Why I turned to murder
From struggling writer to published author.
I always wanted to solve a murder.
Don't ask me why because I'm not sure.
Perhaps it started with my love of puzzles and mysteries - especially the ones with no answers or scientific explanations.
Those were the puzzles where I could ask ‘What if?’ and let my imagination ponder all kinds of scenarios and answers.
What if someone from outer space visited the earth and helped the Egyptians build the pyramids?
What if Lord Lucan was still alive and hiding somewhere?
After all, murder's the ultimate puzzle.
But though I loved the idea of solving murders, I had no desire to become a police officer.
The idea of an ordinary person solving complex murders was far more appealing to my imagination and the writer in me.
So was Agatha Christie's Miss Marple.
I never thought I’d write a murder mystery novel. Or get it published.
Then again, I never thought I’d pass my driving test or give up smoking.
If you’re wondering whether self-doubt’s my default state, think of it as a safety mechanism, a defence against failure and rejection, if you like. Writing and selling your work is littered with both.
Once, I had enough rejection slips from agents and publishers to paper the walls of my bedroom. Okay, it was one wall, but us writers like to embellish. We tell stories, after all.
But not well enough according to the people in publishing.
Disappointed and frustrated, I knew I had to come up with something different to grab their interest. Something that stirred me deep inside. Something that tugged at my heart and my mind.
Puzzles and mysteries had fascinated me since I was a child – especially the ones that had no answer.
It’s what drew me to Agatha Christie and Miss Marple.
Here was an ordinary person, solving complex murders without forensics, DNA profiling and CCTV.
There was something romantic about the idea, a sense of an underdog overcoming the odds to solve a case before the police.
Could such an ordinary person be a breath of fresh air in a crime fiction world, filled with world weary private investigators and derivative police procedurals with traumatised detectives?
If you’d like to find out whether I fulfilled my dream of writing a murder mystery, please use the button below to access the full post.