Tell me about your new novel, The Examiner. Was it inspired by taking a lot of adult education courses?
The Examiner is a fun-packed thrill-ride through the uni course from Hell! It’s about six MA students and their tutor who embark on an art course designed to connect the world of fine art education to the commercial needs of the modern workplace. An external examiner has read all the coursework and final essays produced by the students and believes he has spotted something “between the lines”… that one of them was killed during the year and that all the others, along with their tutor, are covering it up. The reader has all the documents to discover what happened for themselves.
It’s definitely inspired by courses I’ve taken, especially the screenwriting MA I took when I changed career in my late 30s, but also the many small-group writing courses I’ve done – some of which were inspiration for the more terrifying things that happen on this fictional course!
You describe it as “an education in art”. Did you come late to the art world?
I believe the aesthetic sense is developed in childhood and youth. I grew up listening to pop music and watching TV so I can talk about the emotional journey taken by Sweet Child O’ Mine or how The Young Ones spoke to a generation, but stand me in front of a Monet and I won’t know what to look for. I took a deep dive into fine art – from the point of view of artists and art fans – for The Examiner, but it’s still not natural for me.
It’s described as genre-busting. In what way?
I’m not sure! For me. It’s crime, but told in a modern epistolary format.
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Your books have been described as “puzzle-box” armchair sleuth mysteries, Richard Osman’s female counterpart in popularising the cosy-crime genre, whereas Mick Herron called you “an absolute original, a complete one-off”. How would you describe your approach?
My priority is to entertain. To divert and distract the reader from whatever may be filling their thoughts and troubling them about their lives and the world. If it also throws out a dilemma or gives them something to think about too, then that’s great – but entertainment is the key.
Your novels take the form of a dossier of emails, official documents etc. What inspired this approach?
It was a happy accident. I’d spent more than 10 years as a screenwriter, so developing character and atmosphere via dialogue came quite naturally. It just happens that now my characters write, rather than say, what’s on their minds.
Your brother Brian died young, when he was 21 and you were 12. How did that affect you and did it feed into your writing?
The thing about childhood trauma is, you’re always coming back from it, so I’m still on that journey now. I certainly recognise my impulse to distract and divert my parents in the years after his death as being echoed in my writing. Strangely, many readers say my books did just that for them during difficult times in their lives – from bereavement to chemotherapy.
You quit beauty journalism to become a screenwriter. Tell us about Retreat (2011), a horror film starring Cillian Murphy, Jamie Bell and Thandiwe Newton.
I co-wrote it with its director Carl Tibbetts and it was a fantastic experience. We were lucky to get in at the end of the era in British film-making that allowed home-grown films – usually low-budget thrillers – to flourish. Unfortunately, the tax breaks ended and those films just aren’t made any more.
Women understand fear in a way men don’t
Your debut, The Appeal (2021), was inspired by your love of amateur dramatics.
It was. I did Amdram for 30 years and loved it!
Enid Blyton made you a reader and your second novel The Twyford Code (2022) is a homage?
If it wasn’t for Enid Blyton and the love she instilled in me for reading, I wouldn’t be a writer now.
The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels (2023) explores the world of true-crime documentaries and podcasts. What’s the appeal?
I believe we’re drawn to true crime in a subconscious effort to protect ourselves from falling victim to similar crimes. We have that thirst for knowledge, because knowledge is power over the terrible prospect that we’re all vulnerable in some way.
Why is crime fiction dominated by women?
Women understand fear in a way men don’t. Whether inside or outside the home, our inherent vulnerabilities are ever-present throughout our lives and we’re therefore more inclined to explore it in the safe space of fiction.
Which projects are you working on?
I’ve written an epistolary murder-mystery for children (8-12) called A Box Full of Murders. It’s out in June 2025 and is a lot of fun! It’s designed to appeal to both confident and reluctant readers (who can choose to follow the story by reading just the speech bubbles between the documents) and everyone in between!
Have you ever made a literary pilgrimage?
I visited Douglas Adams’ grave in Highgate Cemetery and found it very moving. Visitors have placed towels on it in homage to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
What is the best writing advice you’ve heard?
If you’re blocked, write your way out of it – don’t stop writing.
I’d spent more than 10 years as a screenwriter, so developing character and atmosphere via dialogue came quite naturally
Who do you admire the most?
Anyone who works in healthcare. Those people are heroes.
You are supreme ruler for a day. Which law do you pass or abolish?
I’d introduce free train and bus travel for everyone.
Which current book, film and podcast would you recommend?
Book: Lights Out by Louise Swanson; film: Back to Black – the Amy Winehouse story; podcast: The Rest is Entertainment
Which public event affected you most?
The events of 9/11. I visited Ground Zero in April and was struck by how many young people were at the exhibition there. I realised for the first time that it’s history now. It happened before a generation was born.
The most remarkable place you have visited?
Machu Picchu and the Taj Mahal. Both felt like very special places.
Your most treasured possession?
My sense of humour. It’s got me through a lot!
What is the most beautiful book that you own?
An illustrated history of Kensal Green Cemetery, a fascinating place where both sets of my grandparents are buried.
Which writers, living or dead, would you invite to your dream dinner party?
Enid Blyton, Shakespeare, Charlotte Bronte and Thomas Hardy. I wonder what their dietary requirements are?
The best and worst things about where you live?
Best: It’s very quiet. Worst: It’s very quiet.
What is your favourite quotation?
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” – George Santayana.
Who is your favourite fictional character?
Bathsheba Everdene in Far From the Madding Crowd.
A book to make me laugh?
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
A book that might move me to tears?
Watership Down by Richard Adams.
The Examiner by Janice Hallett is published by Viper
