BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS WITH C. J. GRAYSON

Hello everyone. I am C.J. Grayson, author of The Little Girl in the Wardrobe. To all my readers: I hope you’ll really enjoy the book. What I’d like to do is start a discussion. I have some questions — for those who’ve already read the book — and I’d love to hear your thoughts.

How does Selena’s hit-and-run shape your view of her character?

When I wrote the book, I wanted to create a character who was generally quite good, warm and caring, but for something to happen to them — something almost life changing. How would they react to it and how would that change their character? Not only was Selena involved in the hit-and-run but something else happened. If you’ve read the story, you know she has another choice to make which involves blackmail. I wanted to make her a good character, for her to turn into someone she isn’t. Throughout the book you do see glimpses of her better nature, and I do think she’s just being put in an awkward situation. In a situation where maybe she doesn’t have a choice. But you definitely see a darker side to Selena too.

How did you feel about Tanzy and Byrd’s handling of the case?

Because this is the fourth book in the series, I feel like I know them really well. I hope you’ll agree that Byrd and Tanzy are very different this time around, but they seem to work really well together. They’ve got their own qualities, and as a writer I have based certain elements of them on myself. I think I’m more like Detective Max Byrd but I think Detective Orion Tanzy is someone I’d rather be. A bit taller, a bit thinner, more tanned, know judo, have a six pack, that type of thing. I do think they complement each other. Tanzy is naturally more gifted and intelligent but he can get quite lazy, whereas Byrd is a lot more determined and driven. Regarding the police work they bounce off each other really well. It’s difficult sometimes because with a police procedural, you want to let the story unravel, but you don’t want to let it unravel too soon and if the detectives work something out too quick then the novel is over and if you take your time the novel is too long.

Which character did you find most relatable or compelling, and why?

One of my favourite characters in this book is probably Selena because I think, in her heart, she is a nice person who makes a mistake at the start of the novel and is then faced with a very difficult decision. A proposition that she will either agree to or reject. If she rejected it would put her in a tricky situation with the police. If she accepted, she would also be in a tricky situation because she’d have to hide from a lot of people. As the novel unravels you see those secrets unfold and it doesn’t go to plan. But my favourite character is probably Reggie Cook. He’s just a chilled guy who has a lot going on. He’s been friends with Selena for a long time and has been working at West Manor, the historic building that I used as the anchor point. But I also really like Jarett Banks. I feel like he’s a nasty man — the kind of man I wouldn’t want to be associated with — and he’s involved with some dangerous people back in Warrington. He ends up in Darlington, out for revenge and determined to put his own individual situation right. But I really enjoyed all the characters in this book. Some of them are really dark, just how I like them.

Which scene or twist stood out the most to you, and why?

The scene that I enjoyed writing the most is towards the end of the book and involves a car chase. It goes from the edge of town, out of town and ends up on a farm somewhere. The bad guys are trying to get away, officers are hunting them down and it ends up in a shoot off  — and there’s helicopters. I really enjoyed it because I could vividly imagine exactly what’s going on. I knew exactly what turns the cars were taking and the speed of the road, the sound of the tyres on the tarmac. I loved it, I really did. I hope that the scene becomes as vivid to read as it was to write.