This week, we got to speak to the Queen of Crime herself, Fleur Hitchcock! Fleur shared some of her brilliant tips and tricks to writing her novels, as well as letting us in on a secret or two (hint: you might be surprised by the authors she's never read!) We discuss setting, Scandi noir vs. 'cosy' crime, the vital importance of pony books, and a wonderful connection to the great Nina Bawden. Get your crime-solving hats on, and join in the fun!
Find Fleur online at her agent's website: The Shaw Agency
Stories mentioned this week include some of Fleur's own:
Shrunk!
Dear Scarlett
Murder at Wintertide
Murder at Snowfall
... and many more
And the stories which shaped her include:
The work of Malcolm Saville
The Silver Sword, by Ian Seraillier
Richard Scarry's Storybook Dictionary
Ant and Bee, by Angela Banner, illustrated by Bryan Ward
Andy Pandy - originally a BBC television show; later a comic strip in Robin magazine
The Batman comics/character, created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane
The Superman comics/character, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
The Green Lantern comics/character, created by Bill Finger and Martin Nodell
The Justice League comics/characters, originally conceived by Sheldon Mayer and Gardner Fox
Tintin: Explorers on the Moon, by Hergé
Asterix, created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
Tammy, and June - comics originally published by Fleetway between 1971 and 1984
Bunty - comic originally published by DC Thompson and Co between 1958 and 2001
James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl, illustrated by Michel Simeon (1967)
The Otterbury Incident, by Cecil Day-Lewis, illustrated by Edward Ardizzone
Nightbirds on Nantucket, by Joan Aiken
Black Hearts in Battersea, by Joan Aiken
The work of Josephine, Christine, and Diane Pullein-Thompson
National Velvet, by Enid Bagnold, illustrated by Lauriane Jones
The Manual of Horsemanship, and Keeping a Pony at Grass, published by the British Pony Society
The Ponies of Bunts, by Marjorie Mary Oliver
The work of Dick Francis
Flambards, by KM Peyton
Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell
The work of Henry Treece
Eagle of the Ninth, by Rosemary Sutcliffe
Boys' Own books belonging to Fleur's uncles
The work of Nina Bawden
The work of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, James Elroy, Louis L'Amour , James Herbert, Stephen King, Rachel Ward, Belinda Bauer
A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula le Guin
The Dark is Rising, by Susan Cooper
The Kelpie's Pearls, by Mollie Hunter, illustrated by Charles Keeping
Stig of the Dump, by Clive King, illustrated by Edward Ardizzone
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