Today I'm delighted to welcome
SIMON LELIC
to share his BEST OF CRIME ...
... AUTHORS
Tough one.
I could name dozens. But when Tana
French publishes a new novel, it always leapfrogs to the top of my reading
pile. I’ve been a fan of her writing since her first novel, In the Woods, and since then she’s gone
from strength to strength. I love the way each of her books inhabits the same
world, but she never limits herself to experiencing it through one
protagonist’s point of view.
... FILMS/MOVIES
Anything directed
by Alfred Hitchcock. Literally, anything.
If I stumble across a Hitchcock movie showing on TV, I stop what I’m doing and
I watch it, even if I’ve seen it twenty times before (which, with some of his
movies, I surely have). Rope for me
remains his most under-appreciated masterpiece, but I adore Rear Window, too.
... TV DRAMAS
The Shield, a cop drama set in the fictional
LA district of Farmington, is my
all-time favourite when it comes to crime dramas. I’ve watched it from start to
finish three times now.
... FICTIONAL KILLERS
Anton Chigurh is surely one of the most terrifying
antagonists ever written. He’s the killer in Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men, and he shows no
compassion, no remorse – just an alarming dexterity with a bolt gun.
... FICTIONAL DETECTIVES
I tend not
to read crime series featuring the same detective very often. I much prefer to
read (and write, not coincidentally!) standalone novels. One notable exception,
however, is the Shardlake series by
CJ Sansom. Matthew Shardlake is the hunchbacked lawyer who has to navigate the
politics and pitfalls of sixteenth-century London, and he’s brilliantly
perceptive, vulnerable and humane.
... MURDER WEAPONS
The rat in American
Psycho. I don’t think I need to say more.
... DEATH SCENES
Going back
to No
Country for Old Men, and avoiding any major spoilers, there is a death
of a fairly central character (a deliberately vague understatement) that
happens between chapters. Ie, the character is there on one page, gone the
next. It remains one of the most surprising deaths in literature, for my money
– cruelly depriving the reader in a way that perfectly mimics death itself.
... BLOGS/WEBSITES
The Paris Review website features
a vast vault of author interviews dating back to the 1950s. There’s a wealth of
knowledge in there – invaluable to any reader or writer. It used to be free to
access, but now you have to subscribe. Still, it’s well worth doing so, I
reckon.
... WRITING TIPS
Be careful which writing tips you follow. Work out for yourself what works
best for you, and then get busy.
... WRITING SNACKS
Coffee, coffee, and more coffee. (And maybe a few
sweets from my kids’ stash now and then. Just don’t tell them, whatever you do.)
About SIMON LELIC
Simon Lelic is
the author of three previous novels: Rupture (winner of a Betty Trask
Award and shortlisted for the John Creasy Debut Dagger), The
Facility and The Child Who (longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger
and CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger 2012). The House is his first
psychological thriller, inspired by a love of Alfred Hitchcock and Stephen
King.
Find Simon Lelic on his website and on Twitter - @Simon_Lelic
About THE HOUSE
Publisher's description
Londoners Jack and Syd moved into the house a year ago. It
seemed like their dream home: tons of space, the perfect location, and a
friendly owner who wanted a young couple to have it.
So when they made a grisly discovery in the attic, Jack and
Syd chose to ignore it. But that was a mistake.
Because a body has been discovered.
Right outside their back door.
And now the police are watching them...
The House was published by Penguin on 17 August 2017.
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