Two Events! With Sophie Hannah, John Sutherland and Simon McCleave.

 Having had very few book events this year, I had two in the space of two days!

I had the great honour of interviewing Sophie Hannah at Basingstoke Discovery Centre for Only Murders in the Library on Saturday 25th October. Sophie has two books out at the moment - No One Would Do What The Lamberts Have Done and her sixth Poirot novel, The Last Death of the Year.  We were all thoroughly entertained as Sophie told us how she began writing the Lamberts book by dictating 400 words into her phone whilst still in bed in the morning – I think this is a writing tip worth copying! Also, she explained how she created village life in Cambridgeshire for the Lamberts, including an Agatha Christie book club who fall out over whether they can read Mary Westmacott or not.

Here's the blurb for No One Would Do What The Lamberts Have Done:

You think it will never happen to you: the ring of the bell, the policeman on the doorstep. What he says traps you in a nightmare that starts with the words, 'I'm afraid…'

Sally Lambert is also afraid, and desperate enough to consider the unthinkable. Is it really, definitely, impossible to escape from this horror? Maybe not. There's always something you can do, right?

Of course, no one would ever do this particular something – except the Lamberts, who might have to.

No one has ever gone this far. Until Sally decides that the Lamberts will…

Talking of Agatha Christie, Poirot is not in the UK for The Last Death of the Year. He's on Lamperos – a fictional Greek island – to celebrate New Year's Eve where a festive guessing game takes a sinister turn. Sophie has based the setting on Skyros and a house on the island that she's stayed in to teach creative writing. It honestly felt that we could have listened to Sophie for another hour as I still had a few questions on my list. Maybe one day, I'll get another chance to ask them. Here's the blurb for The Last Death of the Year:

New Year's Eve, 1932.

Hercule Poirot and his good friend Inspector Edward Catchpool arrive on the Greek island of Lamperos for a little holiday…or is it?

Catchpool suspects Poirot has a different reason for being there — one he won't reveal. As the clock ticks towards the New Year and a festive guessing game takes a sinister turn, can Poirot stop a murderer who is determined to strike before midnight?

If you'd like to know more about Sophie Hannah's books, then click here.

 

On Monday 27th October, I was joined at West Barnes Library by former police commander, John Sutherland, and previous TV script writer, Simon McCleave to discuss their police procedural books. Simon's very successful DI Ruth Hunter series is set in North Wales where Simon and his family live. John's police negotiator characters, Alex Lewis and Pip Williams, are normally based in London but have been transported to Scotland for The Castle – hence our Murder in the Mountains event.

We discussed lots of things including how their previous work lives have influenced their writing. John said he found it cathartic to write about his police experiences which went on to become his memoir – Blue – a title that doesn't just reflect the uniform but also his state of mind during his time as an officer. Being a speedy writer was essential for Simon when he was script writing as last-minute changes would often come in. He now writes a first draft of a book in about four weeks, something which John and I marvelled at! No wonder he's written 22 DI Ruth Hunter books in 5 years!

Here's the blurb for The Castle:

Alex and Pip are in desperate need of an escape. Their stressful roles as hostage negotiators are eased only by the fact that they get to come home to each other every night.

When an old friend invites the couple up to the Scottish Highlands for an extended break, Alex and Pip jump at the chance. It's the rest they both need.

But soon after they arrive at the castle, they hear the sound of gunshots, and their perfect escape turns into a perfect nightmare. The remote mountainous landscape is now the setting for a terrifying kidnap plot targeting one of the other guests.

In the desperate hours that follow, Alex and Pip must call on all their years of negotiating experience to keep everyone alive. But with Pip gravely injured and the net closing in, it might be her life that needs saving most of all...

If you'd like to know more about John Sutherland's books then click here.

 

Here's the blurb for The Bala Lake Killings:

A local MP is murdered by a far-right extremist gang in Snowdonia. DI Ruth Hunter and DS Nick Evans arrest one of the killers, Raymond Clarke, who agrees to give evidence if he and his family are taken into protective custody. Ruth is sure they'll be out of harm's way in the remote wilds near Bala Lake.

But the location of the safe house is leaked and Clarke's family is kidnapped.

Ruth and her team must pursue the gang across North Wales and work out where the leak came from before it's too late.

If you'd like to know more about Simon McCleave's books then click here.

 

Thank you as always to the Friends of West Barnes Library for helping me to run the author event. I'll be back in December for what will be my final blog for Authors Electric.