A CRIMINALLY GOOD READ

BESTSELLING MYSTERY AUTHOR NITA PROSE TELLS US WHAT INFLUENCES HER WRITING

What was the inspiration behind your new novel?

I got the idea after visiting a castle museum in Sussex. I noticed the most unusual pair of items in a display case: a mummified rat and a silver spoon. It was a memorial to a servant girl who’d worked in the castle and had been accused of stealing a spoon, for which she was fired. Years later, when builders renovated the fortress, they found a rat’s nest with a mummified rat – and the missing spoon. I began thinking about hasty judgments, about the invisible workers in our midst, and how the voices of the departed sometimes grow stronger after death.

What attracts you most about writing mysteries?

The beats and twists that propel the story. What’s tricky is that mysteries have been done so well and so often by storytelling geniuses, so it’s imperative for any writer tackling the genre to find a fresh entry point. In each one I write, the mystery can only be solved through a connection to the heart.

Where did maid Molly spring from?

Molly came to me during a business trip to London in 2019. I opened the door to my hotel room and surprised the maid who’d come to clean it. It occurred to me then what an intimate, invisible job it is. By cleaning my room every day, she knew so much about me, but what did I know about her? On my plane ride home, I heard Molly’s voice. I grabbed a napkin and wrote the prologue in a single burst.

How do you keep track of all the twists?

I am a plotter and a pantser. Plotters work from a solid story plan, while pantsers let the creation happen organically. Even if I know exactly how to write momentous scenes when I’m starting a book, I hold off, only allowing myself that reward once I’ve traversed the messy middle.

Has anyone inspired your work?

Agatha Christie set a very high bar in terms of the story and characters within a classic mystery. I’m also inspired by Fredrik Backman, Gail Honeyman and Matt Haig – writers creating characters who are prickly, but through their narratives, readers

come to love them.

‘WHEN I WRITE, I’M A CONSTANT NOVICE’

How easy do you find writing?

Writing is difficult to do well, and as soon as you think you’ve got it, it’ll wallop you with selfloathing for every word on the page. When I write, I’m a constant novice, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

Read voraciously within genres you like and learn from genres you don’t. Dissect the techniques and apply them to your own writing.

What do you love most about your job?

Writing allows me to connect with people from all walks of life and to find solace in what we have in common.