A.A. Abbott

GREAT CRIME STORY WRITER

suspense

Settings in Fiction – a guest blog by Victoria Goldman

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Places inspire plots

Settings in Fiction illustrated by an English map

A strong sense of setting is important to me when I read. I enjoy books in which the backdrop becomes a character in itself – a haunted English country mansion, frozen Icelandic terrain, or even bustling London streets. I love familiar settings, where I recognise place names and buildings, visualising myself there as the plot unfolds around me.

So when it comes to my own novels, setting is essential to me when I write, using words to paint pictures of tree-lined roads and rundown houses, and eerie grassy parks after dusk.

A murder mystery in a sleepy English town

When writing my murder mystery debut, The Redeemer, I always knew that I would set it in Hertfordshire, on the cusp of rural and suburban life. Firstly, that’s where I live so it’s familiar to me, but secondly, the Jewish community I feature in the book is based on those in Hertfordshire and North-West London (and specifically the one in my own town). To set the book anywhere else just wouldn’t have felt ‘right’.

The difficulty in writing about the place where I live is that it will be instantly recognisable to anyone who lives there, or nearby, especially if it’s a relatively small town with a strong sense of community. This always leads to inevitable questions, from family and friends, in particular – So, who am I in your book? Is [xxx] based on me? Why did you put a park in that location when it’s over there?

To avoid this, I created a fictional Hertfordshire town. Hillsbury has many features of my own real-life hometown – a crossroads with a synagogue and church opposite one another (which partly inspired the book’s plot), a large spacious park, a Jewish cemetery (with a small airfield nearby) and several schools. By writing about a town that doesn’t exist, it doesn’t matter if I’ve moved the secondary school, added a mosque or an extra café, or changed the layout of the roads.

The secret of Whomsoever Lane

I’ve enjoyed going on long walks at different times of the day, at different times of the year, to inspire me and fuel my imagination. I’ve explored roads that I’d never noticed before, taken photos of the finer details and created visual memories of dilapidated houses with rusty gates and rotting window frames, muddy footpaths shrouded by low-growing shrubs, and gravel driveways edged with pristine flowerbeds.

Streets in my book are based on actual streets, and many would probably be recognisable if you drove down them – roads lined with bungalows, terraced cottages or large houses with sweeping driveways. Only one road in The Redeemer is an actual place, simply because I love the name (Whomsoever Lane), although I have moved it to a different location to suit the plot.

In the acknowledgements at the back of my book, I clearly state:

‘Hillsbury is a fictional town loosely based on where I live in Hertfordshire. If you know the area, some of the locations in this book may seem familiar. But I’d like to reassure everyone who lives nearby that none of you have been immortalised as a character in this book!’

Victoria Goldman is a journalist and author whose first novel, The Redeemer, has won praise from Louise Voss, Adam Hamdy, Marnie Riches and many more.

As a British thriller writer, I too love to infuse my fiction with a sense of place. New murder mystery and suspense thriller Lies at Her Door is set in the swanky district of Clifton, Bristol. When a skeleton is found under Lucy Freeman’s garden, the shy young woman is the prime suspect. Yet when she tries to clear her name, she realises that uncovering long-buried wrongs can be lethal…

Book Review – Friend Indeed, by Katharine D’Souza

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Friendship, secrets & failed relationships

I was addicted from the very first moment I picked up one of Katharine D’Souza’s novels. Her intelligent women’s fiction is so easy to read that normal life takes a back seat until the book is finished. Fortunately, Friend Indeed is a short novella of 90-odd pages. You can zip through it in a few hours, although it will stay with you long afterwards. Leaving a sense of unease in its wake, the story studies friendship, secrets and failed relationships.

Jane, the narrator, shares her birthday with schoolfriends Maya and Sandra. As grammar school girls with the world at their feet, they swore they would meet up on their fiftieth birthday. That’s why Jane and Sandra travel from Birmingham to Maya’s flash party in London.

A unlikeable narrator

Maya is the only one of the trio to escape their hometown. She’s a respected journalist, her weekly columns read avidly by the other two. Sandra is pleased for her and thrilled to be included in her birthday plans. By contrast, Jane feels overshadowed and resentful of Maya’s success.

