Alison Morton and Helen Hollick talk about their latest novels, Double Identity and A Mirror Murder.
It was with great delight that I met up with
authors Alison Morton and Helen Hollick at CrimeFest in Bristol a couple of
years ago. The three of us chatted over coffee (or was it wine?) about our
future projects, and to our surprise both Alison and Helen, by pure
coincidence, expressed their interest in branching out into writing something
different to their usual novels. Ideas are all very well, but they do not
always go further than a mere idea. However, I’m delighted to welcome Alison
and Helen here to talk about ‘what happened next’...
Mel shivered. A cold breeze drifted over her bare backside. Dieu,
the window must be open. Stupid in late November in London. But windows had
been the last things on Mel’s mind last night.
Still drugged with sleep, she stretched out her hand towards
Gérard’s face. His eyes were closed, the lashes resting on his pale cheeks. Too
much time indoors, Mel thought and smiled. In his early morning relaxed state,
Gérard looked more like a boy of seventeen than a man of thirty-seven.
Her eyelids were so heavy. She closed them. After a few seconds,
she realised she wasn’t tired, just thick-headed. Opening her eyes again, she
blinked hard then tugged on the duvet to cover them both against the too fresh
air, but it was trapped under Gérard’s body. Never mind, she could think of a
much more pleasurable way to warm up than hiding under the bedclothes. She
stroked his skin with the tips of her fingers sliding over the fine brown hairs
on his shoulder, then down his chest and over his stomach towards…
He didn’t stir.
He was cold. Stone cold.
“Thank you, Chris ... How’s that for an
intriguing opening?” says
Alison about the first of her new thriller series, Double Identity.
“As I mentioned when we sat and talked, I knew I wanted to build on the success
of my Roma Nova series, but what? Then it hit me. The new book would be about a heroine with a strong connection to
Poitou in France, which is where I live.”
She adds, “My Roma Nova thrillers are about an alternative society run by people descended from Romans who run their modern-day lives on Roman lines. Double Identity is a contemporary thriller in the ‘real world’ featuring a tough and courageous heroine who has a dual nationality, which gives some lovely internal conflict, especially with her British co-protagonist, DS McCracken, who is as prickly as his name sounds! My six years in army uniform left me a lot of useful background information, but I pored over French Ministry of Defence and armed services sites for hours to be certain of the French version! The most intriguing was researching French military voice procedure when using walkie-talkies! I also had to get other details right: whether you can find a garage open on Sundays in rural France (you can’t!), the close community of French rural life and the contrast with Brussels and London big city life.”
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| DS McCracken and Mel investigate in Double Identity |
“We are both established and experienced writers,” Helen says, “I’ve
known Alison for a long time now, particularly through our mutual interest in
promoting good indie and self-published writers. I was first published in 1994
with my Arthurian Trilogy and Saxon historical novels, but when self-publishing
started to become widely available around 2007, I went ‘solo’ with an idea I
had for a pirate-based nautical adventure/fantasy series. Being independent
also means I can diversify when I want to, write to please myself and my
readers, not adhere to a rigid mainstream contract. For A Mirror Murder,
I wanted to write something where I could use my thirteen years of experience
working as a library assistant during the 1970s – all those anecdotes I have
stored in my memory – although I hasten to add I have never been involved in
murder or serious police procedures!”
ABOUT A MIRROR MURDER:
Eighteen-year-old library assistant Jan Christopher’s life is to
change on a rainy Friday evening in July 1971, when her legal guardian and
uncle, DCI Toby Christopher, gives her a lift home after work. Driving the car,
is her uncle’s new Detective Constable, Laurie Walker – and it is love at first
sight for the young couple.
But romance is soon to take a back seat when a baby boy is taken
from his pram, a naked man is scaring
young ladies in nearby Epping Forest, and an elderly lady is found, brutally
murdered... Are the events related? How will they affect the staff and public
of the local library where Jan works – and will a blossoming romance survive a
police investigation into murder?
BUYING LINK:
Amazon Author Page (Universal Link) http://viewauthor.at/HelenHollick
ABOUT DOUBLE IDENTITY:
Deeply in love, a chic Parisian lifestyle
before her. Now she’s facing prison for murder.
It’s three days since Mel des Pittones threw
in her job as an intelligence analyst with the French special forces to marry
financial trader Gérard Rohlbert. But her dream turns to nightmare when she
wakes to find him dead in bed beside her.
Her horror deepens when she’s accused of his
murder. Met Police detective Jeff McCracken wants to pin Gérard’s death on her.
Mel must track down the real killer, even if that means being forced to work
with the obnoxious McCracken.
But as she unpicks her fiancé’s past, she
discovers his shocking secret life. To get to the truth, she has to go
undercover with the European Investigation and Regulation Service and finds
almost everybody around her is hiding a second self.
Mel can trust nobody. Can she uncover the real
killer before they stop her?
A
good read for fans of Daniel Silva, Stella Rimington or Chris Pavone.
BUYING LINKS
Kindle:
https://mybook.to/DoubleIdentity (ASIN:
B08P5YD3CN)
For all ebook and paperback retailers: https://bit.ly/3s0XUlV
ABOUT ALISON
Alison writes award-winning thrillers series
featuring tough, but compassionate heroines. She blends her deep love of France
with six years’ military service and a life of reading crime, historical,
adventure and thriller fiction. On the way, she collected a BA in modern
languages and an MA in history.
"Grips like a vice - a writer to watch
out for" says crime thriller writer Adrian Magson about Roma Nova
series starter INCEPTIO. All six full-length Roma Nova thrillers have won the
BRAG Medallion, the prestigious award for indie fiction. SUCCESSIO, AURELIA and
INSURRECTIO were selected as Historical Novel Society’s Indie Editor’s Choices. AURELIA was a finalist in the 2016 HNS Indie
Award. The Bookseller selected SUCCESSIO as Editor’s Choice in its inaugural
indie review.
Alison
now lives in Poitou in France, where part of Double Identity is set and
is writing a sequel as well as continuing her Roma Nova series.
CONNECT WITH ALISON
On her thriller site: https://alison-morton.com
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/AlisonMortonAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/alison_morton @alison_morton
ABOUT HELEN
Helen and
her family moved from north-east London in January 2013 after finding an
eighteenth-century North Devon farmhouse through BBC TV’s popular Escape To
The Country show.
First
accepted for publication by William Heinemann in 1993 – a week after her
fortieth birthday – Helen then became a USA Today Bestseller with her
historical novel, The Forever Queen (titled A Hollow Crown in the UK) with the sequel, Harold the King (US: I Am The
Chosen King) being novels that explore the events that led to the Battle of
Hastings in 1066. Her Pendragon’s Banner
Trilogy is a fifth-century version of the Arthurian legend, and she also
writes a pirate-based nautical adventure/fantasy series, The Sea Witch Voyages.
Her
non-fiction books are Pirates: Truth and
Tales and Life of A Smuggler.
She also runs Discovering Diamonds, a
review blog for historical fiction. She is currently writing more Voyages for
the Sea Witch series and the next in the Jan Christopher Mysteries
series. She has other ideas for other tales – and would like the time to write
them!
CONNECT
WITH HELEN:
Website: www.helenhollick.net
Facebook: www.facebook.com/HelenHollickAuthor
Twitter: @HelenHollick
