A former Lowestoft schoolboy turned crime writer is celebrating after selling more than a million copies of his first two books in six months.

Robert Bryndza's debut crime novel The Girl in the Ice - the first in his DCI Erika Foster series - has sold more than 800,000 copies plus 33,000 audio books since its release in February.

The second book in the series, The Night Stalker, has sold more than 180,000 copies and hit the top 20 in the UK when it was launched in June.

The Girl in the Ice has also been a number one Amazon Kindle best seller in America and number two best seller in the UK.

Mr Bryndza, who was born Robert Sutton, said: 'I have been writing since I was about 14.

'Coming from Lowestoft I didn't known anyone in publishing and being a writer seemed as achievable as being an astronaut.

'It was before the Internet and social media.

'London seemed so far away and I never felt I would be able to do it as a career.'

Mr Bryndza attended Woods Loke Primary, Roman Hill Middle and Benjamin Britten High schools.

He studied drama and English at the University of Aberystwyth in Wales before attending Guildford School of Acting and working as an actor for a number of years.

He began writing comedy sketch shows and scripts and had his own comedy act in London, which he turned into a play for the 2007 Edinburgh Festival.

He self published a series of top selling romantic comedy novels, which all made it into the top 100 of the Amazon Kindle chart.

The 37-year-old now lives in Slovakia but returns to Lowestoft regularly to visit his parents Pat and Brian Sutton.

He said: 'It feels amazing.

'When you are an unpublished writer starting out you spend so much time apologising for yourself at parties. People don't take you seriously. I feel very proud now to achieve what I have. It is very exciting to know there are so many readers out there waiting for the next book. It gives me a lot of pleasure.'

Mr Bryndza has been signed up with publisher Bookouture to write six DCI Erika Foster books and is currently working on the fourth in the series.

The third book in the series Dark Water will be released on October 20.

Mr Bryndza won the Papercut Award for best page turner at this year's Harrogate Crime Festival, beating fellow crime writers Val McDermid and Robert Galbraith.

He has also secured 16 foreign rights deals, including a major six-figure deal in Germany.

Visit www.facebook.com/bryndzarobert for more information.