MURDER ON HIS MIND

Where better than the idyllic, crime-free, pastoral landscape of Rutland with its gentle folk and even gentler way of life to base a series of crime novels? Practically anywhere one would have thought... Local author Adam Croft has more than managed it though. Have a read and see for yourself; you’ll be one of the 2,000,000 readers the author has gained since publishing his first book ten years ago.

Words & Images: Rob Davis.

SOMETIMES LIFE DOESN’T GO YOUR WAY. I’d love to say, if nothing else for dramatic effect, that I’m staring into the cold bleak eyes of a sinister individual. But in fact, author Adam Croft is a handsome, neatly turned out, lovely guy; as articulate as one would expect and (seemingly) well-adjusted.

Not ideal for a magazine writer seeking to plumb the depth of cliches and paint the picture of a maladjusted crime writer obsessed with the very darkest deeds... but.. I’ll take it.

Speaking of life not going your way, it wasn’t a great day for one (thankfully, only fictional) individual whose body washed up on the shores of Rutland Water recently. Spoiler alert; this wasn’t a skinny dipping adventure gone wrong - there’s murder afoot and there’s only one Rutland based detective we’d trust to sort out the whole grubby business.

Tell us about DI Caroline Hills... The lead character in a novel is usually the window to the story; the senses, the eyes and ears of the reader. I wanted Caroline to be a normal family woman to ensure she remained relatable. She’s from London and moved to Rutland after working in the Met. It’s been a bit of a culture shock to her, moving to a quieter, more pastoral county, and in my first book set in Rutland, What Lies Beneath, she comes across as a bit brash and insensitive. She’s softened a little with the publication of the second book, and we find that Rutland has shaped her own personal challenges, helping her to find a little resolution.

Caroline has also found a good ally in the form of DS Dexter Antoine who is able to stand up to her a bit, tell it like it is. She respects that, and we see that there’s a real friendship developing between them.

Why set your novels in Rutland? I was born in Bedfordshire but my parents moved to the area about 10 years ago. I’ve spent two or three days a week up here since becoming an author.

There’s something about the area, it has a certain appeal. Whether it’s the scenery, the culture or the sense of community I don’t know, but it makes it really easy to focus the mind. Rutland is the first real location I’ve ever used and I was hesitant to do it for fear of making it seem less idyllic than it is, but I’d like to think I’m doing the place justice, demonstrating all the good that there is here, not turning it into the next Midsomer!

What made you first write about crime? Ironically it comes from a desire to make people happy. I passed up a chance to go to university and career wise, I was always one of life’s floaters, I’d worked in a couple of marketing jobs, as a web designer and I tried acting too, which was actually a big help in learning how to get into a character’s mind, but armed with A-levels in English, IT, psychology and philosophy each of which have proved useful, I decided to publish my work independently.

Why publish independently? A book takes a lot of time to write and you only have to arrive on the wrong person’s desk or on someone’s desk when they haven’t the time to read it properly and the chance of being published could be missed.

I started to write my first book at the age of 22 and it was published two years later. Since then I’ve written and independently published about 30 different titles and I enjoy the freedom of being self-employed but still in a creative profession. I work hard, never taking for granted the fact that I’ve a job I enjoy very much, but it never ceases to be a pleasure!

How do you work? The ideas and plot take as much effort as getting the ideas down in words. I try to have a rough idea of my next two books and let the ideas ferment in my mind. Stories of course have a beginning, a middle and an end, so it’s a case of knowing where you are, and using waypoints to get to the next destination in small steps that are understandable and natural to the reader.

I’ve an appreciation for psychology and that helps in terms of making people, characters, relatable and realistic in terms of their body language, their non-verbal communication, and their motivation. >>

>> Once I know what I want to write, I sit down at my laptop, usually in my office but occasionally in the garden, and try to complete the actual writing in the morning.

Each book is around 55,000-60,000 words in length so I set myself an informal target of writing 2,000 words a day, over 30 working days. It’s a pacemaker target rather than a hard and fast rule, but I always feel more comfortable knowing that I’m making steady progress - it takes the pressure off.

