TRAVELLING DANGEROUSLY

‘One of the most enjoyable things about writing travel crime is reliving the holiday that inspired the setting for the novel,’ writes subscriber Judith Cranswick. ‘None more so than when I was writing Peril in Persia.

‘Darius the Great is one of my heroes, and our holiday to Iran in November 2019 fulfilled my dream of visiting his ceremonial palace at Persepolis. The holiday was everything and more that I hoped it would be from glorious palaces, beautiful gardens to mud-brick fortresses.

‘Throughout the holiday we were accompanied by an historian which helped to make the whole experience come alive. It was this same historian who came with us several years ago on our trip to Morocco and who inspired the idea of using a protagonist who travels to exotic locations.

‘When I returned home, I realised I’d found the perfect location for the third of my Aunt Jessica Mysteries. Aunt Jessica is a retired archaeologist and historian who now accompanies tour groups as a guest lecturer.

‘I wanted the crime to be related to the country in which the book is set. I was telling a friend about our holiday when she mentioned that her mother had lived in Iran when the last Shah of Persia was still in power. She talked about the royal family, their association with the CIA, and the Shah’s secret police. I was fascinated and soon began researching the last days of the Shah. A new idea came to mind, and I began to develop a plot based on a forty-year-old conspiracy.

‘Peril in Persia began to take shape and was eventually launched on 31 January this year.

‘I also posted a pictorial journey of the itinerary of the tour with photos of the places where the story takes place on my February blog on my website.’

Website: www.judithcranswick.co.uk