Thursday 9 January 2020

BEST OF CRIME with Helen Sedgwick

Welcome to my latest BEST OF CRIME feature, looking at crime writers' top picks, from their favourite author and fictional detective to their best writing tip. 




Today I'm delighted to welcome 

HELEN SEDGWICK


to share her BEST OF CRIME ...


... AUTHORS
Kate Atkinson is one of my favourites, as is Sophie Hannah – I like my crime with a strong dose of feminism, intersecting narratives and multiple points of view.


... FILMS/MOVIES
I love crime films that are offbeat and genre bending – the deep black quirkiness of Fargo, the folk horror genius of Wicker Man. 


... TV DRAMAS
It’s got to be Twin Peaks for me. The subversion of the supernatural colliding with the police procedural, the stunning visual style and soundtrack, the innovative and unsettling use of pace… Twin Peaks all the way!


... FICTIONAL KILLERS
I’m going to choose a killer who’s drawn with such humanity you can’t help but understand why: Roy Batty from Blade Runner.


... FICTIONAL DETECTIVES 
My childhood favourite was always Sherlock Holmes. Perhaps it was for his mix of intense logic and bohemian eccentricity or – more likely – his absolute refusal to tone himself down in order to make anyone else comfortable.


... MURDER WEAPONS
I like poisoning with weirdly beautiful and highly toxic plants, stabbing with glistening icicles, and the idea of leaving people to float alone in space. 
    

... DEATH SCENES
You never see an actual death, but Janice Galloway’s short story The Meat is horrific and chilling and, once read, will never be forgotten.
  

... BLOGS/WEBSITES
I love wild, frozen places, so I’d recommend the British Antarctic Survey blogs to give a real sense of what it must be like living on the remotest place on earth.


... WRITING TIPS
Go with your instincts, read and write and keep writing – and don’t waste too much time on social media.


... WRITING SNACKS
At the very least there’ll be a large mug of tea and a small mug of very strong coffee on the desk at any one time. I grow vegetables and love to munch on fresh pea shoots, alongside salted caramel chocolate.


About HELEN SEDGWICK
Helen Sedgwick is the author of The Comet Seekers, selected as a best book of 2016 by the Herald, and The Growing Season, shortlisted for the Saltire Society Fiction Book of the Year in 2018. She has an MLitt in Creative Writing from Glasgow University and won a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award. Before she became an author, she was a research physicist with a PhD in Physics from Edinburgh University.

Find Helen Sedgwick on her website and on Twitter - @helensedgwick


About WHEN THE DEAD COME CALLING



Publisher's description
A murder investigation unearths the brutal history of a village where long buried secrets threaten a small community 
When psychotherapist Alexis Cosse is found murdered in the playground of the sleepy northern village of Burrowhead, the local police force set out to investigate. It’s not long before they uncover a maelstrom of racism, misogyny and homophobia. 
But there’s worse to come. Shaken by the revelations and beginning to doubt her relationship with her husband Fergus, DI Georgie Strachan soon realizes that something very bad is lurking just below the surface. Meanwhile someone - or something - is hiding in the strange, haunted cave beneath the cliffs.

When the Dead Come Calling was published by Point Blank Books on 9 January 2020.

Look out for more BEST OF CRIME features coming soon.

Click here to read more BEST OF CRIME features.

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