I’m very lucky as my wife Jo has recently taken on the running of the office, which helps enormously. You could actually be an author who publishes independently and never get around to writing a word... there’s always something to do from liaising with vendors, to marketing and bookkeeping, proof-reading and so on. Having Jo helping to keep me focused is really great!

How do you write a good crime novel? People always enjoy knowing ‘why.’ The crime writer Agatha Christie wrote a series of books founded on the premise that there are a total of just seven motives to murder.

The inherent pleasure of a good crime novel is to keep the reader guessing. Some readers take pleasure in figuring it out; others like to be fooled or kept guessing.

I think it’s akin to the craft of a good sleight and misdirects you!

The murderer has to be one of the characters you’ve introduced... you couldn’t have a crime novel in which the perpetrator is someone random, someone you’ve never ever met.

So let’s assume there are 20 characters in a book, you’ve less than a one in 20 chance of guessing the correct person - assuming the lead character, fellow police officer etc., isn’t going to act out of character and without prior warning.

Is that a ‘rule’ of writing? Not so much a rule but you can get away with a lot as an author as long as there’s a reason or a motivation for a character’s actions. It’s the old convention for writers that if you introduce a gun on a shelf, chances are it’s going to be fired at some point. Readers accept that. Think of it like music; you don’t have to be able to play an instrument yourself to know whether someone is performing something well or badly.

You’ve expectation and as you listen to a song or a tune you recognise if that piece is concordant, if it’s in the same key. Music has structure, as much as it has variation, and readers have the same expectations.

Do you ever suffer writers’ block? I don’t think writers’ block is a condition in and of itself. All sorts of things can get in the way of writing, from distractions to having a section of the story which isn’t clear in your mind or isn’t planned as well as the rest of the story.

It’s definitely easier when you’re in the right frame of mind to write, but if it’s not quite flowing it helps to take a step back and work out why.

But you sometimes have a little help? Yes... sometimes it’s too quiet. We’ve a three year old son and occasionally it’s nice to have a bit of background noise, but when he’s not there it can feel a little too eerie.

I’ve discovered that Tibetan bowl music or meditation music as a track in the background can help the writing process! I’ve also taken to lighting incense sticks... both together can actually double the number of words I can write in a day! It’s become quite a Pavlovian reaction; I seem to smell the incense and start to write!

Are your stories standalone novels? Each book can be read independently, but the Rutland crime series does have an arc which continues across the first two books and the third one, which will be published in spring 2021. I’ve completed the next novel in my Kempston Hardwick Mysteries series, which is a ‘cosier’ series of novel, a little more akin to an Agatha Christie or Sherlock Holmes mystery - like something from the golden age of crime fiction.

I’ve also produced a series of stories under the Knight & Culverhouse and Young Culverhouse set which is a bit grittier, quite a bit darker.

The Rutland crime series is a little more accessible, with none of the bad language and gore, two things which are dramatic, but shouldn’t be used gratuitously.

Have we seen the last of crime in Rutland? Things appear to have settled down in the county for now, but I have a feeling that somewhere, something is happening that will keep Caroline busy in 2021... and my readers too.

Where do we find your books? of hand magician who keeps you wondering

I’m very grateful to Rutland for providing such a great location in which to set my novels, so I’m always keen to favour local retailers. I like to make sure that books purchased in local bookshops are sold at the same price or cheaper than on Amazon, and that local retailers receive signed copies. There’s a full list of stockists on my website.

And we can hear you speaking about you craft online too? I’m really lucky to be deemed one of the world’s leading experts on independent publishing, and I’ve been featured on BBC Radio 4, on BBC TV, in The Guardian and on the Huffington Post. I’ve sold 2,000,000 books to date in over 138 different countries.

In March 2018 I was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Arts from The University of Bedfordshire and I present Partners in Crime, a podcast with fellow author Robert Daws.

If you believe you have a book inside you, there’s no point in waiting. Whether it’s the first of many drafts and whether you independently publish your work or it’s something you do just for pleasure I think writing is one of the most creative and rewarding processes... it gives me an enormous amount of pleasure and I’m so grateful that I’m able to share my work with others who appreciate it! n

n Adam Croft is the independently published author who has found Rutland a great inspiration... his books are available from good local independent bookshops or online from www.adamcroft.net.

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