From ‘The Foolish Wise Ones’ to Shingle Beaches – Inspirations for a Crime Novel

 

The Temptation, published in May 2018 by Accent Press, returns to the characters in my first crime book, Some Particular Evil, and to the stretch of Suffolk coast running from Dunwich, south to Orford. Aldeburgh, a small town between those two locations, is the focal point of The Temptation.

Since my early twenties I’ve been an avid reader of crime novels; I particularly like a crime series with characters you want to meet again, learning how these people change and grow, as well as enjoying the thrills and complexities of a well-written crime novel. Favourite series range from Margery Allingham’s Albert Campion, Dorothy L Sayers’s Peter Wimsey, Ian Rankin’s Rebus, Val McDermid’s Tony Hill and Carol Jordan, Mark Billingham’s Tom Thorne to C J Sansom’s Tudor lawyer, Matthew Shardlake. These books inspired me to follow suit and write a crime series.

I enjoyed returning to the characters from Some Particular Evil. The two main protagonists are Laurel Bowman and Frank Diamond, previously a Senior Mistress at an isolated boarding school, and a Detective Inspector in the Suffolk Constabulary respectively. In Some Particular Evil they work together solving the murder of Susan Nicholson, the headmaster’s wife. Laurel, a tall, strong, brave woman with a keen sense of justice, has an easy rapport with peole of all ages; Frank, a green-eyed individualist, is brilliant at analysing evidence. The secret they share strengthens their bond of friendship.

At the end of Some Particular Evil they form The Anglian Detective Agency, together with three other characters: Frank’s sergeant, Stuart Elderkin, the school secretary, Dorothy Piff, and the school cook, Mabel Grill. These secondary characters are important and play pivotal roles in the stories forming, with Laurel and Frank, a formidable detective team. I’ve grown fond of all of them and was delighted to be once again in their company, seeing how their characters develop and how they cope with, not only danger, but the complexities of their own lives. A warning: these are not cosy crime novels! The members of The Anglian Detective Agency may be characters you hopefully want to spend time with, but the crimes they encounter and the perpetrators of these crimes are chilling.   

A great inspiration to me is the haunting stretch of Suffolk coast where the novels are set: the shingle beaches patched with sand, and the ever changing coastline, eroded by wind and sea, the reed beds stretching inland, ruled by marsh harriers hawking for prey. I love this part of the world, having spent part of my childhood there, learning to swim in the North Sea, discovering the names of the shoreline plants, and watching seabirds as they ride the waves, the soles of my feet hardened by walking bare-foot on pebbles as I scoured the beach for amber and cornelian.

The town of Aldeburgh may appear to be a small, sleepy place, but appearances can be deceptive. It has a long association with the arts: music, literature, painting and pottery. The Aldeburgh Festival has been active for many years, well before the concert hall at Snape was built. Many artistic and wealthy people live in Aldeburgh and its surrounding area, as well as farming and fishing families. I’ve known Aldeburgh since the 1970s, the era in which the books are set, and I’ve loved locating The Temptation in this town, with its unique skyline, its shingle beach, fishermen’s huts, art gallery, cinema and many restaurants. Its soothing atmosphere is a wonderful contrast to the awful murders in the book.

The Temptation begins with the thoughts of David Pemberton, then a ten year-old boy. He hates to speak to people, even his parents, and resents his mother fussing over him. You learn David is secretive, he likes talking to himself, he doesn’t like being touched and he has difficulty in making relationships. Today he’d be diagnosed as being autistic, but in 1971, although some work had been done in the USA, children who exhibited these symptoms were usually said to be naughty and wouldn’t do as they were told. David has a special gift: he can draw from memory scenes he may have seen for only a few minutes.

My inspiration for David was a real boy called Stephen Wiltshire. When I was a deputy head in a mixed, 11-16 comprehensive school, one of my responsibilities was Special Needs. My role was to make sure children who had statements had their needs met.

In February 1987, I was fascinated by a BBC broadcast called ‘The Foolish Wise Ones.’ It studied the effects of autism, a condition which can leave children cut off from the world. However, it showed autistic people are often able to express themselves in a manner which leaves normal people amazed at their talents.

Stephen, then eleven years old, was shown in the programme producing from memory drawings of London buildings. A book of his drawings was published in the same year; it is one I still treasure. Stephen went on to have a successful career as an artist. He inspired me to create David Pemberton.

Lastly, the political background of the 1970s is fascinating. It was an era of great change and unrest: decimalisation, the growing power of the trade unions, crippling strikes, a weak government, the cold war, the freeing of sexual mores, the growing influence and freedom of women. Not too dissimilar to the era we live in now! Laurel, Frank and their partners and friends have to live through these uncertain times.

I’ve loved writing these books, I hope you will enjoy reading them.

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Before becoming a teacher Vera blew soap bubbles in Woolworth’s, cooked in hotels and electro-fished in Welsh rivers. The majority of her teaching career was in a local mixed comprehensive in South Oxfordshire, where she became Headteacher. Her interests include writing, gardening, cooking, reading, the theatre, museums and art galleries, and travelling in her campervan.

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About THE TEMPTATION

A COMPELLING PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER, PERFECT FOR FANS OF THE TEACHER Where is David Pemberton? Two years ago, thirteen-year-old David Pemberton vanished without a trace. It’s up to detectives Laurel Bowman and Frank Diamond to find him. But how do you solve a case without a lead? When local residents are brutally murdered, they start to think something more ominous is at heart. And now, it’s not just David they should be worried about. As they’re drawn into a circle of destruction, deceit and temptation, they find themselves close to cracking the case. But the closer they get, the more vulnerable they become. And soon, their lives are at risk…

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Category: Contemporary Women Writers, On Writing