequent costs. With all the TV success he's had, why did Doug need to do this?

"If you write detective fiction, you will find it very difficult to get published," he said. He believes that publishers are looking for an angle, so if you're writing about a Roman Centurion rather than a retired copper, you're more likely to get a book deal.

Taking a risk by partner-publishing netted him an agent at the London Book Fair, however - a major step for book writers - and will, he hopes, eventually lead to further publication and Nathan Hawk being on television. He has already written a second Hawk novel and is working on a third, so he has no shortage of ideas.

Doug's attitude towards getting published shows just why he has worked continuously. Now 60, he believes his success as a scriptwriter was not just due to making friends in the industry, but also because of his ability to bounce. "I've been in two comedy series that weren't particularly successful, but I've done that and I've done drama, heavy stuff, adaptations. I do all that and keep going. Then they won't pigeonhole me," he explained. "It's being able to pick up on what's coming up next, being versatile in what you're going to do."

Now he finds himself at a crossroads in his career. "Television is changing," he said. "I don't want to be hustling for television when I'm 65. It's a very tough old game." However, he doesn't want to give up doing what he loves. "I would like when I'm 90 to drop dead over a typewriter or a computer." For him, writing novels is the way of achieving that aim -preferably novels which can be turned into television characters.

So who is Nathan Hawk based on? My suspicions were that it was based on Doug himself, particularly after meeting him. He's thinking about the end of one career, has four grown-up children and anger management issues, though he dealt with those a long time ago. Even one of the characters, Hideki, a Japanese teenager, who lives in Nathan's house, is based on someone who once stayed with Doug and his wife Lesley. Doug describes Hawk as a composite, though a large dollop is provided by a retired policeman who lives further down the road and for whom Doug obviously has a lot of respect. "It's a mixture of him and me and lots of other people, better-looking than us all," he explained.

As for the setting, he admits that Dinton is the model. "It never fits perfectly," he said, "It's a bit here and there, then those bits don't gel, so you add another dimension so that they all do." What about the pub mentioned in the book? It's down the other end of the village, but on the other side of the road from where the real pub stands. Odd how a writer's mind works.

Haggard Hawk is published by Pen Press at £6.99.