Jane is honest in revealing her thoughts to the reader: possibly too frank. She comes across as a reliable narrator, but not a likeable one. If I met her at a party, I’d avoid her like the plague. Ms D’Souza deals with her gently, however.  There is a hint that Jane is capable – perhaps – of  leaving envy behind.

Domestic noir

This is no crime thriller, but in its exploration of family drama and secrets, it verges on domestic noir. For a short book, Friend Indeed has a powerful, lingering effect. Don’t be surprised if old friends invade your nightmares once you’ve read it.

Friend Indeed by Katharine D'Souza - abook that explores secrets, lies and domestic noir

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Do you enjoy a really dark slice of domestic noir? My new psychological thriller, Bright Lies, delivers exactly that. Emily is only 13 when David becomes her stepfather, and she’s thrilled that the handsome artist wants to mentor her. She doesn’t know she’ll end up running for her life…
“Compelling drama – 5 stars” – Readers’ Favorite, USA.

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Book Review – Death Strikes Back, by Carolyn Stubbs

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Short and slick suspense thriller

Carolyn Stubbs suspense thriller novella begins in an English monastery.

The Victorians loved a touch of Gothic in their stories – a creeping sense of menace to send an enjoyable chill down the reader’s spine. Although Carolyn Stubbs’ debut story is set firmly in the 21st century, it retains a Gothic feeling of unease on each page. The mystery begins when a stranger arrives at an English monastery at midnight. Georgio Stefano has made bad choices in his life. Even now, when he unburdens himself to the holy men who give him succour, he doesn’t realise exactly how much trouble he is in.

This is a novella, so every word has to count. There is a lot going on in the book’s 46 pages, including a scary diversion into the paranormal. Thriller fans will enjoy the twists emerging once Georgio decides he must atone for his sins.

Murder, mystery and horror

Although a suspense thriller, the tale segues into murder, mystery and horror. It should therefore appeal to readers of those genres too. Most of all, it reminds me of 19th century favourites like MR James’ “Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come To You My Lad”, Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” and Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Carmilla” – all of which I read on a beach as a teenager during one hot summer. (I admit this is strange behaviour.) Tightly written and imaginative, “Death Strikes Back” is a real page turner. Although I loved the ending, I was sad to finish the book.

The paperback is well-priced

My only gripe – a minor one – is that the publishers are clearly angling for print sales. The paperback version is well-priced; the ebook less so. Having said that, the prices are competitive with MR James books of a similar length.

Read it!

Carolyn Stubbs is an exciting new talent and this slice of 21st century Gothic is well worth reading.

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If you like a bite-sized read, try my free short stories here.

Book Review – Killing The Girl, by Elizabeth Hill

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Desire, Secrets and DeathKilling The Girl is a page turner suspense thriller about secrets desire and death

An explosive tale of desire, secrets and hard-nosed commerce, “Killing The Girl” is a psychological thriller like no other. It begins with a coming-of-age story. Fifteen-year-old Carol Cage lives in a council house on the edge of Bristol. A tomboy whose older brothers have taught her to drive, she loves nothing better than taking the wheel of a car or scrumping apples with her best friend. Local farmer’s son, Perry, his crush on Carol painfully obvious, holds no attraction for her. Childhood mischief comes to an end, however, when Carol falls under Frankie’s spell. Nineteen-year-old Frankie is visiting a relative whose posh house nearby is a mirage of unattainable wealth to the council kids. He seems impossibly handsome and sophisticated.

It doesn’t take long for the reader, or indeed many of the adult characters in the book, to realise that Frankie is just using Carol. However, Carol is besotted and ignores all the well-intentioned warnings until she finds out the hard way. Then, nightmarishly, she attacks Frankie when he pushes her too far.

Love or Money?

Perry is Carol’s saviour, helping her cover up Frankie’s death. He claims it is because his father’s farm would face impossibly steep outgoings if land that Carol has inherited falls into new hands. Although undeniably true, it is also clear that Perry still carries a torch for Carol – a torch that burns for nearly five decades while they co-exist as neighbours. Then the council announces it will build a ring road through the land where Frankie is buried. Can Carol continue to escape justice?

