The Fourth Black Beacon Book of Mystery will be released on the 23rd of November, but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just $1.99 instead of $3.99 and the Goodreads listing is up. To get you in the mood for mystery, we’ve interviewed our contributing authors. Are you keen to peer into their minds—a complex world of clues, red herrings, and puzzling plots? This volume of mysteries will be as challenging as ever, but our cast of amateur sleuths, private investigators, and police inspectors will leave no stone unturned!
Hi Robb,
What is it about the genre of mystery that gets the cogs turning in your head?
I’m fascinated by the motives for crime that spin off on the homicide cop’s Big Three: Sex, Greed, and Revenge.
What ingredients are needed for a great fair-play mystery in which the reader can try to solve the puzzle before all is revealed?
I’m not much of a traditional kind of whodunit writer—more a whydunit type. As far as the tension goes in solving the crime, the one ingredient I worry most about is the planting of false leads in my detective’s head naturally so that he (or she, if it’s a Jade Hui story) would logically think that way or follow that track.
What are your protagonist’s strengths and weaknesses, trademark quirks, and bad habits?
Tom Haftmann, Raimo Jarvi, and Jade all have an excess of cynicism. None is idealistic or believes in the goodness of humanity. Haftman thinks he’s a "controlled" alcoholic; Jarvi’s an isolato owing to childhood scars, and Jade expects every male she encounters to be an overbearing shithead.
A great mystery needs a killer plot and likeable—or despicable—characters, but setting and atmosphere are also key. What are your favourite settings for a really mysterious atmosphere?
I’m partial to squalor: rust-belt towns like the one I’m living in and grew up in. Abandoned factories and weed-strewn lots have an attractive appeal. A close second is a seedy resort town favored by bikers and outlaw scum.
What’s the most mysterious place you’ve ever been?
Xi’an, China’s ancient capital city and site of the terracotta warriors.
What was the last mystery you read?
Hotel Ukraine by Martin Cruz Smith (the final Arkady Renko novel).
What are you working on now?
Completing revisions for a crime novel scheduled for this autumn, The Heist on Johnnycake Road.
Where can we find you online?
Website of Thomas Haftmann, https//:tomhaftmann.wixsite.com/robbtwhite
Thanks for playing along!
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