Well my plan of monthly blogs has, somewhat, gone out the window over the last few months so I will need to think of some things to share in the coming couple of months to catch up. Sometimes, an idea for a blog just comes to me and other times I just can’t think for the life of me what to say. Fortunately, I have an update on the latest DI Christie novel to share, as I continue to think what else to say in the near future.
‘I Am Mine’ is the name of the fifth instalment of the DI Joanne Christie series based in Edinburgh. The novel derives from a short story that I had written under the same name, which was due to be published in an anthology of stories based in Ireland. Sadly, the publishers decided to close so the anthology didn’t go ahead, but I liked the story and felt it could be used as the basis of the latest Christie novel. Although the story moved from Ireland to Edinburgh, I decided to keep some Irish characters in the plot as a nod to the original story. Another thing I was proud of, was the fact it was my first attempt at a locked room mystery.
I’m a big fan of this sub-genre of crime fiction, Agatha Christie has included a few in her novels and some of the best crime writers have written them over the years. I am also a big fan of the Jonathan Creek TV series, which brings a lot of the magic of these mysteries to life, if you excuse the horrendous pun. On that note, I had the delight of meeting Alan Davies recently in Edinburgh and managed to resist the urge of attending his event in duffle coat and curly wig.
As well as the main plot to the novel, I added a couple of other investigations to the story which allowed some of the regular characters to work on their own cases. I won’t say too much about these as so not to add any spoilers, but I was delighted how all these threads came together.
Fans of Kevin Curtis (also known as The Chain), will be glad to know that he plays a part in the book also. His retrial date has been set, but there are events that will happen in the run up to this that I hope readers will enjoy experiencing.
The eBook and paperback have been submitted for publication, so by the time you read this, you may be able to purchase them. It sometimes takes a few days for everything to pull through so if you can’t see it yet, you are just too keen! I’ll leave a link in the books section in due course.
Thanks again for reading my blog. If you’re a fan of the Christie series, I hope you enjoy the next one. I have different writing plans for next year, but I may drop a Christie novella later in the year as I love these characters I have created over the last ten years or so.
Ross Alexander Writer 