Briefly tell us about your book.
The Wrong Woman is about Reid, a private investigator, who is tasked by an insurance company with looking into a car crash that happened in his hometown. The trouble is the last thing Reid wants to do is return to Manson after a decade of exile. The money is too good to pass up, and it seems like a straightforward case. But nothing is straightforward in Manson, and Reid soon discovers connections between the dead husband from the car crash and two recently missing girls. Nothing is as it seems, and Reid finds himself in the fight for his life.
How does it feel to hold your book in your hands?
It’s always exciting and a real privilege to have final copies of the book. Everyday I’m grateful to readers, and my publishers, and agents for making it happen. Thinking of those special moments are what get me home as hard deadlines approach.
Does the creative process get easier for you with each book?
No. It’s different each time, and each book presents new challenges. If it ever feels like it’s getting easier it’s probably because I’m falling into routine and comfort, which to me is the antithesis of creativity. Writers must expend great levels of intellectual energy to think differently, to deepen their imagining of a story and understand their characters and setting on a deeper level. Without this, stories are often flat, cliche or just plain boring. So no, it never gets easier.
What was the most challenging part of writing this book?
This book is set in the US, and I was planning on doing a research trip over the eighteen months it took to write, but the lockdowns derailed that plan. I relied instead on conversations with friends more familiar with that area than me, my own memory of a number of trips to the US and lots of TV and books to make sure the setting worked.
How did you think of the title of the book?
Well it’s a play on the common refrain you messed with the wrong woman. But it also works within the story. I think the reader might ask: did he marry the wrong woman? Is he suspicious of the wrong woman? etc.
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