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Friday 20 April 2018

BEST OF CRIME with Sarah Simpson

Welcome to my latest BEST OF CRIME feature, looking at crime writers' top picks, from their favourite author and fictional detective to their best writing tip. 




Today I'm delighted to welcome 

SARAH SIMPSON

for her The Greatest Mistake blog tour

to share her BEST OF CRIME ...




... AUTHORS
For me, my love of books and the wonderful journey into the depths of my imagination began with Enid Blyton. A few years on, I immersed myself into the stories of Agatha Christie. I loved not only the mystery, the ‘who dunnit,’ but the use of often flamboyant, fragrant characters to steal the show. Glamorous settings, elegant characters adorned in period attire leading the way.


... FILMS/MOVIES
Difficult to name one. I love emotional films, those that leave me with a feeling for some time after. But a film I still talk about is Silence of the Lambs. There is something so chilling about seeing Anthony Hopkins in that infamous face mask, yet I still quite like something about him. For a feel good film, maybe – Love Actually.


... TV DRAMAS
There have been a few just lately that have kept me salivating for next episode. But, for the overall feeling, I loved - Broken by Jimmy McGovern with Sean Bean. I thought this was something special. It incorporated everything about life, sad, funny, dark and light with some wonderful acting too. I cried, I laughed, I sat on the edge of my seat.


... FICTIONAL KILLERS
It has to be Hannibal Lecter. How can anyone capable of such atrocities still manage to keep me searching for what I like about him? He captures that psychopathic trait, of killing for good reason without conscience, without responsibility so brilliantly. Chilling, yet eloquently charming.


... FICTIONAL DETECTIVES 
It has to be Sherlock Holmes. Again such a complex character, rude, egotistical, incredibly sharp and witty all in one spoken sentence.


... MURDER WEAPONS
Roald Dahl, A Lamb to the Slaughter. Where the wife kills her husband with a leg of lamb which she later feeds to appreciative, investigating detectives. Clever woman!
    

... DEATH SCENES
Probably one of the worst death scenes for me is when Hannibal Lecter removes the face from his guard to use as his own disguise. Before suspending him from the ceiling. It’s fair to say, that one stayed with me for quite a while.


... BLOGS/WEBSITES
I was laughing to myself the other day, wondering what anyone would think if they took a saunter through my browser history… how best to kill yourself quickly? How does it feel to drown? Which emojis will help me find a weed dealer? I also search back through old newspaper articles, across the world. And of course, behavioural psychology research papers.


... WRITING TIPS
I am not a planner. I have tried to be but it doesn’t work for me. It only prevents my mind from ticking over. I also make lots of notes that I never return to or refer to. I use them only to sew a seed, then I let the story tell me how and where it wants to go. So – do whatever works best for you, we all work differently and like many things in life, there is no right way to write.


... WRITING SNACKS
Peanut butter, anyhow, anyway, on toast, on a sandwich on crisp breads. I’m mainly a savoury person but if I’m feeling the need for sugar – Jelly Babies, all day.


About SARAH SIMPSON

Sarah Simpson has a first-class honours degree in Psychology and has worked in a neuro-psychology department at a Brain Rehabilitation Hospital. When she first graduated she formed a mental health consultancy and worked as a psychologist within the family court system of Warwickshire and Oxfordshire. Three years ago she moved to Cornwall with her husband and three children, and runs her own practice in Truro. Her Greatest Mistake is her first novel, and she is currently working on the second.

Find Sarah Simpson on her Facebook page and on Twitter - @sarahrsimpson


About THE GREATEST MISTAKE


Publisher's description
Do we ever know what goes on behind closed doors?
Eve and Gregg were the perfect couple, with the perfect marriage...which has become the perfect lie. Gone is the charming, attentive Gregg - instead Eve wakes up each morning beside a manipulative and sinister man who controls his wife’s every move.
So Eve flees her immaculate marital home to keep herself, and young son Jack safe. Yet no matter how careful she has been, she knows Gregg will be relentless in his pursuit of his missing family. And that one day, when she's least expecting it, he will find them...
What was Eve’s greatest mistake?
Marrying Gregg? Leaving him? Or leaving him alive…?

The Greatest Mistake was published by Aria on 1 April 2018.


Look out for more BEST OF CRIME features coming soon.

Click here to read more BEST OF CRIME features.

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