"You know what I fancy doing?" I said to my fiancée one evening. "I really fancy killing a few people. In fact, I feel like killing lots of people."
Had the neighbours overheard me, there would probably have been an armed response unit smashing the door down within a few minutes. Fortunately, my now-wife, is used to me, and knew she wasn't in any danger. I was either letting off steam after an afternoon trying to get my wireless printer to work, or I was planning the next in the DCI Warren Jones series.
I believe that you can loosely divide murder mysteries into two groups. Big Stories and Small Stories. I'm not referring to the length of the book, rather the impact of the killing; the number of lives it touches. A Small Story is like a pebble thrown into a pond; perhaps a single murder, with just the one victim. The ripples travel outwards but they are largely contained to that victim's immediate circle. My last book, Out Of Sight, was a Small Story. A single murder, it was devastating to all those concerned, and I enjoyed delving into the victim's life and exploring the effect the death had on their loved ones.
A Big Story on the other hand touches more lives. Time To Kill, the latest book in the DCI Warren Jones series, is a Big Story. It starts with an individual tragedy. An apparent murder-suicide. A pebble in the pond, if you will. Then a second, apparently unrelated killing is added to the mix. Now there are two homicide investigations on the go - not unusual for Warren and his team. Another small stone plops into the pond. But when a third murder occurs, it becomes apparent that maybe there is a serial killer on the loose...
This is when the story becomes a Big Story. Instead of small ripples from the dropping of a pebble, we have a huge splash from chucking a rock in. The whole of Middlesbury, the fictional north Hertfordshire town where my books are based, is gripped with fear. Because anyone could be next. #MiddlesburySerialKiller starts trending on social media. Multiple ripples spread far and wide, overlapping with one another.
It's been a while since I've written a serial killer story, and I'd forgotten how much fun it is! Ever more gruesome and fiendish killings, more and more victims, an unfathomable motive and no obvious links between the killer's targets. Writing Time To Kill was an absolute blast, and I hope that people will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
As for that wireless printer - still not working. Perhaps the next book will be a Small Story? The death of an executive for a printer manufacturer. I’m sure the motive will be relatable to many of my readers ...
Published by HarperCollins, pbk £8.99 August 08, 2022
