When I wrote my first story featuring Josef Slonský, Lying and Dying, I had plans for a further two up my sleeve. Now the eighth has just been published, and I still have ideas for further plots. Woven around those plots are stories of the characters’ lives, so for each one I have had to create a biography. Not everything that is in the biography immediately gets onto the page. For example, Lucie Jerneková’s difficult relationship with her father was always in my mind but is coming out in stages. Slonský’s own past is revealed as it becomes necessary, though most of it is provided by the man himself, who may be an unreliable narrator.
The comments I receive from readers suggest that they value this fleshing out of the characters. It makes them feel real — except, of course, that they are not. They are all imaginary — but I hope they are consistent.
Take the police headquarters as an example. The building I describe is in the same place as the real one, but it looks a little different. The police are reluctant to let visitors wander through the corridors, so I have created an internal architecture that probably bears no resemblance to reality. The only thing I will claim is that the building is the same size and has the same number of floors.
Similarly, it is unlikely that the detection of homicides in Prague is in the hands of just six officers. I had to simplify the police ranks system (do we really need three grades of lieutenant?) and give Sergeant Mucha a lot of shifts on the front desk. He is rarely not there.
But sometimes characters write their own story. Rajka was only supposed to appear for a few moments in one book, and found himself appointed Slonský’s new boss. I needed to explain how Mucha could leave the desk at short notice, and thus Officer Fintr came into being. Now that Navrátil and Peiperová are married, we see less of their mothers, though rest assured, they are still there.
The latest book, The Ladies’ Lounge, came about when I saw a sign saying just that over a doorway. What kind of place was behind it? In no time, the idea of a communist-era club for successful women was born. The kinds of women who would join produced my cast of characters, and they needed backstories too. Again, only part of their history gets into the pages, but it all has to be written.
I hope you enjoy The Ladies’ Lounge. If it never existed; perhaps it should have. It is very real to me.
Congratulations to Graham Brack, whose absorbing crime thriller, The Murdered Molls, is published today!
The Murdered Molls is the seventh book in the Josef Slonský Investigations series, atmospheric police procedurals full of dark humour.
A woman is discovered brutally murdered in her apartment, with some of her body parts surgically removed.
The pathologist has dubbed the perpetrator the nastiest killer he’s ever come across in the Czech Republic.
But after a scuffle with a cat burglar, Captain Josef Slonský has found himself laid up in hospital with a series of torn ligaments in his knee, unable to rush to the scene of the crime.
With his medical review due in less than nine weeks, and the threat of enforced retirement hanging on the outcome, he is determined to get out of bed and back on active duty asap.
With the help of his friend Valentin, Slonský signs himself out of hospital and puts his mind to solving the killing.
Is a serial killer at large? Are more women in danger?
And can Slonský prove his worth and keep the job that means so much to him?
Following the publication of Graham Brack’s darkly funny Josef Slonský Investigations – atmospheric police procedurals set in Prague – Sapere Books recently started publishing his Master Mercurius Mysteries: 17th century crime thrillers set in Leiden, The Netherlands. Taking centre stage is Mercurius – a witty university lecturer-cum-sleuth.
The first three books in the Master Mercurius series are published or available to pre-order, and we are delighted to have signed up the next instalment: THE NOOSE’S SHADOW. The fourth book sees Mercurius free from the demands of the Stadhouder – William I of Orange – for once as he is asked for help by a poor young woman whose husband faces execution for a murder he swears he did not commit. How can Mercurius refuse?
Graham says, “I was already part of the Sapere family after Amy signed me to write six Slonský novels, so I knew Sapere Books was the right place for my Dutch series too – and Slonský will be back! We’re a very supportive bunch of writers who enjoy each other’s successes, and the Sapere team is simply excellent. I couldn’t imagine going anywhere else with the Mercurius books.”
Amy says, “I have already worked with Graham on eight published books since we launched in March 2018, and I am thrilled to have signed his next book. I hope there will be many more! Fans of his previous series are already calling for a return of Slonský, and they seem equally smitten with Master Mercurius. I thoroughly enjoy reading Graham’s books and look forward to editing many more in the series.”
Click here to order DEATH IN DELFT
Click here to find out more about the Master Mercurius Mysteries
