Hello everyone,
I am a little in denial about the fact we are already at the end of February, but here we are and I am just getting into the habit of blogging regularly after some recent writing and editing deadlines. In the meantime though, I have still been reading and one of the many good books I have been fortunate to pick up lately is Murder In The Family by Cara Hunter.
Told entirely in multimedia, this crime thriller revolves entirely around a television show that hires a panel of six experts to re-examine a 20-year-old murder case. There are so many plot strands and the tension and twists just stack up, making it a story that really keeps you on the edge of your seat as it slowly unravels.
It is Cara Hunter’s first standalone after writing six novels in her successful police procedural series featuring DI Adam Fawley. The television show featured in Murder In The Family featured in Hope To Die, the most recent book in that series. I posted my review of the book just a few days ago.
And I am very pleased to say that Cara has agreed to do a Q&A with me about Murder In The Family. In fact, it is her second Q&A with me, as she was kind enough to answer my questions back in 2019 after the release of No Way Out, the third Fawley book.
I was really interested in the concepts behind Murder In The Family and Cara’s writing process. So without any further ado, let us get straight to the questions!
Q1. When did you decide to write Murder In The Family? Did you have the idea before or after writing Hope To Die, which featured the Infamous television show as part of DI Fawley’s investigation into Camilla Rowan?
The idea came after Hope to Die. I wanted to write a standalone to give me a break from Fawley (and him a break from me!) and I got the brainwave of combining an ultra-modern crime format like a true crime show with the classic Agatha Christie ‘And Then There Were None’ scenario. It was only after that that I realised I could bring in the Infamous franchise, which was a perfect fit.
Q2. Fictional true crime documentaries and podcasts are becoming quite a common feature of crime and mystery novels. Why do you think that is the case, and what is it about these as literary devices that appeal to readers?
I think it’s a very compelling way to tell a story, and – in the case of podcasts and Murder in the Family – it adds another layer of potential unreliability in the narratorial voice. And crime writers – and readers – love that!
Q3. How did you find writing Murder In The Family entirely in multimedia, and effectively creating a television screenplay/transcript? What was it like compared to the DI Adam Fawley books?
I absolutely loved it – it was the most fun I’ve ever had at a laptop! I’ve never written a play or a screenplay but it just seemed to come very naturally. It was a really complex exercise managing all the revelations, and inching out the truth about both the crime and the secrets being withheld by the show’s participants, but that’s the sort of challenge I love. I’m writing another Fawley now, and I’m enjoying it but I confess I’m itching to do another standalone.
Q4. Of the six ‘experts’ on Infamous, who did you find the most interesting and/or challenging to write and why?
Good question! Mitchell, I think, because he has a very different background to my own, so I had to really think myself into the character. But I enjoyed that – writing is all about imaginative engagement and it would be a dull world if writers could only create characters exactly like themselves.
Q5. How would you describe the dynamic between the six experts? Things definitely became more tense between them as the story unravelled.
That was always the plan! Again, it’s the Agatha Christie setup where the characters gradually realise that everyone has secrets and one of their number may be a killer. And their very different skillsets, backgrounds and (as we discover) degrees of previous involvement in the case make for some delicious infighting. I especially loved the humour generated by the friction between the tough NYPD cop and his buttoned-up Met counterpart.
Q6. Murder In The Family contains a lot of intricate plot strands and twists. How did you keep track of everything while writing?
A massive spreadsheet! And for this book I didn’t have a detailed synopsis before I started, as I usually do with Fawley, so I had to keep rewinding and adjusting every time I came up with a new twist.
Q7. The character of the producer, Nick Vincent, intrigued me. He played a large role in the book and a lot of his actions seemed quite unethical. Do you think that the desire to create ‘great TV’ can sometimes be prioritised over the wellbeing of the people involved, and was this something you were aiming to portray?
I’ve never worked in TV, so I have no idea if this ever happens, or could happen, in real life, but I suspect it’s possible. I remember a lot of talk about the ethics of reality TV back when that started. I love the Nick character too – my own ‘nasty Nick’! In my fantasy casting he’d be played by Tom Hollander. We’ve sold the TV rights to Neal Street, Sam Mendes’ production company, so you never know!
Q8. Do you have plans for another Infamous book, or is it back to DI Adam Fawley for the foreseeable future?
Maybe not another Infamous as such, but I’d definitely like to do something in a similar format. But Fawley 7 next!
And there we have it! I found her answers fascinating, especially learning how Cara balanced all the revelations and who said what and at what time. The answer about Mitchell being the hardest character to write was greatly enlightening too.
Also, for anyone who did not get the reference, ‘Nasty Nick’ was a nickname for the character Nick Cotton in EastEnders, the British soap opera.
Let’s Chat
What did you think of Cara’s answers? Have you read Murder In The Family? Let me know in the comments!
Happy reading :)
Stephen Reads Books 