Tomorrow (May 10th) is publication day for The Suspects by Katharine Johnson. She's here to talk about why she wrote the book.
Welcome, Katharine! Please tell us more...
Thanks Sue. Here's the blurb:
Shallow Grave meets The Secret History in this quirky psychological thriller.
Bristol,
1988. Five
young graduates on the threshold of their careers buy a house together in order
to get a foot on the property ladder before prices rocket out of their reach.
But it soon becomes the house-share from hell.
After
their New Year’s Eve party, they discover a body – and it's clear they’ll be
the first suspects. As each of them has a good reason from their past not to
trust the police, they come up with a solution – one which forces them into a
life of secrets and lies. But can they trust each other?
Why
I chose to write about the house-share from hell
Like my other books, The
Suspects is about a life-changing decision. My characters aren’t evil,
but are responsible for what happens because they make decisions which
determine their fate. As Emily says: “We aren’t bad people, we
just made a bad choice.”
Although The Suspects is
about a crime and is quite angst-ridden, it’s not a blood-and-guts thriller or
police procedural and is far more about the psychology of the characters.
I chose a shared house for the setting because I wanted the story to
take place in a small, claustrophobic environment with a limited number of
characters, to maximise the tensions between them.
Buying a house with four strangers obviously isn’t ideal, but Emily,
Stuart, Xanthe, Zak and Imogen are all new to the town and have just started
work in the same company on a journalism training scheme and have been unhappy
with their current accommodation. They’ve shared houses before as students and
they don’t want to miss out on the opportunity to buy somewhere before it’s too
late.
The shared house is in Clifton, a very desirable part of town, and they’d
never be able to afford a house like this on their own. The plan is to own it
for a short time and then sell and go their separate ways.
To begin with they’re on their best behaviour, but the cracks in their
relationship soon start to show. But as co-owners rather than tenants of the
property, the five are trapped by the house and are jointly responsible for the
increasing mortgage payments, which piles on the pressure. Because of the
economic climate they have no chance of selling up.
And then of course they find the body…
It’s the 1980s, so they spend a lot of their time playing Scruples, but
they’re now forced into making a huge moral decision. They don’t choose to find
a body after their party but they do make a series of decisions as a result.
Just at the point where they find how incompatible they are they’re
suddenly forced together, and depend on each other to stay ahead of the police,
but at the same time they’re starting to question whether one of them knows how
the body got there and whether they’re safe in the house. One lie leads to
another, secrets are uncovered, and the climate of mutual suspicion escalates.
Will they stick together as agreed or save themselves?
Find out
more
There will be extracts, info and fun facts at The Suspects Online
Launch Party on Facebook tomorrow – just click this link and select Going.
You can read the opening using the Look Inside feature or buy the book
here https://mybook.to/thesuspects
Book details
Publication
date: 10 May 2019
Number of
pages: 316
ISBN
9781091512429
Katharine Johnson writes
psychological and historical suspense set in England and Italy. She grew up in
Bristol and now lives in Berkshire. She’s worked as a journalist on lots of
magazines and has written a history book which will be published later this
year. When not writing you’ll find her with a book in one hand and a coffee in
the other, restoring a house in Italy, walking her spaniel, or playing netball
(although not usually at the same time.)
Thanks so much for having me on your blog today Sue x
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, Katy. Please come again! xx
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