I’m delighted to welcome Roz Watkins to the blog today as she celebrates the recent release of her debut, The Devil’s Dice. I was lucky enough to get an early copy of this book and it’s a fabulous thriller. I couldn’t put it down! Here’s Roz to tell us a little more about it.
Can you describe your new novel in one succinct but sensual sentence?
When an ancient witches’ curse starts foretelling deaths in a Peak District village, DI Meg Dalton must find out who’s to blame before her own mother falls victim.
Who is your favourite character and why?
I have a bit of a crush on my main detective’s side-kick, Jai. He has a sharp sense of humour and big brown eyes! But I like writing the nasty cop, Craig, too. My partner reckons he’s the inspiration for both characters, depending on how annoying he’s been that day.
Which authors have been your main inspirations?
Lionel Shriver. Gillian Flynn, Margaret Atwood, Daphne du Maurier. As a child I devoured Enid Blyton and Dick Francis, reading each book repeatedly until it fell apart. Funnily enough I didn’t read much crime until recently and I never intended to write a police procedural (since I know nothing about the police) but it happened by accident when the detective took over the story.
How does your writing process work; confusion and paper flying everywhere or calm and ordered?
There’s a lot of confusion, notebooks full of hand-written scrawl, post-it notes all over the walls, and general chaos. I write in a room so tiny it is impossible to keep it tidy, and I end up with papers, mugs, plates, and a large dog strewn all over the floor. I also bought a treadmill in a hopeless attempt to avoid Writers’ Arse, but I found I couldn’t write whilst walking, so now it just clutters up the room even more.
What is your guilty pleasure when writing? (Chocolate, wine, coffee…)
I don’t regard coffee as a guilty pleasure so much as a basic human need. I’m a big fan of wine and gin but don’t tend to drink it while I’m writing. I suspect I’d just fall asleep and possibly knock myself out on the treadmill or injure the dog.
Aw… Isn’t Starsky cute!
Please share your blurb with us
A lawyer is found dead in a Peak District cave, his face ribboned with scratches.
Amidst rumours of a local curse, DI Meg Dalton is convinced this is cold-blooded murder. There’s just one catch – chiselled into the cave wall above the body is an image of the grim reaper and the dead man’s initials, and it’s been there for over a century.
As Meg battles to solve the increasingly disturbing case, it’s clear someone knows her secrets. The murderer is playing games with Meg – and the dice are loaded…
Thanks so much, Roz (and Starsky!). You can purchase The Devil’s Dice here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Roz Watkins is the author of the DI Meg Dalton crime series, which is set in The Peak District where she lives. The first book in the series, THE DEVIL’S DICE, was shortlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award and has been optioned for TV. Roz previously worked as a partner in a firm of patent attorneys in Derby, but this has nothing to do with there being a dead one in her novel! When she’s not writing, Roz helps her partner run their holiday cottages near Wirksworth, ably assisted by a menagerie of demanding animals.
Twitter: @RozWatkins
Website: www.rozwatkins.co.uk