Thanks so much to E. M. Powell for answering my questions about her writing and her latest book The Canterbury Murders.
Q1. This is the third book in the Stanton and Barling mystery series, what first drew you to this period?
There’s something very exciting and intriguing about the medieval period. The legends of King Arthur, the Holy Grail, Robin Hood. Valiant sword-wielding knights in chainmail. Huge intact castles and ruined monasteries that still dominate the landscape. We see these cropping up again and again and continue to do so in our modern-day story telling. Game of Thrones, for instance, borrows heavily from that period in history. But it is a period of almost a thousand years from the fifth to the fifteenth century and my fiction certainly doesn’t span that! Mine is set in Britain and Ireland in the late twelfth century, and the reign of Henry II in particular.
The name might not ring an immediate bell. But Henry’s the king who fought with Thomas Becket, as in, ‘who-will-rid-me-of-this-meddlesome-priest’ Henry.
People remember the Henry/Becket saga, not because of years of power struggles between the King and his then Archbishop of Canterbury. It’s fair to say that arguments about ecclesiastical law don’t tend to stick in the popular imagination. People remember because of Becket’s brutal murder, itself the subject of numerous plays and films.
In December 1170, Henry’s rage at Becket had reached new heights, ending with the words: "He has...shamed my realm; the grief goes to my heart, and no-one has avenged me!" Unfortunately, a group of four knights who were listening took Henry at his word. They set off for Canterbury to avenge their king.
And avenge him they did, in the most brutal manner. They slew Thomas Becket on one of the altars in Canterbury Cathedral. It was a murder that shocked all of Christendom and made a Martyr of Becket, with thousands of pilgrims flocking to his tomb in the years that followed. I used this murder as the inspiration for my historical thriller Fifth Knight series, where I added an extra fictional member to the group of murderous knights.
I’m happy to relate that readers took the fictional Sir Benedict Palmer to their hearts, as they did my twelfth-century world. But even more happily, Henry was the gift that kept on giving.
I found out in the course of my research that Henry carried out major reform of criminal law. He established procedures of criminal justice, addressing how serious felonies such as murder, robbery and theft would be dealt with. Anyone who was accused of such crimes would be put in prison to await trial. Those trials could only be heard by the King’s justices, who travelled the country to do so. The justices provided a system of criminal investigation for the whole country.
As somebody who has always wanted a write a crime series, this opportunity was too good to pass up. Step forward Aelred Barling, my fictional King’s clerk, and his assistant, messenger Hugo Stanton, who was a minor character in my Fifth Knight series.
Stanton and Barling made their first outing in The King’s Justice, where they had to investigate the brutal murder of a village smith.
Again, readers have taken Barling and Stanton and to their hearts. They are also very pleased with the numbers of characters that are dispatched in the course of the novels, in creative ways inspired by the twelfth century.
Q2. What appeals to you about the mystery genre? and what comes first for you, character or plot?
It’s the deep satisfaction of solving a puzzle. In a murder mystery story, author and reader are engaged in a battle of wits to see who will get to the answer first. That’s a hugely enjoyable pursuit for both. I know from readers’ reviews and messages that whether they identified the killer or not is part of the fun. It’s also fascinating that failing to guess or guessing correctly seem to be equally satisfying. I feel the same when I read a great mystery. But I must confess to getting an enormous kick out of being on the other side and successfully pulling the rabbit of the hat— it really does feel like magic!
The core questions in any mystery are who killed this person and why. This is the first one I ask myself and the first one I answer. Then I work back from there. Our investigators, Stanton and Barling, ultimately find out in the course of the novel. But I will have known from page one. That’s my plot and I plan it down to the last detail.
Plot alone won’t hold a reader’s interest alone. Successful mysteries and mystery series are those which have investigators who readers root for. They should not be perfect individuals and it helps if they are deeply flawed. Without a central investigator to care about, readers may persist to see the overall solving of the crime but they are unlikely to care. If they care, they want their investigator to succeed. That investigator, or in my case, my investigators, Stanton and Barling, have backstories and lives that existed long before page one. As I’ve said above, readers have taken this unlikely pair to their hearts and care about them as much as they do the successful solving of the mystery.
Q3. You have previously written a book that was partly set in Ireland (Lord of Ireland). Do you think you will write more stories set in Ireland?
I hugely enjoyed researching and writing The Lord of Ireland, which is the Fifth Knight novel where Sir Benedict Palmer accompanies Henry’s son John (later to become the hated King John) on his campaign as Lord of Ireland. The real history tells us that. John being John, all went very badly. It gave me a lot to go at as a novelist! I was born and brought up in Ireland, so it was a real treat to explore that part of my heritage. As for whether I’d do another one, I always said I wouldn’t do the first one, and then I did. Never say never is probably the shorter answer!
Q4. What is a typical writing day for you? Do you plan very carefully or do you just dive in and write?
A typical writing day is wishing it had more hours in it! Whether it’s the dog or the dishes, there’s always another job that needs sorting. I really envy people who can write in short chunks. I need a good couple of hours at a stretch to really get stuck in. Mystery writing takes a lot of concentration as well and even one interruption like a delivery can scatter all those carefully compiled mental threads to the wind. I have from time to time resorted to writing through the night when the rest of the house/world has gone to sleep. I’m left with the quiet and the dark- bliss!
Q5. Are there other periods in history you would like to explore?
I think every period is interesting and there are some fascinating stories from other eras out there. But I know the amount of research involved, as any historical novelist will tell you. The idea of starting from scratch with another era is just too daunting!
Q6. Tell me who are the authors that inspire you?
I love Agatha Christie, of course. I could never come close to her sublime mystery writing. Tess Gerritsen’s contemporary Rizzoli & Isles series are brilliant thrillers. I love the historical mysteries of C.J. Sansom and Robert Harris.
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Great interview! Thank you very much for hosting EM Powell!
ReplyDeleteAmy
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