Listen online: Speak no Evil - Martyn Waites
IF YOU like your crime fiction so realistic you can almost smell the blood, then you'll already be a fan of Martyn Waites's novels.
The actor-turned-writer is at the forefront of British crime fiction thanks to his unflinching treatment of social issues which he deftly spins into stories that will have you gripped until the early hours.
In his latest novel Speak No Evil, former journalist Joe Donovan has been recruited to tell the story of Anne Marie Smeaton, the former child murderer Mae Blacklock, whose nightmares are about to explode into reality.
In this podcast, Waites talks about the importance of honesty in crime writing, his use of the Mary Bell story, and working with young offenders.
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Waites grew up in Newcastle and confesses the city left a lasting impression on him, though not a necessarily good one.
After leaving school he had the usual series of random jobs before starting out in acting and attending drama school in Birmingham for three years. Preferring stage work to television, Waites appeared in theatres up and down the country as well as putting in the customary appearances in TV dramas including Morse and The Bill and a host of commercials.
In the early 1990s, he turned his attention to a long-held wish to write. After two failed attempts at playwriting, he turned to fiction. As the ideas began to flow and the stories lengthen, he started penning a novel. The result was Mary's Prayer, published in 1997, the first of the Stephen Larkin series. Little Triggers followed in 1998, with Candleland completing the trilogy in 2000. Larkin reappeared in 2003 in Born Under Punches, which is set in the midst of the 1984 Miner's Strike.
Speak no Evil is the fourth in the Joe Donovan series which began with The Mercy Seat in 2006.
The character of Mae Blacklock, largely based on Mary Bell, was introduced in The White Room, Waites's standalone novel which was published to critical acclaim in 2004.
Speak no Evil, 6.99, is published by Pocket Books, ISBN 978-1-847390592
Martyn Waites will be appearing at this year's Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate. For details of this year's coverage and our exclusive coverage, visit www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/crimewriting
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