DETECTION PERFECTION Bestselling crime writers reveal top tips in guide
FROM AGATHA CHRISTIE TO IAN RANKIN, NEW BOOK SPILLS THE SECRETS OF OUR FAVOURITE AUTHORS
I t was a secret society set up by Agatha Christie’s writing pals to cheer her up after the betrayal of her first husband.
The Detection Club, whose members included the likes of Anthony Berkeley and Dorothy L Sayers, were crime novelists who met over dinner and drinks. Membership of the club and what it does now is shrouded in a little less mystery, although a secret ballot is still held to elect new members, who are initiated in the dark and must take an oath.
Current Scots members include Ian Rankin and Val McDermid.
Authors Peter James, Peter Robinson, Ann Cleeves, Andrew Taylor, Elly Grif f iths, Sophie Hannah, Stella Duffy, Alexander McCall Smith and John le Carré are also in the club. Now a book – Howdunit: A Masterclass terclass In Crime Writing By Membersbers Of The Detection Club – includes top tips and insights from 90 past and present members.
Author and current club president Martin Edwards, who came up with the idea for the new book, said it spills the secrets of our favourite crime writers. He believes it wi l l appeal notn only to would-be writers but also to a wide readership of crime fans. Martin addedadded: “Over the past nine decades,decade many of Britain’s preeminentpreemin authors in the genre have belonged to the club.
“Their work includesi spy, thrthrii l ler and adventure fiction, as well asa traditional detective storiesstorie and novels of psychologicapsychological suspense. It
is high time that their collective wisdom appeareded in a single volume.”
Howd u n i t : A Mas t e r c l a s s In Crime Writ ing By Members Of The Detection Club, edited ited by Martin Edwards, rds, i s pu bl i she d b y HarperCol l ins and i s av a i l a b le f rrom om
Thursday.