Marni Graff--Into the Dark

DEBORAH CROMBIE: You know how much I love British mysteries. Here's Marni Graff to tell you about her new book, THE GOLDEN HOUR. She not only has a great character and a great series set in some of my favorite parts of England (the Lake District and Oxford,) but she gets to do what I never have the luxury of doing--writing from the viewpoint of an American character. (Her protagonist, Nora Tierney, is an American children's book author living in England.)

And she incorporates some of my favorite themes, as you will see. Meet Marni, and Nora Tierney!

MARNI GRAFF:  INTO THE DARK

Thanks to the Jungle Red Writers for having me to guest today. You are all writers I read consistently so this is a real treat for me.

When I started researching THE GOLDEN HOUR, I knew I wanted to veer in a different direction from the first three in the series, which are classic Whodunits. Part of this was from a desire to keep my readers from feeling they were reading the same book over and over, the reason I move Nora around England to vary the settings in the books already written. I also wanted to keep from falling into a writing rut and to challenge myself.

My American children’s book writer with a nose for murder is Nora Tierney. She lives in England and is at a point in her life where she is searching for a house and solidifying her personal relationship with Oxford DI Declan Barnes, so the theme centers on creating a home and choosing our family. It seemed to me that her very domestic situation, accompanied by a teething infant, would be the perfect situation to contrast effectively against introducing a type of character I hadn’t written before: a psychopath.

            The thing that surprised me most about creating the villain, Viktor Garanin, was how much fun I had developing him and his backstory, and then putting him out there on the page to terrorize Nora. Should I hesitate to admit that the days I’d finished writing a Viktor scene were all ones which gave me great enjoyment and satisfaction?  Or just call that a perk of being a writer . . .

            At the same time I imbued Viktor with classic psychopathic tendencies and wrote his disturbing history, I was careful to add a touch of human shading to him. After all, even the darkest personality must still have a side to pass muster in public, so I gave Viktor a love of his garden. How this man could worry about pruning his roses while not hesitating to squash a human life like a bug seemed the perfect contradiction of dark and light!

            What I ended up with was a Cantheystophim? Readers will meet Viktor early on and know more about him than Nora and Declan, being privy to his inner thoughts to see his motivation and his plan, however flawed and outrageous. The epicurean with a brilliant mind also has a love of food, wine and sex, yet can’t help himself when it comes to killing. Of course, he’s convinced he has justifiable reasons, but there’s no question he’s pure evil.

            How his plan crosses the lives of Nora, her young son, and affects Declan’s newest case, the unusual death of an art restorer with international implications, forms the plotline. If Viktor manages to carry his plan off is another matter entirely.

Writers: have you written a baddie you enjoyed creating? What was that experience like for you?

Readers: how do you feel when your favorite authors veer into darker territory? Does it annoy you or keep your interest piqued?

Marni Graff is the author of the award-winning Nora Tierney English Mysteries and the Trudy Genova Manhattan Mysteries. She’s Managing Editor of Bridle Path Press and writes a crime review blog at http//www.auntiemwrites.com.

DEBS: Marni, I've been in that place, and I'm always a little shocked at how much I love writing those really bad characters. It's very liberating. What does that say about us?