THIS is a valley in the shadow of death, but fear no evil.

No black/white allegories here for York author John Wheatcroft, who deftly gives light and shade to the characters in and related to the Cull Valley Evening Gazette, his fictional but typically folksy local newspaper in West Yorkshire.

It starts with three fatalities in a car crash, one of them Evening Gazette journalist Teddy Beresford, and backflashes through a series of news, features, comment columns and even ad features in the Gazette to unfold an intriguing whydunnit.

As intricate relationships are traced in newsprint, Wheatcroft succeeds in recreating not only the excitement of a daily newspaper office and the news behind the news, but also uses touchstones of sassiness, sexiness and madcap banter (of the kind you expect on editorial floors) along the way.

There is a second publication of sorts: The National Diary, a newspaper created by Teddy in his childhood, to feed his fantasies (read the gushing sports report recording how the unseeded Teddy defeated Boris Becker in an exciting five-setter at the Wimbledon finals in July, 1986).

This is used by Teddy to analyse his life and those of his colleagues – and is a perfect vehicle for Wheatcroft to fuse the fantasy with fact.

Wheatcroft, himself a journalist with experience on northern newspapers – yes, he once worked on The Press – proves the point that if reporters can’t tell the whole story, then as an author he can, and with powerful humour, invention, perception and poignancy.