She worked at BBC Radio 4 for two years in London, producing its then arts magazine Kaleidoscope, before travelling again, this time overland through North, Central and South America, a trip that became research material for her first solo novel Snow Storms in Hot Climate (1988), a thriller about the early cocaine trade in Colombia.
ʃiː wˈɜːkt æt bˌiːbˌiːsˈiː ɹˈeɪdɪˌoʊ fˈoːɹ fɔːɹ tˈuː jˈɪɹz ɪn lˈʌndən, pɹədˈuːsɪŋ ɪts ðˈɛn ˈɑːɹts mˌæɡɐzˈiːn kəlˈaɪdəskˌoʊp, bᵻfˌoːɹ tɹˈævəlɪŋ ɐɡˈɛn, ðɪs tˈaɪm ˌoʊvɚlˈænd θɹuː nˈɔːɹθ, sˈɛntɹəl ænd sˈaʊθ ɐmˈɛɹɪkə, ɐ tɹˈɪp ðæt bɪkˌeɪm ɹᵻsˈɜːtʃ mətˈɪɹiəl fɔːɹ hɜː fˈɜːst sˈoʊloʊ nˈɑːvəl snˈoʊ stˈoːɹmz ɪn hˈɑːt klˈaɪmət nˈaɪntiːnhˈʌndɹɪd ˈeɪɾi ˈeɪt, ɐ θɹˈɪlɚɹ ɐbˌaʊt ðɪ ˈɜːli koʊkˈeɪn tɹˈeɪd ɪn kəlˈʌmbiə.