Chaste Snowdrop, venturous harbinger of Spring,
Characters, Plot, Location – and that’s all there is to writing a crime novel! On the face of it, many thrillers may follow these three essential elements of storytelling, but it would be too easy to assume that’s all there is to keeping a reader furiously turning the pages whilst perched on the edge of their seat. Characters who have a flaw, particularly the hero /protagonist, one which is often declared early on, will undoubtedly create a connection with the reader – who wants unbelievable in a thriller, we want the real stuff, people like us! A visiting author for Book Club one time confessed to keeping a notebook full of descriptions of folk they’d met whilst touring bookshops – she never knew who she was going to meet, but realised with such variety, there was always going to be an opportunity to pick up on characteristics and how they might fit with a story line. If you’ve ever thought a character in a crime novel reminds you of yourself, then you might have met this particular author!
Is there more than the crime and the solution to the plot? You’d have thought there are only so many plot threads from which to stitch a story together, but the great writers always manage to create something unique which you’ve not come across before. One thing is certain, get the deadly deed in early and then throw in a trawler load of red herrings and a mountain pass of twists and turns. If you think you’ve solved the crime in the first chapter, then you haven’t – you’re just reading a great thriller.
Where these stories are placed is key to the success of the plausibility of the tale – the author who is able to draw a sufficiently accurate outline of location, allowing the reader to colour in using their own imagination, will add to the realism of how the events unfold. If the location is in the here and now and is based on the places we may know, then attention to detail is paramount – but with layers of atmosphere added in, these places we may know well may start to question our knowledge and add to the sense of thrill – perfect for a crime novel.
Coles Book Club next week with Simon Mason and his thriller ‘A Killing in November’ ticks all the boxes of a great crime novel – Characters, Plot, Location – all are top notch, and you’ve still got time to join the conversation this coming Thursday, because those pages are going to furiously turn themselves.
To A Snowdrop by William Wordsworth
Lone Flower, hemmed in with snows and white as they
But hardier far, once more I see thee bend
Thy forehead, as if fearful to offend,
Like an unbidden guest. Though day by day,
Storms, sallying from the mountain-tops, waylay
The rising sun, and on the plains descend;
Yet art thou welcome, welcome as a friend
Whose zeal outruns his promise! Blue-eyed May
Shall soon behold this border thickly set
With bright jonquils, their odours lavishing
On the soft west-wind and his frolic peers;
Nor will I then thy modest grace forget,
Chaste Snowdrop, venturous harbinger of Spring,
And pensive monitor of fleeting years!
The humble tin of tomatoes has carried many budding cooks through dinners to impress, first-time vegetarian meals, and speedy weeknights, which is why The Tinned Tomatoes Cookbook must be one of our top picks this week. Samuel Goldsmith sets out to prove that the tinned tomato is far from a boring base, with recipes rich in flavour and suitable for all diets. And if you’ve ever read So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson, you’ll love the debut fiction from Julius Taranto, How I Won A Nobel Prize.This acerbic novel follows a couple thrown into disarray when Helen, a young physicist with a plan to save the planet, joins her disgraced university advisor on an island for the deplorable. Is it worth sacrificing her morals and relationship when the future of the planet is at risk?
In fiction, Rob Rinder, famous for his reality court show, turns his hand to crime – when a policeman with an array of enemies is poisoned in the Old Bailey; trainee barrister Adam Green comes up against a challenging trial. The Bone Hunters is set in the idyllic and fascinating Lyme Regis in 1824, when poor Ada Winters and doctor Edwin Moyle unearth unusual fossils that could lead to their downfall. In sci-fi and fantasy, bookseller Cassie receives a magical book, one of many that can do wonderful or disastrous things in The Book of Doors; and Karen Lord’s The Best of All Possible Worlds is a brilliant story of clashing cultures, the ties between home and identity, and how we care for each other.
Non-fiction is abuzz this week with something for all interests: Tom Chatfield delivers a broad sense of technology in Wise Animals, which covers everything from palaeolithic hand tools to AI; Amitav Ghosh discovers how the opium trade propped up the British Empire, lies behind some of the world’s most powerful families, and personally relates to his history; and Ben Dobson leaps into football history with three monumental managers in Too Good to be Forgotten, a record of the pitch between 1975 and 1985. Nothing goes to waste in Visible Mending, the eco-friendly companion for the crafter’s studio; Arounna Khounnoraj gives stylish and practical tricks for saving those threadbare jumpers and socks.
Lastly, we have some great picks for younger readers. David Baddiel’s The Parent Agency celebrates its 10th Anniversary with new bonus material; this captivating chapter book is an adventure in wish-fulfilment as Barry Bennett discovers the joys and tribulations of picking his perfect parents. And in Epic Adventures, 12 amazing train journeys take little ones all around the world, all while spotting ancient temples and sipping tea with spies.
As always, if there’s something you need help with, or a book you need ordering, please call or email us!
From Sophie
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