I am delighted to be taking part in Rachel Abbott’s blog tour for her latest book COME A LITTLE CLOSER which is the 7th book in the fantastic DI Tom Douglas series and to celebrate the launch I have asked Rachel some Quickie questions:
Tell me about your latest book and why we should read it?
Come a Little Closer is the story of three young women with one thing in common. They are missing, all trapped in the same place from which there seems no escape. But each of them has a very different reason for being there.
And then Tom Douglas is sent to investigate a body, found in a frozen and remote location. How did she get there? How did she die? And who will die next?
I genuinely think this is the creepiest story I have ever written. And with an ending that even I didn’t see coming when I started to write!
If someone was to write your life story what would the title be?
My Criminally Good Life
I am a very positive person, and although – like most – my life has been a mixture of highs and lows, I feel that I have also been incredibly lucky. I had a career that I enjoyed, and then – when I retired – I started writing, just for fun. Now I have a wonderful life, doing something I love every day, living on a wonderful island, with the best friends and family. So writing about the darker side of life has definitely brought light into my own.
What’s the strangest fan question or request you’ve received?
I don’t get really strange questions from my readers as they are all lovely but I do get lots of requests to explain what happens after the end of some of my books! Some readers would prefer a different outcome to the one I have written, and are looking for a guaranteed happy ending (which I don’t always find realistic) so they write to me and put their case – in quite strong terms – about why I should write a sequel immediately to ‘fix’ things for the much-loved characters! It worked when I was swayed by thousands of requests after Stranger Child left Tasha in the wilderness and I wrote Nowhere Child to tie up the various loose ends. But life can’t always be tied up neatly, so I can’t do that every time. So sorry dear readers!
If you could co-write with anyone in the world (alive or dead) who would it be?
Harlan Coben. I love the twistiness of his stand-alone novels. It always seems as if there can be no logical reason for what is happening, and no way in which the problems he poses can be resolved. But as I am allowed a dead author too, Daphne du Maurier would be top of my list. I recently had to analyse some of the writing in Rebecca, and it would be wonderful to have her input on my language and plotting as she was the master of both.
Tell me something nobody else knows about you (yet!)
Many years ago – too many to contemplate, really – I recorded an album of folk songs with my (then) husband. We used to sing in folk clubs, both locally and further afield. He was very talented, and spent a lot of time practising and improving his playing. I have to admit, I was less so. I loved to sing – and I still do, whenever I have the opportunity – but I found the playing very nerve-racking! When we were asked to make an album, I was thrilled and so excited. My step-children think it’s hilarious (because it was traditional English folk music, I presume), but at the time, I thought it was wonderful.
Finally please recommend 3 books that you have recently read and tell me why you’ve chosen these.
I have just finished Hell Bay by the wonderful Kate Rhodes. No-one gives a better sense of place or character than this author. The body of a teenage girl is washed up on the shore of a small island in the Scilly Isles and a new detective – DI Ben Kitto – is asked to investigate. I suspect this is not the last we will see of Kitto – I certainly hope not.
Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell is another of my recent reads. Such a clever plot, and the strands slowly come together to a dramatic conclusion. It’s another story about a teenage girl who goes missing, but ten years later, when her mother has given up all hope of finding Ellie, she meets a new man and her heart almost stops when she meets his daughter. She is the image of Ellie. It is rare when a thriller also breaks your heart, but this one does just that.
Anatomy of a Scandal (what a brilliant title!) by Sarah Vaughan. This is the story of a junior cabinet minister, James, who is accused of rape by one of this colleagues so it’s very current. The point of view shifts between James, his wife and the prosecuting barrister, and combines all the elements of a psychological thriller with a tense and exciting court room drama. The plot twists and turns to the end.
About the Book: They will be coming soon. They come every night.
Snow is falling softly as a young woman takes her last breath.
Fifteen miles away, two women sit silently in a dark kitchen. They don’t speak, because there is nothing left to be said.
Another woman boards a plane to escape the man who is trying to steal her life. But she will have to return, sooner or later.
These strangers have one thing in common. They each made one bad choice – and now they have no choices left. Soon they won’t be strangers, they’ll be family…
When DCI Tom Douglas is called to the cold, lonely scene of a suspicious death, he is baffled. Who is she? Where did she come from? How did she get there? How many more must die?
Who is controlling them, and how can they be stopped?
Read my thoughts and review on the book by clicking here
