[2] His books to date, in order of publication, include Musungu Jim, Twelve Bar Blues, London Pigeon Wars, Where You're At, City of Tiny Lights, Culture is Our Weapon, and Jerusalem.
Twelve Bar Blues interweaves various characters but focusses chiefly on Lick Holden, a semi-mythical horn player, not unlike the legendary Buddy Bolden.
This time, the publication uncannily coincided with the 7 July 2005 London bombings as his cricket-loving detective, Tommy Akhtar, uncovers crime that leads into terrorist cells.
[4] Across his work, recurring themes are the ability of re-envisage common situations from an alternative point of view, to imagine himself into a completely different world and to realise the importance of story in establishing one's self-identity.
A passionate supporter of literary diversity, Neate founded Book Slam with Ben Watt (from Everything but the Girl), a prominent and well-regarded storytelling salon in which writers, poets and singer-songwriters perform in a nightclub environment.