THE FORTUNES OF WAR - a writer's inspirations

THE FORTUNES OF WAR

a writer's inspirations.

Last week I finished writing BLOOD ON THE STRAND, book three in the DI Sonny Russell series of crime novels. Hurrah! and Oh dear! I felt a sense of satisfaction for sticking to something for over a year coupled with a strange sense of loss. I've felt this before and the best thing, I find, is to get on with the next project - straight away. But what to write?

I've long had an interest in the esoteric, particularly Tarot cards and the germ of an idea featuring them had been lurking at the back of my mind for some time. But how to use them in a story? I remembered I'd come across an actual unsolved case known as The Wirral Pillbox Murder where the body of a prostitute was found in a WW2 pillbox in 1955. Despite a huge manhunt, which saw 40,000 people being quizzed across the country, her murder still remains unsolved. 

Now, if that didn't start my imagination rolling, nothing would. Obviously, I wouldn't use the story - I write fiction, after all, but a fortune teller and a body in a pillbox? A rotten cold has meant an enforced rest from anything physical but pounding a keyboard isn't physical - is it? So, I'm happy to say that BLOOD ON THE CARDS has seen the light of day and is now well underway.