Today I'm delighted to welcome
JANE CASEY
to share her BEST OF CRIME...
... AUTHORS
I’m going
to pick Ngaio Marsh just because I think she’s often overlooked. She wrote the
most sinister plots and characters – Singing in the Shrouds is a truly creepy
serial killer novel. And I adore her detective, Roderick Alleyn, who has a
sense of humour along with impeccable dignity, intelligence and determination.
He’s one of the more believable Golden Age detectives.
... FILMS/MOVIES
Witness for
the Prosecution (the Billy Wilder version from 1957). I first watched it when I
was about twelve, I think on a rainy Sunday afternoon, and I still remember my
sense of absolute shock and awe at the ending!
... TV DRAMAS
I think The
Bridge has altered the landscape of TV crime dramas. Saga Noren is one of the
great TV detectives and Sofia Helin plays her with total conviction.
... FICTIONAL KILLERS
This is a hard one to answer without spoilers! Of the killers who announce themselves as killers from the off, it’s hard to beat Hannibal Lecter. He is iconic. As far as I know he’s now been played by four different actors – Brian Cox, Anthony Hopkins, Gaspard Ulliel and Mads Mikkelsen – and each of them have interpreted him in different ways. Like Dracula, he is developing a mythology that extends far beyond the original books.
This is a hard one to answer without spoilers! Of the killers who announce themselves as killers from the off, it’s hard to beat Hannibal Lecter. He is iconic. As far as I know he’s now been played by four different actors – Brian Cox, Anthony Hopkins, Gaspard Ulliel and Mads Mikkelsen – and each of them have interpreted him in different ways. Like Dracula, he is developing a mythology that extends far beyond the original books.
... FICTIONAL DETECTIVES
Lord Peter Wimsey, by a mile. He’s charming and debonair, of course, but he’s also psychologically complex and an ex-soldier who never backed away from a fight. Sayers hints at how physically capable he is – something I think they’ve never really brought out in any of the TV adaptations.
Lord Peter Wimsey, by a mile. He’s charming and debonair, of course, but he’s also psychologically complex and an ex-soldier who never backed away from a fight. Sayers hints at how physically capable he is – something I think they’ve never really brought out in any of the TV adaptations.
... MURDER WEAPONS
I adore really clever murder weapons but realistically most murders aren’t committed with daggers made of ice that melt away without a trace . . . I do love Roald Dahl’s clever little story ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ which has one of the best and most mundane murder weapons imaginable.
I adore really clever murder weapons but realistically most murders aren’t committed with daggers made of ice that melt away without a trace . . . I do love Roald Dahl’s clever little story ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ which has one of the best and most mundane murder weapons imaginable.
... DEATH SCENE
The prologue in P D James’s Devices and Desires was one of the pieces of writing that made me want to be a crime writer. A young girl leaves a disco too late to catch her bus home and becomes the fourth victim of a serial killer. It’s a masterclass in building tension, skillful exposition and a terrifying revelation at the end. There’s nothing graphic about it, but it’s incredibly effective.
... BLOGS/WEBSITES
I use
Google Maps a huge amount when I’m writing – it’s not a substitute for field
trips but it really helps to rough in details when you’re working on a first
draft and you don’t want to take a day off to look around an area. I love well
written true crime and the success of the podcast Serial made long-form writing
about crime fashionable again. But inspiration can come from all sorts of
places. I found an idea for a story from a picture on Pinterest!
... WRITING TIPS
Set a time
limit rather than a word count to achieve for the day; it’s kinder, because we
all have days where the writing is hard, and it’s manageable. You can always
stay for longer if the work is going well! And finish what you start. Half a
book won’t teach you anything about crafting a plot or developing your
characters – write the whole thing and work on it, even for experience. I wrote
my first book, The Missing, with the
hope of getting an agent and not much more but it ended up changing my life.
Cheese and apples. I think every book so far has required enormous consumption of both. Plus coffee, of course …
About Jane Casey
Jane Casey
is an Irish crime writer who has written eleven crime novels - eight
for adults and three for teenagers. Her books have been bestsellers and
she has won several awards, including Irish Crime Novel of the Year for After
the Fire in 2015. Her latest novel, Let the Dead Speak, is the
seventh to feature Detective Sergeant Maeve Kerrigan. She lives in London.
Find Jane Casey on Twitter - @JaneCaseyAuthor
About Let the Dead Speak
Publisher's description
A murder without a body
Eighteen-year-old Chloe Emery returns to her West London home one day to find the house covered in blood and Kate, her mother, gone. There may not be a body, but everything else points to murder.
A girl too scared to talk
Maeve Kerrigan is young, ambitious and determined to prove she’s up to her new role as detective sergeant. She suspects Chloe is holding something back, but best friend Bethany Norris won’t let Maeve get close. What exactly is Bethany protecting Chloe from?
A detective with everything to prove
As the team dig deeper into the residents of Valerian Road, no one is above suspicion. All Maeve needs is one person to talk, but that’s not going to happen. Because even in a case of murder, some secrets are too terrible to share…
Let the Dead Speak was published by Harper Collins on 9 March 2017.
LOVE this series!!
Read my review of Let the Dead Speak here.
LOVE this series!!
Read my review of Let the Dead Speak here.
Look out for more BEST OF CRIME features coming soon.
Click here to read more BEST OF CRIME features.
Click here to read more BEST OF CRIME features.
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