A HORSFORTH-BASED student who suffers from severe depression has launched her third crime novel.

Liz Mistry published her first two books - Unquiet Souls and Uncoiled Lies - shortly after completing her MA at Leeds Trinity University last year.

Some 50,000 copies of those novels have now sold and last week the 53 year old unveiled her third offering, Untainted Blood, at Waterstones Bradford.

She said: "It’s still a bit scary to realise that last July I was sitting on tenterhooks waiting for the response to Unquiet Souls and now, barely a year later, I’m having book three released.

"I’ve worked hard over the last year and am taking advantage of the chance I’ve been given.

"I suppose you could say I’m making up for lost time after being so badly incapacitated with my mental health."

Untainted Blood is the third in a gritty police procedure series which follows the work of Detective Inspector Gus McGuire in Bradford.

The story shows tensions mounting in the city after a Conservative MP is discredited, leaving the door open for an extreme right-wing candidate to stand in the resulting by-election.

Meanwhile, against this backdrop of political intrigue, DI McGuire is on the trail of a serial killer who is targeting and torturing Asian men who lead alternative lifestyles.

Novelist and Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Leeds Trinity, Martyn Bedford, hosted the launch of the novel.

He said: "I'm delighted by Liz's richly deserved success.

"She was a stellar student on the MA in Creative Writing, producing the first two books in her brilliant DI McGuire series and securing a publishing deal during her time with us.

"Untainted Blood confirms her emergence as an exciting new voice in UK crime fiction and adds to the growing list of our graduates whose fiction and poetry has been published, cementing Leeds Trinity's reputation as a centre of excellence in creative writing.

"I'm also thrilled that Liz is returning to us this month to begin a PhD in Creative Writing."

Untainted Blood is available now as a paperback or an e-book.