Unravelling the mysteries of crime fiction
Laura Wilson doesn't fluster easily.
As a crime writer she spends most of her days alone in front of a computer, but she's also a natural in front of a crowd, unafraid to say what everyone else is thinking and when she gets warmed up, she's almost impossible to stop.
In the space of an hour, she talks about the modern fondness for crucifixion, her problems finding suitable footwear, the social and political changes brought by the Second World War and pretty much everything in between.
However, in recent months the normally unflappable Wilson has been experiencing an entirely new feeling – blind panic. As guest chair of this year's Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, she is responsible for programming the four- day event and as the opening party draws near, she's a little worried.
"I have been having a few sleepless nights," she says on a whirlwind visit to the town from London.
"I wake up thinking what if so and so can't come, what if someone pulls out at the last minute and, god forbid, what if someone dies?"
For any crime writer, death inevitably becomes something of a preoccupation and Wilson is no different. She's just spent the morning having a tour round the Theakston brewery at Masham. The company, run by Simon Theakston, sponsor the event and with a little encouragement talk soon turned to murder.
"He was a little wary at first," says Wilson. "I don't think Simon wanted to be seen to be giving anyone the wrong ideas, but by the end he was happily telling us how such and such brewing tool would be a perfect murder weapon and the vats are clearly a good way of disposing of a body, at least for a little while.
"He took us down to the cellars. It was pitch black and I had the most unsuitable shoes on."
While Wilson's footwear choices might lack judgment, her festival programme has been carefully thought out. While worried about the absence of European authors, she hopes the inclusion of events looking at the phenomena of The Wire and the rise of Irish crime writers will be enough compensation.
"It's really difficult, but the kind of panels we have at Harrogate are less formal than at some festivals," she says. "That means writers have to be fluent in English. If they're not, it's not enjoyable for either them or the audience.
"I wanted to open up this year's event to a new audience, perhaps to people who have never been here before. There are a lot of people who watch crime on television who don't necessarily read it.
"When David Simon, who created The Wire, agreed to come with scriptwriter George Pelacanos, I was over the moon. That whole series has been a complete phenomenon and it feels right to have it in the festival.
"Barry Norman is also chairing a panel looking at how you go about taking a crime novel from the page to the screen and what various authors think about the end result. Some can turn the air blue when they talk about their brush with television, so that should be an entertaining hour or so.
"As chair, you have to balance putting your stamp on the festival and making sure there's something for everyone. I hope I've achieved that, but it will be for other people to judge."
Wilson may have endeavoured to make this year's programme as accessible as possible, but there were one or two indulgences she couldn't resist. On the Saturday at 2pm, an audience will gather at the Crown Hotel to see a panel of Dangerous Dykes. It was two years ago that Ian Rankin found himself in
hot water after a speech
at the Edinburgh Books Festival in which he said
"the people writing the most graphic violence today are women... they are mostly lesbians as well".
"Ian never meant to upset anyone and he certainly wasn't trying to be controversial, but the whole thing snowballed out of all control," says Wilson.
"I just thought now, after the dust has settled a little, it was the right time to look at why lesbians make such successful crime-fiction writers. I did think about asking Ian Rankin if he would chair the panel, but that would have probably been one step too far."
Alongside programming the festival, Wilson has been finishing the second book in the Detective Inspector Stratton series. Since she started in crime writing, her books have all been one-offs and it took a very persistent publisher to persuade her to try an alternative route.
Stratton's War, set in London against the backdrop of the Second World War, was published last year and the second instalment, An Empty Day, is out on the same day the festival opens.
"Complete coincidence, but lovely nonetheless," she says. "I had a complete fear of writing a series. I worried I would get bored or I would find it incredibly difficult to keep track of all the characters.
"It took me a long time to give it a go and when I did, I had to be totally sure the main character was right. It was honestly like dating and before I got to Stratton there were a lot, and I mean a lot, of also-rans.
"I didn't want my policeman to be an alcoholic or carrying around a suitcase of emotional baggage. I wanted him to have a happy personal life. I wanted him to be a nice guy."
Having previously written history text books for schoolchildren, Wilson knew she wanted to set the books in the recent past and with her own parents having grown up in wartime London, Tottenham was a natural choice.
"We had a lot of interesting conversations about what it was like back then," says Wilson. "One time we were sat in a restaurant and I asked them if they could remember what the doodle bugs sounded like. My mum had a go at an impression, but a woman from the next table turned round and said, 'No, no, I'm sure it was more like this'. Very soon there were various pensioners all humming in time.
"What's been interesting is getting behind the myths which exist about the past. When you look at the newspapers from around that period, it's obvious that gun and knife crime and general delinquency were rife. There were stories of boys swapping guns at school and violent crime was a real issue, it wasn't all about leaving your front door open and the golden age of community spirit.
"In the space of a few decades, the capital changed beyond recognition. I have plans to take the series up to the 1970s. The previous decade had promised so much, but then came financial doom, the three-day week and power cuts. Writing a series like this, you get to see how history really does run in cycles."
Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, July 23-26. 01423 562303
www.harrogate-festival.org.uk/crime
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