Why write crime fiction?
When I first decided to try writing a novel, there was no question that it had to be set in the Middle Ages. However, I’ve always enjoyed reading crime fiction (I have shelves and shelves of it here, including a complete set of Agatha Christie!) so it seemed natural to have a go at historical crime rather than straight historical fiction.
Where did the inspiration for The Mediaeval Mysteries come from?
For many years I was a medieval re-enactor, and as part of that our group used to perform ‘interactive’ murder mysteries – the sort where the audience arrive at a castle or other historical venue to be told that a murder has been committed and that they have to talk to the costumed actors to find out who did it and why. I wrote or co-wrote a number of these, but one plot idea which I came up with for a murder at Conisbrough Castle in 1217 never got used; I found the notes years later in a drawer and decided that the plot would make a good novel. The main issue I had at that point was that the ‘interactive’ murder mysteries didn’t have a detective character, as the audience had to do the sleuthing themselves, so I sat down and thought about it for a long while before creating the character of Edwin for the first book. I’ve always felt that too much historical fiction is about the kings, queens and nobles, so I thought that having an ordinary person, and an inexperienced and shy ordinary person at that, would make a good story.
How important is location (i.e. Yorkshire) in your book?
There’s a kind of ‘yes and no’ answer to that. The plot of The Sins of the Father was written specifically about Conisbrough – our local castle when I was a re-enactor and a place I spent many weekends – and some of the plot points hinge on this. The factual background of the series meant that Edwin then had to go to Lincoln for The Bloody City, where a real battle took place, so again, the location was crucial. Now in Whited Sepulchres he is back in Conisbrough again: after his adventures he was desperate to go home, but he finds out that ‘home’ isn’t quite how he remembers it. And this is where I think some of the themes aren’t quite so location-dependent: we can all sympathise with a character who is growing, developing and being thrust into uncomfortable and pressured situations, no matter where (or when) they come from. I hope that Edwin has a general appeal, rather than just a local one.
What is your favourite book/What do you enjoy reading?
My favourite book? How long have you got? I read widely and eclectically – historical fiction, crime fiction, thrillers, fantasy, classic literature, factual history (medieval and otherwise), books on the English language, cricket … I could go on. I honestly don’t think I could name you just one favourite – it would all depend on what sort of mood I was in at the time.
Do you have a favourite author? Do you have a favourite fictional character?
Authors: again, I could spend all day on this. I’m currently looking at my shelves, and by sheer weight of numbers it looks like Agatha Christie, Ellis Peters, Simon Brett, Carola Dunn, Candace Robb, M.C. Beaton, Josephine Tey and Christopher Brookmyre are all favourites in the crime genre. But it’s not all about quantity: you have to have quality as well. The novel I’ve just finished reading is The American Boy by Andrew Taylor, and it was one of those rare reads where you just want to stand up and give it a round of applause once you get to the end.
In terms of a favourite fictional character I’m actually going to ignore crime altogether, and go for the character of Death in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. He’s a seven-foot-tall skeleton who always talks in capitals, and who has more of an insight into the human condition than many real people …
How easy/difficult is it to write historical crime fiction?
For me it’s actually miles easier to write in the past. I have a PhD in medieval studies, and I’ve researched the early thirteenth century quite extensively, as well as writing a number of academic and non-fiction things about it. There’s no way I could possibly write a modern crime thriller – it would just sound completely fake as I don’t have any of the background knowledge required. But put me in 1217 and I’m perfectly happy! I know enough about the background details of what people wore and ate, what their homes looked like, etc., that I can concentrate on telling my story without having to keep stopping to look things up like ‘did they have tomatoes in thirteenth-century England?’ (they didn’t) or ‘can you put armour on by yourself?’ (you can’t). And then the crime element of it comes naturally from the historical situation in which my characters find themselves.
Do you agree with David Baldacci that it is your responsibility as the author to write inaccuracies into your fiction, so that potential criminals do not replicate crimes?
I’ve never heard that before, but it’s an interesting theory. In my own case the murders carried out in my books are the sort that aren’t terribly ingenious: you don’t need to read a crime novel to know that you could kill someone by bashing them over the head or stabbing them in the back. And I sincerely hope that nobody out there is going to attempt to replicate the circumstances of the early thirteenth century …
How do you avoid your characters becoming clichéd (e.g. the femme fatale, the jaded detective)?
