Author Interview with historic crime writer Diane Bretherick, author of City of Devils

Diana Bretherick is a historical crime novelist.  Her first book, City of Devils, is set in Turin and is darkly atmospheric.  Her second book, The Devil’s Daughters, is due for release in August 2015.  I first met Diana at an Arvon crime writing course and was fascinated not only by her writing but by the unique way she got City Of Devils published.

Liz: Hi Diana, You took a rare and somewhat unusual route to getting your manuscript published.  Can you tell us a bit about that?

Diana: I wrote City of Devils as the final project for my MA in Creative Writing at the University of Portsmouth. I was in the process of editing it in order to send it out to agents when I saw that Good Housekeeping Magazine was running a competition for first time novelists. The prize was a £25,000 advance and the possibility of publication by Orion so it was too good an opportunity to miss. I

entered not dreaming that I would get anywhere but then I won. The novel was accepted by Orion and one of the competition judges, the agent Luigi Bonomi, agreed to represent me. The novel came out in August 2013 and was nominated for the ITV3 CrimeThriller Book Club award which was very exciting!

Liz: Would you recommend this route for other aspiring writers or do you wish you’d gone down a more conventional route?

Diana: I would recommend trying everything! Winning a competition was great because not only was my novel published but I also got a really good agent through it. But the more conventional route can work well too. A friend of mine recently got a three book deal that way. It’s all about perseverance. Just because one agent turns you down, it doesn’t mean that the next one will.

Liz: Good advice Diana.  To be shortlisted for the Crime Thriller awards 2013 alongside the likes of established writer's Linwood Barclay ,Andrew Taylor and Christopher Fowler must have been amazing?

Diana:  It was hugely exciting to be short listed with some of my crime writing heroes. Not only that but I got to sit between Ian Rankin and Rob Wilson for the dinner which was wonderful. 

Liz:   I know you work full time as well as write and from the historical accuracy in City of Devils I also know you do a hell of a lot of research.  How do you find time to squeeze it all in?

Diana: I wrote the first novel over a few years and it took up much of my free time. Luckily I have a very supportive husband. Having said that, I went down the ‘write what you know’ path. I am a lecturer in criminology

so my detective, the world’s first criminologist Cesare Lombroso was someone that I was already familiar with. Luckily I now lecture part time so I’m able to combine my academic career with writing which makes life a lot easier.

Liz: How difficult was it to have a historical figure as your main character?

Diana:  Writing about a real person is something of a double edged sword. It makes developing a character easier in that you will usually have something to go on - either their own writing as in Lombroso's case or contemporary accounts created by others. But you also have to keep reality in mind which can be restrictive. I was lucky with Lombroso because he was such a fascinating character that no embellishment was needed. I placed him in a fictional situation and imagined how he might react.

Liz: Do you have any research tips for aspiring writers?

Diana: Enjoy it but stay focussed. Research is one of my favourite pastimes, which is just as well as I do a lot of it. Obviously it’s important not to get carried away. It’s easy to go off on a tangent when you find something interesting but before you know it you have frittered away an afternoon of precious writing time looking at something in detail that should only take up a line or two. The other thing about research is that just because you’ve done it doesn’t mean that all of it should necessarily end up in your book. You have to know where to draw the line. The basic rule is that if it isn’t taking the plot forwards or developing your characters then you probably don’t need it in the novel. Easier said than done!

Liz:  City of Devils is set in Turin, how did you first come up with the idea and the setting?

Diana: The idea came from some of my students. We were sitting in a seminar talking about Lombroso’s

theories when one of them asked me if he ever investigated crimes. I started to think about it and decided to do some research and the rest started to fall into place quite quickly after that. Lombroso was a fascinating character and was the first to study the phenomenon of  crime and criminals.

He was also an avid collector of all kinds of artefacts including skulls, shrunken heads and death masks. They are still on  display in his museum in Turin where he lived and worked. Once I visited the city and discovered what a beautiful and atmospheric place it is, I knew that I had to write about it. It has a rich history and is reputed to be the location of the gates of Hell. What writer could resist?

Liz:  Is The Devil’s Daughters a follow on novel or a standalone. and can you tell us a bit about it?

Diana: The Devil’s Daughters is a sequel to City of Devils and features many of the same characters but some new ones too. It is 1888 and girls are being abducted from the streets of Turin. Odd noises and lights have been seen in a reputedly haunted abbey where the Devil himself is said to walk. Then a body is found in a shallow grave nearby. Can Lombroso and his assistant James Murray unravel the mystery and find the missing girls before it’s too late?

Liz:  Sounds really interesting - can't wait to read it.  

We recently lost PD James who, like yourself, got published after already having an established career… so you've got a hard act to follow.  Do you aspire to any particular crime writer?

Diana: I loved PD James’s books and was very sad to hear of her death. She is one of my favourite writers, as is Ruth Rendell, particularly when she writes as Barbara Vine. I also love Val McDermid’s books. She tells a tale like no one else. And as far as historical crime fiction

goes I will always turn to Andrew Taylor’s books.  He really knows how to evoke a period feel. C.J. Sansom is another favourite too.

Liz: What’s in the pipeline for you next?… more writing I hope.

Diana: I am currently researching the third Lombroso book which I think will be set in 19th century New York. I am also developing an idea for another crime series set in thirteenth century China. Busy times!

Liz:  Thirteenth Century China?  Can you give us a sneaky peek at that - what's it about and what characters do you have in mind?

Diana:  13th century China - can't say much at the moment as it is still in the development stage but I'm certainly finding the research fascinating! 

Liz:  Diana it’s been a pleasure to interview you… but one last question before you go… if you could take only one crime fiction book to a desert island which would it be  and if you had to take one crime fiction detective and one baddie who would they be?

Diana: It would have to be the complete Sherlock Holmes stories. I love the 19^th century as a period and Holmes and Watson are great characters. Each story is like a master class in crime writing so at least I could work on my technique while I’m waiting to be rescued.

A sense of humour would be vital to keep up morale so I’d probably take either Logan McRae or Ash Henderson from Stuart MacBride’s brilliant novels. If they were busy then I’d go for the first fictional female detective Miss Gladden, as written by Andrew Forrester in 1864. If anyone could get us off the island it would be her! She was fighting crime, going undercover and making logical deductions way before Sherlock Holmes.

As for a baddie – taking a psychopath to a desert island is a dangerous strategy but Dexter Morgan should be safe enough as he only bumps off serial killers. He seems pretty resourceful and he’s a sailor which might come in handy.


Diana's The Devil's Daughters is available to buy on Amazon in August 2015 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Devils-Daughters-Diana-Bretherick/dp/1409150291/ref=sr_1_1_twi_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1419346135&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Devil%27s+daughters+by+diana+Bretherick