Today I'm delighted to welcome
LESLEY THOMSON
to share her BEST OF CRIME ...
... AUTHORS
Elly
Griffiths is my favorite contemporary crime writer. Her Ruth Galloway series invites the reader
into a vivid world – the bleak yet rich Norfolk landscape, archeological (or
not) remains, a sense of past and present merging – which is peopled with engaging
complex characters (Cathbad is genius).
Then Griffiths began the Mephisto/Stephens series and did it all over
again.
... FILMS/MOVIES
Blow Up (1966) by Michaelangelo Antonioni. Could be described as a murder story with no named victim or killer in which the ‘detective’ is a fashion photographer. I’ve always taken photographs (once developed in my dad’s dark room, now use my phone), I loved the idea of discovering the victim’s body in a photograph rather than finding it in ‘real’ life. After I saw this film (since seen many times) the sound of wind in the trees has never been the same. It conjures up such a possibility of mystery.
Blow Up (1966) by Michaelangelo Antonioni. Could be described as a murder story with no named victim or killer in which the ‘detective’ is a fashion photographer. I’ve always taken photographs (once developed in my dad’s dark room, now use my phone), I loved the idea of discovering the victim’s body in a photograph rather than finding it in ‘real’ life. After I saw this film (since seen many times) the sound of wind in the trees has never been the same. It conjures up such a possibility of mystery.
... TV DRAMAS
The Killing (Danish version) Season 1. This has influenced
many wonderful dramas (Broadchurch being one). Not least that music swelling
towards the finale of an episode. It was the first time I’d seen the grief of
the victim’s family depicted so realistically and given such prominence on tele.
We saw the context for the murder as well as the gradual revelation of the
truth of the crime. It was as ground breaking and as absorbing as Prime Suspect
had been back in the day. I felt it was a novel come to life (rather than
adapted).
... FICTIONAL KILLERS
Has to be
Tom Ripley in Patricia Highsmith’s novels. Highsmith a hero of mine and her
books are where I first came upon the idea of the murderer getting away with it
and the reader (me anyway) wanting them to. That’s despite disliking the
killer. Ripley is a fabulous creation.
... FICTIONAL DETECTIVES
Ruth
Galloway is right up there. She’s methodical, intelligent, brave, informed and
intuitive. As a child and young adult, I wanted to be both an archeologist and
a detective. Galloway makes me realise that I’m better off sticking to
crime-writing. I respect her way of living and working. She legitimizes a
certain level of domestic slippage I rather recognize, while doing her job very
well indeed. I emulate her!
... MURDER WEAPONS
I’ve
utilised an icicle and a dog lead in my time….
... DEATH SCENES
The Nine Taylors by Dorothy L Sayers. Bizarre, but logical and clever. Who knew you
could be murdered by a bell? This covers the question directly above too.
... BLOGS/WEBSITES
I read
widely when writing. I did a crash course in Botany for The House With No Rooms so I haunted the Kew Gardens website. The Dog Walker was mainly written from
experience (except the murder bit) so I did lots of tramps along the Kew
Towpath with a small canine. The novel involves a subterranean basement which
meant I trawled several basement design websites. I’m a regular visitor to the
Missing Person’s site despite it having a saddening and sobering effect.
... WRITING TIPS
Write the
story you’d want to read rather than the one you think the ‘market’ wants. Sit down and start writing, if you wait for
the muse to hit you, you’ll be waiting a long time. Write through the rubbish and
eventually the muse arrives.
... WRITING SNACKS
None at all
now as I’m being good. But when I was being ‘bad’, nuts, chocolate, digestive
biscuits.... I’ve started giving my characters these snacks. Jack Harmon has
just consumed a whole packet of digestives in lieu of me.
About LESLEY THOMSON
Lesley
Thomson grew up in west London. Her first novel, A Kind of Vanishing, won the
People's Book Prize in 2010. Her second novel, The Detective's Daughter, was a
#1 bestseller and sold over 500,000 copies.
Find Lesley Thomson on her website, FB page and on Twitter - @LesleyjmThomson
About THE DOG WALKER
Publisher's description
A haunted
house, a broken family and a body that has never been found. Stella and Jack
must reawaken the secrets of the past in order to solve the mysteries of the
present.
January,
1987. In the depths of winter, only joggers and dog walkers brave the Thames
towpath after dark. Helen Honeysett, a young newlywed, sets off for an evening
run from her riverside cottage. Only her dog returns.
Twenty-nine
years later, her husband has asked Stella Darnell, a private detective, and her
side-kick Jack Harmon, to find out what happened all those years ago.
But when
the five households on that desolate stretch of towpath refuse to give up their
secrets, Stella and Jack find themselves hunting a killer whose trail has long
gone cold...
The Dog Walker was published by Head of Zeus on 6 April 2017.
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