I was recently introduced to a mystery written by a local author in East Anglia. Mystery is my absolute favourite genre and I was intrigued by the story set in Norfolk, with familiar surroundings and places.
Being invited to ask author, Elspeth Latimer a few questions was a rare treat. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy her book, I really appreciated her answers to my questions!
Hi Erin,
Thank you so much for reading ‘The Lost Detective’ and for your fantastic questions! I’m really thrilled that you connected with my book – that means so much to me!
Kind wishes, Elspeth
Where did the idea for this story come from?
The very first spark for the story came from a memory of a house I visited in the past. I began to develop ideas for various characters, and I even wrote some sections, but these never got beyond a few pages. Then I had a sudden moment of inspiration, where I realised how two strands of the story could be brought together, in an unexpected way. Once I’d made that breakthrough, the book suddenly came to life, bringing lots of new ideas, and I wrote the first draft in a matter of months.
Set in Norfolk, the countryside is stunning- did you map out the area you wanted to set the story in over time and with many visits? What was it that inspired you to use Norfolk?
I’m so pleased you enjoyed my descriptions of the Brecks. I’m originally from Scotland, but I moved to south Norfolk two decades ago, and the story is set near where I live. Over the years I’ve explored the local woods and fens and heathland, and when I came to write the book, I drew upon all those places, and I went back to them many times. Norfolk is famous for its long sandy beaches and also for the Norfolk Broads, but I wanted to take readers to a rural area that is perhaps less familiar. I think the Brecks are really beautiful, and in some ways my book is a love song to this landscape.
The story features the strong emotions of grief and hope- was it hard to balance the two amidst the drama and crimes in the story?
It was really important to me that the book would have a plot that gripped the reader, but I also wanted to capture what it is like to feel grief, and loss, and hope. ‘The Lost Detective’ went through lots of stages, and with each fresh draft, I would ask myself, is there enough of a ‘detective story’ here, enough tension/drama/crime to keep the reader hooked? Or have I leaned too heavily into the emotions? I would try to read each draft in a day and a half, so that I could have a complete sense of the book in my head, and I would highlight the parts that seemed false or not in tune with the rest. When making these decisions, I was also lucky to have the help of Elizabeth Lewis Williams, one of the directors at Story Machine, my publishers. Often, I would find myself cutting back the more emotional paragraphs, not in order to get rid of them, but in order to make them more powerful. Sometimes a few stark words can say it all.
The way the story interlinks is brilliant and I love the characters- are they inspired by anyone in your life?
I’m so pleased you like how the story is woven together, and that you love the characters! The characters are not based on particular people in my life, but there are aspects that are drawn from lots of people I’ve met over the years, and I’m sure there are bits of me in there too. When I’m thinking about a story, often the characters come into my head ‘fully formed’. I will have a clear vision of a scene, which captures that person. I know exactly who they are, their personality, how they think, how they speak, what they look like. The characters instantly feel very real to me, like they are part of my own life. When I’m walking in the local woods, I almost have the sense that I will bump into Dan Hennessy, the lost detective.
Do you have plans to return to these characters in another book?
I have ideas for at least two more books featuring these characters, and I also want to bring in some other characters too. I’d love to show how their lives and relationships change, and I also want to put them into the middle of a challenging new mystery. I’m hoping to begin writing Book 2 later in the year, and I’m excited to see where the story takes me!
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