Blog Tour: Lesley Kelly's atmospheric Songs by Dead Girls

It gives me great pleasure to welcome Lesley Kelly back to The Crime Warp.  This time we host her     blog tour and we've been lucky enough to grab an exclusive article written by Lesley herself.  I'm sure you'll find it as fascinating as I did. 

Taming the Beast

When the Beast from the East recently roared and much of the UK was covered in deep

snow, behind the scenes there were lots of different agencies hard at work.  Local authorities had their gritters out on the roads, the police and the fire service were assisting with traffic accidents, the NHS was doing their best to respond to medical emergencies, and voluntary and community organisations were mobilising their volunteers to help out.

All this activity is organised through a process called ‘emergency planning.’  Coordination is key to ensuring that the right roads are left open for ambulances, knowing when schools can safely reopen, getting social care to vulnerable people and so on.

This process of coordination begins long before an actual crisis occurs.  In each local authority, the Emergency Planning Team will plan all year round for potential disasters.  As well as bad weather, their planning will cover issues such as terrorist incidents, train crashes, cyber attacks, and industrial accidents.  And, of course, pandemics.

Pandemics can range from relatively mild seasonal flu, to illness with potentially devastating consequences – remember the concern about SARS a few years ago?  Even normal influenza can present local authorities with a wide range of problems.  What if there are so many NHS staff off sick that hospitals can’t function safely?  What if there are so many teachers off sick that the schools can’t open, and half the work force can’t get to work?  What if there are so many home helps off sick that housebound older people don’t get their meals and medicine delivered?  You can use volunteers, of course, but what happens when they get sick too?

My latest novel, Songs by Dead Girls, in set in an Edinburgh hit by a deadly influenza virus. Much worse than the seasonal flu, my ‘Virus’ results in the deaths of around 5% of the population.  And unlike seasonal flu, the Virus proves persistent, with wave after wave of infection.  In response, a new agency is established - the Health Enforcement Team (HET).  An uneasy mix of seconded police and health professionals, its role is to track down people who have missed their monthly health check.

Unlike a Hollywood blockbuster, in my book society doesn’t collapse.  Tom Cruise does not appear, intent on saving the world.   The military does not start shooting people on sight.  Life goes on.  The statutory agencies cope.  Just.  But the Health Enforcement Team does face its challenges.  It has to deal with inter-agency disputes, scheming politicians, charlatans claiming to have a cure for the Virus, and good old fashioned criminals.

When Scotland’s leading virologist goes missing, two North Edinburgh HET members are sent to search for him in a hot and dangerous London.  And when politics gets in the way, their search soon becomes deadly…    

So, next time it snows, or there is some horrific accident or attack on the streets of a UK city, spare a thought for the emergency response staff.  If we survive the next catastrophe, be it plague, pandemic, or whatever, it will all be down to them.

Lesley Kelly’s third novel, Songs By Dead Girls, is published by Sandstone Press in April.  Her Health of Strangers series is set in a virus- ravaged Edinburgh of the near future.   

Lesley - @lkauthor

Sandstone @sandstonepress

Me @rkbookpublicist

Tour hashtag #songsbydeadgirls