In your new thriller SIX GRAVES, things get very personal for your detective. Tell me about Detective Kim Stone. How is she as a person, and as a detective?
Because of her traumatic childhood Kim is a loner and doesn’t let many people into her circle. She is quite rude and brusque and totally lacks social skills. She doesn’t show her feelings and although she cares deeply about her team, she rarely shows it. She offers all her affection to her rescue dog, barney. As a police officer she is passionate, driven and always fights for the underdog. She believes in justice and will go over and above to make sure the perpetrator is caught and punished.
Has SIX GRAVES been any more difficult to write than any of the other books in the series because of the intensity and personal angle for your main character?
In some ways six graves was very difficult to write because of the scenes I knew were coming at the end of the book. in other ways I absolutely love the challenge of putting her in new situations. I actually didn’t want to stop writing this book and feel as though I could have continued for another 50k words.
Although I’m more of a cozy mystery fan, there is one author whose thrillers I adore. In her books, she’ll usually include the POV of the unknown killer. Do you ever use that perspective in this, or any of your other books?
Yes, I’ve used this many times. I don’t always use it as it has to add something to the story for the reader that they need to know but wouldn’t be able to learn any other way.
How much research, if any, goes into one of your books – as far as police procedure or anything else?
I do a massive amount of research for every book. I stay light on the police procedure as it’s not very interesting for the reader, but my books are always based on a subject that I find interesting. Sometimes I can read a whole book and use one sentence or thought. The key is knowing how much of the research to use so that the reader doesn’t get bored of what you’ve learned.
The books in your Detective Kim Stone series are thrillers. What appeals to you about writing this type of mystery versus a cozy or some other type?
I’ve always loved to read crime and so it’s a natural route for me to take. I like to write about the darker parts of the psyche which work well with a detective based in the industrial part of the black country.
If you could only pick one of your books, other than this one, to a romance reader unfamiliar with your work, which one would you pick? And why
I’d pick one of my standalone books called “if only” which is not crime and focusses on three women who drunkenly cast a spell one night with unexpected results.
Other authors I’ve interviewed have told me that the kinds of books they enjoy reading are different from the kind of books they enjoy writing. What do you like to read? Favorite books? Favorite author?
I like a cross section of books. I love a good crime procedural from Lisa Regan. I also love a good psychological thriller and read every book KL Slater writes. I love some women’s fiction and go to Catherine Miller for my fix and also Renita D’Silva.
What are you currently working on?
I’m currently working on book 17 in the Kim Stone series which will be out in the autumn.
Kim Stone #16
It’s a typical teenage bedroom with posters covering the walls and clothes littering the floor. But the girl lying on her bed, wearing a delicate chain around her neck, is lifeless. A circle of red stains her white vest top. How had the girl’s mother looked down at her sleeping child and pulled the trigger?
When Detective Kim Stone rushes to the scene of a house fire, she’s shocked to discover it’s claimed the lives of two teenage children and their parents. But this tragedy is not quite as it seems. Each body is marked by a gunshot wound and the mother, Helen Daynes, is holding the gun.
The case sparks painful childhood memories for Kim who suffered at the hands of her own abusive mother, but it just makes her more determined to uncover the truth. As Kim untangles Helen’s past, she finds a history of clinical depression. But did it drive Helen to murder her loved ones?
Then Kim uncovers a tiny, vital clue in Helen’s bedroom that throws the investigation wide open. Could someone else have killed the Daynes family?
Just as Kim feels she’s making progress, a deadly threat is made to her own life by a dangerous psychopath from her past. Biting back her fear, she keeps digging. And when Kim hits upon a shocking secret that changes everything she thought she knew about Helen, she realises that the remaining family members are in grave danger.
Kim is under pressure like never before, and the monster circling her is getting ever closer. Four bodies already. Four graves fresh in the ground. Who will be next? Can Kim find the killer and save herself before it’s too late?
An absolutely nail-biting mystery thriller that will have you gasping out loud. You won’t come up for air until you’ve reached the breathtaking final twist. Fans of Karin Slaughter, Mark Billingham and Robert Dugoni will love Six Graves.
Mystery Woman Sleuth | Thriller Police Procedural [Bookouture, On Sale: May 12, 2022, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781838887391 / ]
I discovered my love of writing at Primary School when a short piece on the rocks and the sea gained me the only merit point I ever got. I wrote the stories that burned inside and then stored them safely in a desk drawer.
After much urging from my partner I began to enter short story competitions in Writer’s News resulting in a win and three short listed entries. I self-published two of my earlier works before concentrating on my true passion – Crime.
After many, many submissions I signed an 8 book deal with Bookouture as their first crime author.
I live in the Black Country with my partner, our bouncy Labrador and potty-mouthed parrot. My books SILENT SCREAM, EVIL GAMES, LOST GIRLS AND PLAY DEAD are all available from Amazon, Kobo and iBooks.
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