The story that refuses to behave...
“The Best Corpse for the Job” was my first
contemporary romantic cosy mystery, although not my first mystery per se. I’ve
got a running series, the Cambridge Fellows mysteries, set in the early
twentieth century. So I guess it was natural for people to ask me whether “Best
Corpse” would be the start of a whole new
series, my answer to which was a definite “maybe”. I’d hate to commit myself,
even in passing, to something I couldn’t definitely deliver.
But the idea nagged at me, although I didn’t
have any burning ideas for a new mystery for Detective Inspector Robin Bright
and his newly acquired boyfriend, Adam Matthews, to investigate. Then I
remembered. The dreaded WIP. I’d
better explain. I have a story I started maybe five years ago, which I keep
getting out, poking at and putting back again. I’ve no idea how many times I’ve
revised the first few chapters to perfection, then given up. I even gave it a
major overhaul, changing some of the key details of the storyline to try to
kick start it, but without success. Those of you who are authors will quite
possibly be nodding sympathetically at this point as I suspect many of us have
such a problem story in our vaults.
What was the problem with this WIP? Too much/too
difficult specific research needed for the setting I was using, maybe.
Unconvincing storyline and main characters, possibly. Lack of an overarching
story arc, the sort of thing you could put into a one-line “elevator pitch”.
Quite likely a combination of all of those.
Then I had a bright (excuse pun) idea. That
WIP could be cannibalized effectively to provide a new story for Robin and
Adam, combining elements from the original storyline and a character from the
major revision. So far so good, although it’s only early days. At least I feel
I can actually finish it, this time. So, Norma, I have to ask, have you got a
story that refuses to behave?
~Charlie
~Charlie
Blurb:
Tea
and sympathy have never been so deadly.
Schoolteacher Adam Matthews just wants to
help select a new headteacher and go home. The governors at Lindenshaw St
Crispin’s have already failed miserably at finding the right candidate, so it’s
make or break this second time round. But when one of the applicants is found
strangled in the school, what should have been a straightforward decision turns
tempestuous as a flash flood in their small English village.
Inspector Robin Bright isn’t thrilled to be
back at St. Crispin’s. Memories of his days there are foul enough without
tossing in a complicated murder case. And that handsome young teacher has him
reminding himself not to fraternize with a witness. But it’s not long before
Robin is relying on Adam for more than just his testimony.
As secrets amongst the governors emerge and a
second person turns up dead, Robin needs to focus less on Adam and more on his
investigation. But there are too many suspects, too many lies, and too many
loose ends. Before they know it, Robin and Adam are fighting for their lives
and their hearts.
Excerpt:
As if on cue, the
rozzers—it had to be the police, Adam thought, as no other grey-suited
individuals would be lurking around the school—came through it.
“Ah, Inspector Bright,”
Victor said. “We were just wondering when you’d be here to tell us what’s going
on.”
“A murder enquiry’s going
on.” The inspector’s voice preceded him into the room.
Christine clasped her
hands to her mouth. “Murder? Oh . . .”
The inspector appeared,
nodding sympathetically. “I’m afraid so. Which means we’ll need to get a
statement from each one of you before you can go.”
If the policeman said
anything else, Adam didn’t quite catch it. He was feeling confused enough, so
to have—Wright, Bright, what the hell had Victor said his name was?—walk
through the door looking like that sent his thoughts off in ten directions.
Policemen weren’t supposed to be so tall, dark, and stupidly handsome. Apart
from in Adam’s fantasies.
Oliver’s voice interrupted
the unwanted germination of some inappropriate thoughts in Adam’s brain.
“Perhaps you could take Mrs. Probert’s statement first? She has two small
children at the school, and they’ll need her to pick them up at the end of the
lessons.” His unexpected thoughtfulness earned him one of Christine’s stunning
smiles.
“Happy to oblige,” the
inspector said with kindness.
Why did Adam never seem to
meet blokes who reacted to his smile the way they reacted to Christine’s? Why
couldn’t this policeman favour him with a flash of those dark eyes?
“Perhaps you could come
along now, Mrs. Probert, and my sergeant could take you through things?” The
sergeant looked like that was the best news he’d heard all day. “Anyone else
need to get away urgently?”
For a moment—only a
moment—Adam felt like shouting, Take me, take me now! but this was serious
business. Was it defiance or denial in the face of sudden death that made him
feel like behaving like a schoolboy? Or was it simply the incongruity of
somebody like the inspector walking through the door? Instant chemistry, that’s
what they called it, but he’d never come across such a sensation before. It was
the romantic equivalent of being hit over the head with a sock full of wet
sand.
Then he remembered why the
police were here—Youngs’s body, those awful teeth—and felt sick again.
Author
Bio:
As Charlie Cochrane couldn't be trusted to do
any of her jobs of choice—like managing a rugby team—she writes. Her favourite
genre is gay fiction, predominantly historical romances/mysteries, with titles
published by Carina, Samhain, Bold Strokes, MLR, Riptide and Lethe.
Charlie's Cambridge Fellows Series of
Edwardian romantic mysteries was instrumental in her being named Author of the
Year 2009 by the review site Speak Its Name. She’s a member of the Romantic
Novelists’ Association, Mystery People, International Thriller Writers Inc and
is on the organising team for UK Meet for readers/writers of GLBT fiction. She
regularly appears with The Deadly Dames.
Find
Charlie Here
Thanks for hosting me!
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