Q&A WITH PAULINE ROWSON
Could you briefly introduce yourself?
I love creating fast-paced, twisty crime novels set against the backdrop of the sea. I live on an island on the south coast of England and when not writing, which isn’t often, I can be found walking coastal locations looking for a good place to hide a body — fictional, that is.
What kind of thrillers do you love?
British crime classics of the Golden Age of Crime are my favourites, set between the 1930s and the beginning of the 1950s. Sprinkled with a large dose of George Simenon’s Maigret novels and a couple of classic American authors, namely Hilda Lawrence, Raymond Chandler and Mary Roberts Rinehart.
What are you currently reading?
I’m re-reading Calamity in Kent by John Rowland set in 1950.
Describe your series in three words.
A reviewer sums it up quite nicely: ‘cleverly-plotted, enjoyable, multiple-intrigues’.
Who would you pick to play the main characters from your series?
No idea. My readers might have suggestions — all are welcome. Otherwise, I’ll leave it up to a good casting director to find the right actors.
What’s the most interesting thing you had to research for this series?
The forensic research is always fascinating. I love all aspects of it, but if pushed I’d say blood spatter and blood pattern analysis is the most interesting. It can tell a great deal about the method of murder — where a victim was struck, if he/she has been moved — and can leave an incriminating trail that can lead my detective to nailing the criminal.