The Next Big Thing

Happy New Year everyone!  I’ve been asked to take part in the (rather optimistically) entitled The Next Big Thing, a series of questions designed to uncover the lurking literary genius within.  It’s a bit like Mastermind for writers.  The last Next Big Thing was by my old pal and fellow Mystery Maker, Rebecca Jenkins, author of the Raif Jarrett eighteenth century crime series The Duke’s Agent etc – really good!) who’s tossed the baton to me.

 

So.... Lights down, focus on the big black chair, cue music (der, du, du DU derrr, der der, DER) and imagine me poised and ready to answer questions.

 

Name:              Dolores Gordon-Smith

Occupation      Pilot, deep sea diver, Formula `1 racedriver, archaeologist, palaeontologist, astronaut...

Voice off:        (wearily) Real occupation, please.

Me:                  Oh, really?  But the made up ones are ever so interesting.  Oh, all right then.    Author.

Voice off:       And can we stick to the script, please?  There’s Amy Myers waiting to do the Next Big Thing, you know and you’re holding her up.

Me:                  Okey-doke.

 

What is the working title of your book?

It’s called Blood From A Stone.

With the Roman protection of Britain crumbling, a terrified Roman citizen buried his wealth in a sacred cave under the altar of the god, Euthius, deep within what was the ancient forest of Andred in Sussex.

In 1780, Sir Jasper Leigh of Breagan Grange, as the area is now known, discovered the treasure. The Breagan Bounty, as the treasure was called. consisted of gold jewellery, coins and a golden box containing a valuable collection of uncut sapphires.  The coins and jewellery are now in the British Museum, but Sir Jasper had the sapphires made into a necklace and ear-rings which were passed down to the eldest girl in the Leigh family.  How those sapphires turn up at the feet of a murdered man in a third-class railway compartment in 1926 is the basis of the story.

Now, with all that (and much, much more) going on, I couldn’t think of a title for love or money.  It was my brilliant daughter, Helen, who came up with  Blood From A Stone and I think it’s perfect.

 

Where did the idea for the book come from?

I was on holiday in Pembrokeshire when we visited Pembroke Castle.  Underneath the castle is the Wogan Cave – very dark, very mysterious, with a spiral staircase leading down from (or up to) the castle and just bulging with potential.  So I nicked the cave, changed its location, erected an entirely different building on top of it, mixed in some murder and mayhem and sapphires.  Oh, and a visit to a haunted house in York fed into the mix as well!

 

What genre does your book fall into?

Historical mystery.  It’s set in the 1920’s which always seem just the right time for detective fiction to me.  It’s modern – you call telephone someone and get in a car – but there’s rules in society and codes to follow which, once broken, allow plenty of scope for concealment and strife. Crime is detected by logic but there’s no DNA testing to pinpoint a murderer.  Besides that, I’m a massive fan of Agatha Christie and PG Wodehouse and love being able to write in their world.

 

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie version?

A movie?  Wow.  Quite frankly, if anyone wanted to make a film, they could cast Donald Duck and I’d be as happy as a sandboy.

 

What is a one-sentence synopsis of your book?

I hate synopses! One of the many lovely things about Severn House, my publisher, is that they don’t require a synopsis.  However, here goes...  I can’t do it in one sentence though.  Here’s seven:

 

The small and inquisitive village of Topfordham is agog when the elderly Mrs Paxton goes to Paris with her artist nephew, Terence Napier. When, on her return home, she is poisoned and Napier disappears, Topfordham is horrified.  It seems obvious Napier murdered Mrs Paxton in a bid to steal her sapphires.  Francis Leigh, Napier's cousin, is convinced Napier is innocent and asks Jack Haldean to help.  Oddly enough, Jack is already interested in Mrs Paxton’s sapphires - they've turned up on the floor of a third class railway compartment, scattered at a dead man’s feet.  So who's the dead man in the train?   And is the bluff, genial Francis Leigh quite as blameless as he appears?

 

Will the book be self-published or represented by an agency?

None of the above.  I haven’t got an agent but am published by the lovely Severn House, one of the largest independents, who publish Jack’s cases in hardback, paperback and on Kindle.

 

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Think of the best Agatha Christie or Dorothy L Sayers you’ve ever read.  Yes, that’s the one!

 

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I suppose the real inspiration was a contract offering hard cash for an “Untitled Jack Haldean” as it was described but, in addition, it was an urge to have buried treasure, ancient Roman stuff, railways, mysterious deaths, English villages and jewels all within a neat and tidy plot. Oh yes, and the Wogan cave. You can think of it as contained chaos.

 

What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

It’s really good and it’s out in March.  And if you like it and tell me so face to face, I’ll buy you a drink.  Now that is a good deal!

 

And now for the next author in this series...

It’s over to Amy Myers, the prolific author of the Jack Colby series (amongst others) at http://www.amymyers.net/