AN EX-POLICE officer turned best-selling writer is hoping to encourage a ‘lost’ generation of adults to start reading.

Clare Mackintosh, who lives near Bala Lake with her family and dog, is one of many authors who have written stories for the ‘Quick Reads’ campaign.

One in six adults in the UK struggles with reading, whilst one in three does not read for pleasure, according to literary experts.

As a result the annual Quick Reads campaign, sponsored by Galaxy and run by The Reading Agency, aims to inspire more people to read more often by producing six short books each year, made available for just £1 from most major booksellers or loaned from libraries.

Quick Reads titles are specifically designed to be easy to read, and are shorter and easier to tackle for adults who are less confident in their reading skills.

Clare, who became a Sunday Times bestselling crime author after working in the police force for 11 years, has partaken in the initiative by writing a short story called ‘The Funeral’.

Clare’s piece will sit alongside seven other short stories from some of the UK’s best crime writers in a collection called Dead Simple.

The book will be available from 2 February.