This is something I thought very hard about when creating the character of Edwin. As well as thinking that too much historical fiction was dominated by royalty and nobility, I also felt that I wanted a change from the world-weary, been-there-and-seen-it-all, not-fazed-by-anything detective, so I created someone who was young, inexperienced and frankly a bit scared.
On a secondary note, it also seems to be a lazy cliché in crime fiction or crime-fiction TV programmes for any priests, religious people or churchgoers to turn out to be hypocritical baddies. Well, in the Middle Ages pretty much everyone was a churchgoer, so it gave me scope to have a few devout people (no names mentioned in case you haven’t read the books) who perform a kind of double-bluff and turn out to be genuinely good.
Do you ever suffer from writers’ block? If so, how do you cope with it?
Actually, I think I have the opposite problem! I have plots and ideas queuing up in my head just waiting for me to put them on paper, and I never seem to have enough time to write them. When I ever do get some uninterrupted time with my computer, the words just spill out.
If I ever do get faced with that blank-page syndrome when I’m starting something new, I find that the best thing to do is just to write words, even if they’re not quite what you wanted to say or in the style you wanted to say them. As my PhD supervisor once said, you can always edit words which are bad; you can’t edit words which aren’t there.
Have you ever based characters on people you know (e.g. an old enemy as the villain)?
Tsk, if I had, do you think I would tell you? But seriously: no, I’ve never based an entire character on someone I know, but I have used the odd resemblance, gesture or turn of phrase (not all in the same character) that I’ve observed. I’ve also borrowed names, where they were suitably medieval, although I make deliberate efforts not to give characters the traits of the people whose names I have borrowed. Readers of The Sins of the Father may be interested to know that when I first came up with the plot of the interactive murder mystery, we had three small boys in our group called Martin, Adam and Simon, who were all going to be squires and pages. They’re all grown men now and had no objection to my using their names, if not their personalities!
How has social media helped you to market your book/you as an author?
It’s helped in lots of different ways. Firstly I should say that I actually don’t use Facebook at all – there are a number of people on there who share my name, but none of them is me. However I do use Twitter an awful lot, and I love it. Over the years I’ve built up my own little community of friends with similar interests, and it’s incredibly useful both for my fiction and my academic work. If I’m looking for a really obscure source on something, a request on Twitter will be circulated by others until someone somewhere contacts me to say ‘Have you seen this article in this French journal from 1924 …?’ It’s also great for news in publishing – who has written something new, what is everyone reading at the moment, what did people think of this book or that book, and so on. I join in by recommending books or websites I like, tweeting interesting medieval snippets, and so on. I don’t spend a lot of time saying ‘hey, buy my books’ as I think that would be dull, but I think my profile as an author has grown as a kind of secondary effect of my tweeting.
Finally, what next for Edwin?
Well, I’m delighted to say that I’ve agreed with The Mystery Press to start work on two more Edwin books to follow on from the three already available. Obviously I’m not going to give you too many details right now, but I should say that he will continue to grow up and to face tasks he couldn’t have imagined himself tackling. I will also add that he and others have some hard times ahead, and that the war isn’t over yet …
C.B Hanley is the Author of the Mediaeval Mystery Series which include Sins of The Father and The Bloody City. The newest book in the series is Whited Sepulchres.1217: Commoner-turned-earl’s-man Edwin Weaver has returned to Conisbrough Castle after his blood-soaked adventure in Lincoln. Shaken, and now carrying a dagger for protection, he has no chance to rest, for preparations are already underway for a noble wedding. But his weapon will be little help against the armed band of outlaws terrorising the area. The situation escalates when the household marshal is murdered under the earl’s own roof, and Edwin is asked to resolve the situation before the wedding plans can be jeopardised. The marshal was an unpopular man, but Edwin is convinced that there is more to his death than meets the eye. As he digs deeper, he realises that the killer’s true target might be someone much closer to home. With few likely to believe his theory, Edwin must choose between public ridicule, humiliation and even banishment if he speaks out, or staying silent, and praying that no one else will die.