INDIE AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: J.M. DALGLIESH

This week, we're over the moon to feature bestselling author J.M. Dalgliesh!

Jason Dalgliesh was born on the south coast of England and grew up in Hampshire, UK. He has worked in the power transmission industry, the retail sector, call centres and as a night-owl in a bakery. He has a degree in history.

Jason has seen multiple books top the charts in the USA, Canada and Australia and has sold in excess of two million copies to date. Penned in the style of crime thrillers with a touch of Scandinavian noir, readers who enjoy dark atmospheric mysteries will find both series a must-read.

One Lost Soul, the first book in his bestselling series of Hidden Norfolk thrillers featuring DI Tom Janssen, hit #1 in the Amazon charts and the fifth book, Hear No Evil, was shortlisted for Amazon’s prestigious Kindle Storyteller Award in 2020. Read on for a fascinating Q&A interview with Jason . . .

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1. Describe your latest book in three words.

What else could I say apart from: My best yet!

2. What author, dead or alive, would you like to have dinner with?

Homer. Let me first caveat the choice by assuming that Homer did exist and was indeed one person, as opposed to the possibility that stories attributed to him have coalesced around this classical figure with modern academic debate surrounding evidence of his existence. To have written The Iliad and The Odyssey — albeit stemming from a tradition of verbal storytelling — several thousand years ago and for them to still be able to capture the imagination of a modern audience so far removed from what was familiar is testament to the power of storytelling. I wonder what he would have made of it all, and I would love to be able to ask the same questions often asked of me; how much of your characters are imagined and how much of you are in them? Would he respond by offering the same wry smile as I usually do?

3. What's the strangest thing you've had to research for a book?

I had to research states of decomposition for a forensic analysis scene in one of my books which led me to a facility in Tennessee nicknamed ‘The Body Farm’ where they study rates of decomposition in different environmental conditions. It was truly fascinating stuff, although I used very little of the detail in the subsequent book because I’m a little too squeamish . . .

4. Who would you want to play your main characters in a film/TV adaptation — any why?

I am on thin ice with this question because the production team are speaking to talent at the moment, and therefore I cannot risk their wrath by revealing something I shouldn’t! I am also loath to assign particular names to any characters of mine because I am a strong believer that an actor must have the freedom to bring their own interpretation to the role. As an author, I present my books to the audience and what one reader sees in their mind’s eye will likely be very different to the view of another. This characteristic in my writing style is very deliberate allowing the reader to form their own world within my framework. A good example of this can be found in the contrast between the Mediterranean looks and jet black hair of DI Jimmy Perez and Douglas Henshall’s presentation of the same character in the TV adaptation, and I would challenge anyone who thinks the latter was a poor choice for the role.

However, not referring to any specific character in my work, I would look for an actor with a wide range to their acting ability. My characters are complex and any choice would need to be able to reflect that. One such name would be Paddy Considine; from the slightly disturbing Dead Man’s Shoes to comedy roles alongside Simon Pegg, and more recently in the Game of Thrones spin-off series, House of the Dragon. The talent and range of the man is truly exceptional. I would add Claire Foy to the list as well. She has demonstrated her on-screen talent on multiple occasions in Hilary Mantell’s Wolf Hall, playing Stieg Larsson’s iconic Lisbeth Salander and more recently in The Crown. Should my LA based production team be reading this, please do take note!

5. What are you currently reading and watching?

One of the great perks of being a successful writer is that publishers regularly send me their clients’ works, so I have a massive ‘to read pile’ that I am working through. It will be no secret to readers of my books how Scandi crime fiction has heavily influenced my own work. Recently I’ve been enjoying the work of Tove Alsterdal’s High Coast series set in northern Sweden. We Know You Remember was the first to be translated into English, and is excellent, and I am currently reading the second, You Will Never Be Found, which will be out soon. I enjoy regular publications by my fellow British crime writers, Simon McCleave, JD Kirk, to name but a couple. Television is a little trickier as we have two young children and I fill my free time, before they wake up and after they go to bed, with my writing, so finding an hour or two to sit down on the sofa is not easy. The Marriage, with Nicola Walker and Sean Bean, has made for good drama and we have a host of crime shows, both domestic and foreign language, that are earmarked, but we’ve not yet found the time to watch . . .

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