Berkshire stories. A sharp edge.

Dark stories.
Dry humour.
No easy exits.

Crime that gets under your skin. Poetry that doesn't look away. Welcome to the slightly untidy world of Russ Barton.

Find your next read ↘Meet the man behind the words

GOOD COMPANY. QUESTIONABLE CHARACTERS.

CRIME & DARK HUMOURPOETRY & REAL LIFEINDEPENDENT AUTHOR

The adult bookshelf

Pick your poison.
Literarily speaking.

A mystery to disappear into, or words to sit with. Start wherever the mood takes you.

Crime fiction · Berkshire

A Quiet Kind
of Violence

Meet Rook. Enter a Berkshire murder mystery with buried secrets, a sharp edge and a very dry sense of humour.

Find on Amazon ↗

Poetry · Personal reflections

What
Silence Held

Poems from the hardest days. An honest, illustrated account of grief, mental health, friendship and learning to keep going.

Find on Amazon ↗

Ordering opens Amazon search for the selected book and author. Choose your edition there for current prices, availability and delivery.

“All proceeds of this book will help sustain my early morning coffee addiction, keep me in tobacco and help pay the extortionate electricity bills.”

Russ Barton · Dedication, A Quiet Kind of Violence

On the horizon

A quiet town.
A less quiet story.

A Spare Key to Murder

A Wokingham mystery. Another familiar corner of Berkshire, another reason to keep turning the pages.

Upcoming release

Follow for release news ↗

The bloke holding the pen

Life first.
Stories followed.

Russ Barton

Former doorman. Former prison officer. Martial artist. Author. Russ brings a varied life, a love of rock music and a dry sense of humour to the page.

His writing moves between Berkshire crime fiction and deeply personal poetry, with a separate world of adventures for younger readers inspired by cats Sooty and Wesker.

Different books. The same belief that a story should make you feel something - even if it's the urge to put the kettle on and read one more chapter.

Motorbikes, martial arts and years on the doors. A few glimpses of the life behind the stories.

From the personal photo album

Before the pages. Between the chapters.

Different chapters of life. Same bloke.

Russ Barton in his prison officer uniform — 01 / IN UNIFORMThe prison officer years.

Russ demonstrating a martial arts technique with a training partner — 02 / ON THE MATYears of training. Always something to learn.

Russ in a white shirt and black bow tie during his doorman years — 03 / ON THE DOORSThe bow-tie years.

Russ wearing riding gear, seated on his black motorbike — 04 / TWO WHEELSAnother kind of escape.

Russ seated on his Harley-Davidson, viewed from the side — 05 / THE HARLEYSome things don't need a plot.

An action photograph of Russ riding his motorcycle — 06 / IN MOTIONA little less sitting at a keyboard.

Get in touch

Contact Russ.

Questions about the books, a reader review to share, or simply a hello?

RussBartonBooks@outlook.com

Dark stories.Dry humour.No easy exits.

Pick your poison.Literarily speaking.

A Quiet Kindof Violence

WhatSilence Held

A quiet town.A less quiet story.