Today I'm delighted to welcome
LARA DEARMAN
to share her BEST OF CRIME ...
... AUTHORS
Ruth
Rendell writing as Barbara Vine. A Dark Adapted Eye is one of my favourite
novels. Rendell explores the darkest facets of human nature in disturbingly
familiar settings. She creates tension and menace seemingly effortlessly,
pushing her characters to their emotional limits (and beyond) but with very
little actual violence or gore. Her prose is spare and elegant, her plotting ingenious.
... FILMS/MOVIES
The Secret
In Their Eyes. This film has it all – a tortured writer haunted by the past, an
unsolved murder, obsession, sexual tension – it’s dark and twisted and the
ending left me speechless.
... TV DRAMAS
Happy
Valley. Sarah Lancashire is phenomenal as Catherine Cawood – such strength and
vulnerability. The Yorkshire setting is just the right mix of grim and gritty
housing estates and starkly beautiful countryside. As for the plot, I thought
the second series was even better than the first – so eagerly awaiting the next
installment!
... FICTIONAL KILLERS
Jean-Baptiste
Grenouille in Patrick Suskind’s deeply disturbing but utterly compelling
Perfume. I love the way the story is told through this strange young man’s
eyes, how his search for the most exquisite scents drives him to murder. This
is one of the few books I have read several times and it is Grenouille which
draws me back each time.
... FICTIONAL DETECTIVES
I’m going
to go for a duo here – Saga Noren and Martin Rohde in The Bridge. I love the
relationship between these two – Saga’s unpredictable nature and brilliant
detective skills plus Martin’s quiet dependability make for the perfect team.
... MURDER WEAPONS
I have a
very old, very heavy Le Creuset frying pan. Every time I take it out of the
cupboard I joke to my husband that were I ever to murder someone, the frying
pan would be my weapon of choice. He doesn’t seem to find it very funny but it
makes me laugh.
... DEATH SCENES
In Ozark, a
dark thriller set in the Ozark Lake region in Missouri, a young woman rigs a
light at the end of a dock, connecting the cable to the dock ladder and
electrifying the surrounding water. A wonderfully tense scene ensues, as her
intended victims approach the dock. I may have closed my eyes during the actual
electrocution – it was very grisly.
... BLOGS/WEBSITES
I quite
often find myself on Webmd.com investigating exactly which injuries can be
fatal and how. NHS.co.uk has also proved helpful in this regard. As my books
are based in the Channel Islands, I spend a lot of time on the local government
websites checking points of law or policy.
... WRITING TIPS
Read.
Anything and everything but particularly the sort of thing you want to write.
If you like a book, think about why it worked for you and how you can emulate
that in your own work. Even if you don’t like a book, reading time has not been
wasted. It can almost be more helpful to think about how you would do things
differently.
... WRITING SNACKS
Coffee,
toast and marmite. Also, cookies, cakes, chocolate, crisps, cold pizza, cheese,
crackers – I could go on…
About LARA DEARMAN
Lara Dearman grew up on Guernsey before moving to the UK to
study. She pursued a career in the city before taking time out to be with her
young family and studied for an MA in Creative Writing at St Mary's University.
She graduated with a distinction in 2016. Lara now lives in New York with her
husband and three children and is intending to write full time. Lara will be in
London for a month over the summer and plans to spend plenty of time this side
of the Atlantic each year.
Find Lara Dearman on her Facebook page and on Twitter - @laradearman
About THE DEVIL'S CLAW
Publisher's description
Jennifer Dorey thinks she is safe. Following a traumatic
incident in London, Jennifer has returned to her childhood home in Guernsey,
taking a job as a reporter at the local newspaper. After the discovery of a
drowned woman on a beach, she uncovers a pattern of similar deaths that have
taken place over the past fifty years.
Together with DCI Michael Gilbert, an officer on the verge
of retirement, they follow a dark trail of island myths and folklore to
'Fritz', the illegitimate son of a Nazi soldier. His work, painstakingly
executed, has so far gone undetected. But with his identity about to be
uncovered, the killer now has Jennifer in his sights. And home is the last
place she should be.
The Devil's Claw is being published by Trapeze on 30 November 2017.
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