The Corpse Count Rises

Once the bulldozers move in, more secrets are revealed. There are heart-stopping moments as Carol unravels the hidden agendas of those she has loved and trusted. The story, written from Carol’s point of view, portrays her as a mild-mannered woman buffeted by the whims of others. However, the corpse count keeps rising…

Page Turner

Although this is Carol’s story, the supporting characters are sharply observed and interesting, too. Even the gloriously-named socialite Izzy Dewberry-Newberry is well-described in a couple of lines. Likewise, the social mores of the 1970s – the acceptance of drink-driving, the Bristol tobacco factory jobs handed down from one generation to the next – leap from the page. Exquisitely written, full of surprises as layers of secrets and lies are peeled back, “Killing The Girl” is a page turner par excellence. Elizabeth Hill is definitely a writer to watch.

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Like Elizabeth Hill, I’m a British thriller writer. If you love a suspense-filled story uncovering secrets of the past, try “The Vodka Trail”. Vodka salesman Marty Bridges couldn’t save his business partner’s life. Blamed by the dead man’s daughter for his death, Marty finds new evidence – but dare he tell her?

Book Review – Absolution, by Paul E Hardisty

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Framed for murder…a book review absolution by paule hardisty is a gripping thriller

Paul E Hardisty’s Absolution takes us back to 1997, when hero Clay Straker has just testified about the horrors of South African apartheid to Mandela’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In doing so, he’s made enemies who want him dead.

He’s not the only one, it seems. Clay’s former girlfriend, Rania, is devastated by the deaths of her husband and small son. Even worse, someone has framed her for their murders.

Travelling to Egypt to try to discover the truth, she asks Clay for help. He really wants to oblige, but assassins lurk at every port and airstrip as he crosses Africa to join her. Clay needs all his cash, firepower and cunning to survive.

This crime mystery shifts swiftly into an action thriller

Although beginning as a crime mystery with the disappearance and killing of Rania’s family, Absolution is an action thriller above all. Each conflict and slaughter is described in gory, bone-crushing detail. Every weapon is itemised. Clay is a man’s man: a connoisseur of guns, hard-nosed and heavy-drinking, not afraid of a scrap. Despite the scars of war, he is amazingly attractive to women. Here, Hardisty misses a trick: we never find out what it is about this tough mercenary that appeals so much to the opposite sex. Perhaps it’s simply Clay’s steadfastness. He stands by his friends, male or female, when all around are swayed by money. In a tale of government and corporate corruption, Clay is one of the few who cannot be bought.

Suspense

The story moves at a fair clip, with plenty of suspense as the action switches between Rania’s investigations in murky Cairo and Clay’s desperate journey to reach her. Although no travelogue, the places through which Clay passes are well described: the heat, dust and dangers of African warzones and the cramped, polluted metropolis of Cairo. The desert dénouement presents a picturesque, as well as a tragic, scene. Hardisty writes very well and holds attention throughout. Satisfyingly, the book ends on an ambivalent note. Will Clay’s adventures continue?

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If you love a fast-paced story with a sense of place, try The Vodka Trail. When glamorous Kat White travels to the former Soviet Union in an attempt to recover her family vodka business, she doesn’t realise her oldest enemy will hold her life in his hands…

Thriller of the Month – The Darkest Lies, by Barbara Copperthwaite

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Like the famous Echo & The Bunnymen song, “The Darkest Lies” revolves around a killing moon. On brightly moonlit nights, two young girls are brutally attacked. Fobbed off by police and betrayed by friends, Melanie, mother of one of the victims, turns detective to find out who’s responsible for the awful crime.

At thirty-three, Melanie is a housewife and journalist manqué who has lived in the same Fenland village all her life. She thinks she knows everybody’s secrets, including her daughter’s. After all, Beth is an only child, and both Melanie and her loving husband have a close relationship with her. Nevertheless, as Melanie unpeels the surface of her neighbours’ lives, unpleasant truths are revealed. Melanie finds herself in danger, too, but willingly embraces it in her quest to avenge her daughter.

The strain on Melanie’s mental health and her marriage are too apparent. It’s impossible not to sympathise with her despite the poor choices she makes in her desperation to cope. This maintains suspense, as do the tantalising glimpses of the killer’s thoughts that punctuate the narrative.

“The Darkest Lies” is Barbara Copperthwaite’s third thriller. As ever, the pages keep turning right up until the nail-biting conclusion – on a moonlit night, of course…

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Like Barbara, I’m a British crime thriller writer. With other authors, I’ll be taking part in a big online thriller giveaway in June – sign up for my newsletter to find out more, and receive a free e-book of short stories.