STORY BEHIND 'MURDER AMONG THE ROSES' WITH LIZ FIELDING

What’s the inspiration for this book?

Many years ago I watched a documentary, Forgotten Lives, about the appalling treatment of poorly educated young women who fell foul of an insidious law regarding “moral delinquency”. They were locked up for the good of the community and those whose family didn’t rescue them spent a lifetime in mental institutions. I immediately had an idea for a story and bought the original book, but my writing time was fully contracted and my notes lay at the bottom of my desk drawer. Then came lockdown and I knew that if I didn’t write the story that had never left me, I would always regret it.

Who are three writers that inspire you?

Just three? I’m a big fan of the golden age, but great characters and locations draw me back to an author time after time. Falco, the Roman detective written so brilliantly by Lindsey Davis. Elly Griffiths doesn’t just bring Ruth Galloway to life, but there’s the additional joy of the Norfolk landscape. And I love Lesley Cookman’s Libby Sarjeant who is always tripping over bodies in her native Kent.

Tell us about your characters?

Abby Finch studied horticulture but her ambition has been thwarted first by the need to care for her mother and then by pregnancy. She is now running a one-man gardening business while dealing with the fall-out of her husband moving in with his pregnant “trophy” girlfriend and imminent divorce. In an attempt to protect their three children from the worst of the marriage breakdown, she has allowed her ex to bully her into restoring the garden of the family home he’s inherited. This is bad enough, but then she finds the bones of a long-dead baby.

Did anything funny happen while you were writing the book?

I quickly learned that there are a great many secondary characters in crime fiction. Having forgotten the surname of one character I did a global search and discovered that I had three minor characters called Steve. I now keep a running spreadsheet!

Tell us about the setting?

Maybridge will be familiar to readers of my romances, but for this series I needed to bring it more sharply into focus. It’s small, but very old and set in a dip in the Cotswolds. The river has made it a busy place since Tudor times, but now it’s beginning to move into the twenty-first century. Although it’s entirely imaginary, I’ve used Bradford on Avon as my template.

How do you want readers to feel when they’ve finished your book?

I hope they’ll feel that they’ve been on an interesting journey with me that has left them satisfied — and eager to read the next book!

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FIRST IN A NEW COZY MYSTERY SERIES BY LIZ FIELDING