Billy Morris was born in Leeds, Yorkshire in 1966. He left Leeds in the late 1990's and has lived and worked in Europe and USA. He now lives mainly in South East Asia with regular visits back to Yorkshire.
He wrote his first book 'Bournemouth 90' in 2021 and published the sequel, LS92, in 2022. The books open the 'Eighties Leeds' series - Gritty crime fiction set against the backdrop of a northern English city trying to reinvent itself, as its once famous football team emerges from a period in the doldrums to reclaim its position at the forefront of European football.
In September 2023 Morris published LS65. A prequel to the first two books, the story is set in 1965 and finds one of the key characters from Bournemouth90 arriving in Leeds as a teenager at the height of the swinging 60's. Mods and Rockers, scooters, dance halls and pills form the backdrop to the tale as Alan Connolly tries to establish himself in the criminal underworld while battling his own demons.
Paris 75 is the fourth and final book in the 'Eighties Leeds series'. Set ten years after LS65 and fifteen years before Bournemouth 90, the book contrasts the declining fortunes of the city of Leeds during the economic turmoil of the mid 1970's with the achievements of its football team, who are now chasing the elusive dream of a European cup victory. On the streets of Leeds, a gangland feud spirals out of control and leaves Alan Connolly trying to stay one step ahead of the police, special branch, the Provisional IRA and the demons in his own head.
"If you like crime thrillers with a touch of terrace culture you will enjoy the journey these books take you on."
'Birdsong on Holbeck Moor' is a standalone story, set during the tumultuous period at the end of World War 1. The Leeds Pals have been decimated at the Somme and the soldiers who survived return to find a city on the grip of a global pandemic, with food rationing, unemployment and a football team facing expulsion from the league due to financial irregularities during the war years. Throw in some corruption, inter-city gang wars and witchcraft and you have the makings of a gritty, Edwardian thriller.
'It's no surprise that there'll be no peace for Leeds in the year the City became United."
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