My Kind Of Crime - Harry Fisher
Leith-born crime writer Harry Fisher is the author of the DS Mel Cooper series, which launched in 2019 with the self-published Way Beyond A Lie, later picked up by his current publisher. Here, the author who is now based in Aberdeen, shares his kind of crime…
First crime novel ever read…
Does The Day of the Jackal, by Frederick Forsyth, count as a crime novel? Assuming not, I’ll go for A Time To Kill, John Grisham’s debut in 1989. It’s an outstanding courtroom drama concerning a black man in small town Mississippi who guns down two violent white racists who raped his 10-year-old daughter. Apparently it was rejected by many publishers before Wynwood Press picked it up. Good on them, the subject matter was highly contentious to say the least.
Favourite crime writer and why …
I’m currently hooked on MW Craven’s Washington Poe series, set in Cumbria. His stories are ridiculously brilliant but it’s the two principal characters who make the books for me. Grumpy old Sergeant Washington Poe and his wonderful sidekick Tilly Bradshaw. They are a perfect pairing, and their interactions are hilarious.
If you could re-read only one crime novel, what would it be?
In the 90’s, I read most of the Jeffrey Deaver series involving Lincoln Rhyme, a quadriplegic forensic scientist who has to call all the shots from a hospital bed in his New York townhouse. I’d re-read book five The Vanished Man where Rhyme is up against a psychotic illusionist who commits a series of crimes and employs magician’s tricks to escape detection.
What three ingredients does every crime novel need?
A cracking story with twists throughout, not just at the end. Believable characters that become alive on the page. And a satisfactory conclusion where everything is tied up neatly.
What makes a good crime writer?
The ability and the desire to research things like forensic science and judicial processes. This goes hand in hand with attention to detail. If something happens, or I leave a clue, I must tick it off further down the line. Of course, a fertile imagination is a must, but this has to be grounded in reality.
Agatha Christie or Ngaio Marsh?
Agatha Christie. Murder on the Orient Express was the inspiration for my third book Yes, I Killed Her.
Favourite TV cop show?
No question, fire up the Quattro, It’s Life On Mars, starring John Simm as DI Sam Tyler, who is somehow transported back to 1973, and Philip Glenister, who plays DCI Gene Hunt, a detective ‘of the period’.
If you could meet one fictional detective in real life, which one would it be?
Definitely my own principal protagonist, DI Mel (Melissa) Cooper. A few drinks with Mel down at The Shore and a bag of chips on the way home would be a fun night out. But while we were still sober, I’d ask what she thought of how I’d portrayed her. I didn’t give her a drink, drugs or behavioural issue; her family isn’t dysfunctional; she’s not from a broken home; and she doesn’t break promises to her kids every day in life. She’s simply an honest-to-goodness hard-working copper who wants to solve crimes, and ‘takes no crap from anyone – not even the bad guys’.
Describe each of your novels in three words …
Way Beyond A Lie: International organised crime.
Be Sure Your Sins: Intricate. Intriguing. Intelligent.
Yes, I Killed Her: Audacious. Murderous. Howdunnit.
Who would play the DI Mel Cooper in the TV adaptation of your books?
Although I’ve never stated that Mel is Scottish, it’s kind of assumed, so I’d choose Laura Fraser. A (slightly) younger Mel would be Rose Leslie. Michelle Gomez would be a contender too.
Way Beyond A Lie, Be Sure Your Sins and Yes I Killed Her are published by Hobeck Books and available from all High Street and local bookshops (who will be happy to order them if they don’t have them in stock) as well as from Amazon here https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B07Q2CLCY8 Signed copies available from harry.fisher.writer@gmail.com
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