Author Martina Cole talks about her new book Betrayal

Her latest book Betrayal about the O’Hara family is Martina at her best and has all the ingredients needed to keep her place firmly at the top of the bestseller lists.

Natasha Harding spoke to Martina, 57, who lives in Kent about Betrayal, reading and the rewards that hard work bring.

Martina says: “Betrayal is my 23rd book and is the O’Hara’s story. Reeva has five kids by five different men and as her eldest son Aiden rises through the ranks of the criminal world he changes and becomes harder and desensitised to the people around him - but he forgets that nobody is invincible and it’s often the people closest to you that will betray you in the end.”

In typical Cole style, Aiden’s demise is ferocious and unexpected - but well deserved.

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Dangerous Lady was Martina’s first book about the criminal underworld and she’s since inspired a whole new genre.

She says: “My books aren’t for the faint hearted and I’ve got a big imagination that isn’t showing any sign of waning.

"People ask me why they’re so violent - but there are books far worse than mine, and it’s never questioned when a man writes about brutality. I write about gangsters and that’s going to involve some pretty nasty stuff.”

Research is important to the author, and it’s no secret that she talks to gang lords and knows many of the hard men that rule the criminal underworld.

She laughs: “I always get a lovely reception when I visit prisons - which I’m not sure is lucky or unlucky”.

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I admit to Martina that I was slightly nervous before our chat and am pleasantly surprised to find her warm, funny and engaging.

She says: “I think it’s funny that people are wary of me - I don’t know what they think I’m going to do to them!”

Originally from Essex, Martina now resides in a beautiful country manor nestled in the Kent countryside and although she can buy pretty much anything she insists that money isn’t her motivation anymore - she tells me: “For me crime has definitely paid! I always treat myself when my book hits the number one spot - but the jury’s out what I’m going to buy this time.

"I have homes in England and Cyprus, drive a Bentley and have got all the designer clothes and shoes I could ever want  - my most expensive bag is by Hermes and cost £7,000.

"I write because I love it, it’s my entertainment and I won’t ever stop.”

Although the mum of two is very comfortable now, it hasn’t always been that way. Before she sold her first book back in 1992 for an unprecedented sum of £150,000, Martina was a single mum and didn’t have a spare penny.

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In her time, she’s worked as a cleaner, care worker and shelf stacker.

She says: “I’ve known tough times and have been rich and poor but I’m a real believer in the power of hard work and determination. Even now, I continue to graft, I only need a few hours sleep and am often writing at 3.00 am.”

She continues: “I think everybody has got a book in them, but it’s being able to sustain it that’s the hard thing.”

Martina is a passionate advocate of reading and believes it is the single thing that can change a person’s life.

She says: “I’m not educated but I am well read and I’ve usually got three books on the go at any one time. I always read at least a chapter before I go to sleep.”

However, you won’t find Britain’s favourite crime writer picking up a romance novel any time soon: “I’d rather poke my own eye out than read some chick lit book - it’s not me”.

When asked if she was tempted to read Fifty Shades of Grey she laughs and says: “God no.”

Martina is petite but she’s got a big personality and what she lacks in stature, she makes up for with guts.

She admits: “I’ve never been intimidated in my life - especially by some of the snobs found in the publishing world.

"I love my life and take any snide comments in my stride, I’ve never set out to write ‘proper’ literature, I write books that people want to read”.

-Betrayal by Martina Cole is out now.