In the grips of a great crime writer

Suddenly there are all these books to choose from and you know they are going to be good because the book you just finished was a ripper.
That's I how felt after reading Val McDermid's Trick of the Dark. I knew she was a best-selling author and couldn't wait to find out more, so I Googled her. Then I thought, "Oh oh, this woman is famous and little old me is going to do a phone interview with her". I admit to have been a tad nervous.
I needn't have worried. From the moment Val answered the phone she had me in fits of laughter.
In New Zealand to promote her latest thriller, Val, who grew up in the small town of Kirkcaldy on the East Coast of Scotland, said she was lucky enough to have a bit of time for sightseeing.
"I love New Zealand," she said. "I wish I could come more often."
An award-winning crime writer, she is most famous for characters such as lesbian journalist Lindsay Gordon; private investigator Kate Brannigan; and psychologist, Tony Hill, who suffers from sexual dysfunction.
The Hill/Gordon series has been adapted for television under the name Wire in the Blood starring Robson Green.
At 55, Val is relaxed and open about her sexuality.
"Being a lesbian is just a fact of life for me. I go to the supermarket just like anyone else. I don't go to the supermarket in a lesbian way," she jokes.
"There is no such thing."
The book tells the story of Charlie, Marie, Magda, Jay and Lisa, all lesbians. The characters are fascinating and by the time readers get to the end of the book they will know them intimately.
"Characters are the heart of any novel," Val said.
"As I write they tend to mould themselves. It's like flushing out who the story will belong to. Does it belong to this character more than that one?"
And where does Val get her ideas from?
"People I met, people I've known from the past or it might be overhearing a conversation on a train," she said.
"The idea for Trick of the Dark came to me 12 years ago. It's taken me this long to work out how it was going to work. The main characters (apart from Nick) had to be gay or the triangle wouldn't have been complete.
"Once I have an idea inside my head I will find a way get it out onto paper.
"I did that with my favourite book, Mermaid Singing. It was completely different from anything else I had done, a very dark thriller. It was clamouring in my head and I struggled to find a structure for the book. But I did it and it won the Crime Writers' Association Gold dagger for the Best Crime Novel of the Year."
She said she made it a rule never to write two books about the same characters back to back.
"I get bored. I want to go out and play," she jokes again.
Her research consisted of talking to experts when required, but she said often she had a friend, or a friend of a friend who would know someone who could help her with a particular subject.
"I'm lucky really. Things seem to fall into my lap," she said.
However, there's far more than luck to her success I'm sure. She is an intelligent, witty and vibrant person who can transport her readers to another world with the turn of a pen.
REVIEW
Trick of the Dark
by Val McDermid, Little, Brown Division, Hachette, $38.99
Charlie Flint is a psychiatrist who works with the police when called upon. However, when there is a public outcry about a report Charlie makes to the court, she finds herself on forced leave.
So when a package full of newspaper cuttings lands on her kitchen table, she is glad of the distraction.
The cuttings are about the murder of a groom killed on his wedding night and, as Charlie takes a closer look, she realises she knows the murdered man's widow, Magda.
Then she learns that it was Magda's mother who sent the clippings. This lady is sure the pair on trial for her son-in-law's murder are innocent.
In fact, she has her own version of what happened on the wedding night. What's more, she wants Charlie to do some digging because she is afraid for her daughter's life.
Although reluctant at first, Charlie finds herself left with no choice but to help. What she discovers leads to death and danger.
Trick of the Dark is a riveting read about betrayal, love and a touch of madness.