RHYS BOWEN: Mystery writers are not like normal human beings. I woke up this morning thinking “Could I inject cyanide into a tangerine, put it in a bowl of tangerines where it might not be eaten for days, by which time I’d be in another country—perfect alibi?
Then I wondered: would it change the color of the fruit? Have an instant nasty taste so that the person thought that fruit was bad and discarded it. And then… where can I buy cyanide to try this experiment? And what if John ate my experiment by mistake?
This is how mystery writers start their day.
Our thoughts are not your thoughts. And we learn to be open to plot ideas, possible characters, fascinating facts we can use.
We sis in restaurants and observe people at the next table. The way she is digging lines in the tablecloth with her fork indicates she’s really angry with him even though she’s smiling and nodding. Is she planning to use that tangerine?
We overhear phrases that spark whole scenarios. My best one ever was swimming laps next to someone who was carrying on a conversation as they swum. As I approached I heard her say “Of course the gun belt weighs you down.” Whoa. I slowed my pace to theirs.
When a flight is delayed I spend the time observing my fellow passengers. Who looks like the potential terrorist? How easy would it be to switch bags with that little old lady? I could write a whole book based on one airport delay.
So much of mystery writing is serendipity. Clare has told you about the research she is doing for our next Molly book. We thought it would be fun to do a book about new technology, airplanes and motor cars. Then Clare found that the Wright brothers were at a motor race on Long Island at exactly the right time, a race sponsored by Cornelius Vanderbilt and attended by Consuela Vanderbilt, now Duchess of Marlborough, who had left her husband and was secretly meeting a race car driver. And she is Mrs. Belmont’s daughter—Mrs. Belmont whom we used in our last book. A champion of women’s suffrage Bingo. We had a story given to us with all our characters in one place. Thank you New York Times.
I had a great gift a couple of weeks ago in Cornwall. My sister in law had people to coffee including a couple from Scotland. I am currently writing a book set on the Isle of Skye and involving boats. As I chatted with the man it turns out his father worked in the fishing industry as a young man, and put me straight on so many facts. I had an alibi for a crime that the fishing boat was out at sea for three days. Not so, he said. Herring spoil quickly and have to be brought into port overnight. Rats. Rethinking needed. He told me so many interesting things, most of which I can’t use but the story will be more authentic because I know them.
The most interesting: before harbors were built fishermen chose wives with broad shoulders. Why? Because the wife had to carry her husband out to his boat on her shoulders so that he didn’t get wet. If he was out all night in freezing cold hypothermia could set in if he started off in wet clothing. I said I’d choose a thin and delicate little husband!
Now it’s your turn, Reds. What serendipitous fact did you learn that changed a book you were writing?
