john harvey murray
Blog
Is nostalgia the latest thing?
Nostalgia is still with us Nostalgia is part of the appeal of a lot of books. I don't mean historical novels as much as those about the recent past. People like books that remind them of their youth or of happier times. Perhaps times before the internet and mobile...
Cold cases are hot in crime fiction
Cold cases are often in the news Cold cases such as the White House Farm Murder get a lot of publicity when someone manages to open them up again. Sometimes something reminds us they are still live, like the Maddie McCann case. I'm glad the police so often don't give...
Honour killing: does it exist?
Honour Killing : a drama Honour killings were the subject of an ITV mini series this week. It was a dramatisation of the real-life case of the murder of a Kurdish Teenager, Banaz Mahmod, by members of her family. Her offense was that she left her husband and then...
Are you getting more stress than ever?
Stress affected many people in Lockdown Some of us hoped there would be less stress once it was eased and we could go out again and do more things. Alas! That is not how it has been. Now we seem to be going backwards and the rules seem to be changing all the time....
Why am I glad New Money is set in Wales?
Wales is the setting for all the Accounting for Murder series Although living in Wales, my hero, Frank Hill, is a Lancastrian, like myself, who has settled in Cardiff, as I once did. All his adventures take place in the Principality, apart from some forays into...
What benefits do you get from New Money?
Everyone benefits from reading a good book. The benefits which Val McDermid identifies are impressive. She says she has noticed that people who read fiction make better leaders, while citing several current examples, including her friend Nicola Sturgeon. She notes...
New Money: an apology to readers
Apology? Why? In the preface to New Money I wrote: This book was written just as Wales was coming out of Lockdown and I have tried to make the setting as realistic as possible. Of course, things might well have changed by the time you read this, hopefully for the...
Do you want New Money?
What is New Money? New Money is the latest book in my series Accounting for Murder. It was hinted at in a recent piece about me in the Warrington Guardian on how I have been spending my time during Lockdown. What is New Money About? New Money is set in the present,...
Is the injustice in the story of DOWN credible?
Who says the injustice in DOWN is not credible? Some of the early feedback from DOWN is that the injustice the hero tries to correct would never have happened. If you think so, you might find it hard to get into the story, although some readers don't care, they just...
How could I not notice Bristol’s racism in the 1970’s?
Bristol's racism has been in the news a lot Bristol's racism was highlighted by the toppling of the statue of Edward Coulston. Since then we have been told of discrimination official and unofficial over the decades. The bus company refused to employ non-whites until...
We need enquiring minds across society.
What are my heroes enquiring into? Heroes in crime fiction need enquiring minds in order to uncover crimes, injustices, cover-ups, negligence or corruption. I have written about police corruption and its possible relevance to my novel DOWN. Some of the characters try...
How did I create the hero of DOWN?
Why is the hero an elderly man? A hero is usually young and err... heroic. Harry Lawton seems a bit unlikely, but this was not a mistake. I wanted him to be old enough to have served in the War He had to be old enough to have had a grown-up son His being near to...