Cara Hunter talks to Lucy Foley

My interviewee this month is the enormously talented Lucy Foley, who has her first success with The Hunting Party – one of the biggest books of that year. Lucy’s writing is beautifully structured and many layered, with some evil twists and turns, so I was really delighted to get the chance to talk to her.

You wrote historical fiction before starting a life of crime (!) – what prompted the change, and what do you like most about each of those genres?

I’ve never actually thought too hard about genre, instead I’ve always tried as a writer to write the book I want to read! So my move into murder mysteries came from wanting to read a modern take on the golden age whodunnit… I decided to have a go at penning one myself!

You worked in publishing before becoming a writer yourself – what did you learn from that, and has it been useful?

It was really useful starting out as it took some of the mystique out of the whole process — I knew the importance of having an agent and also the importance of polishing and polishing that initial submission until I knew I couldn’t make it any better myself. I naively thought my background as a fiction editor might help me in editing my own work, though… and alas that definitely isn’t the case! As the writer you’re just too close to the work, you can’t see the wood for the trees. But I think it helped me understand how much I needed a brilliant editor!

The Hunting Party and The Guest List both have very dramatic locations – is a sense of place especially important to you?

Oh, definitely — as a reader I love it when the location feels like a character in itself, and I wanted to replicate that with my own settings. My new murder mystery, The Paris Apartment, is set largely in a beautiful old apartment building that holds some fairly dark secrets. In the best Gothic tradition I wanted it to have its own very distinct personality, to feel like a sinister creature that swallows the characters into itself, so that when they enter they feel as though the outside world is a very long way away.

I get a really strong Agatha Christie vibe from both The Hunting Party and The Guest List (the isolated setting, the limited number of suspects). Was she a big influence for you? How much research do you do?

Yes! I’m a huge Christie fan. I’d say my favourite book of hers is And Then There Were None as I think her writing is perhaps at its darkest and most brilliant, the plotting has no fat on it whatsoever and the solution is an absolutely killer (excuse the pun!). My main research for the books has been location-based, thinking about how the setting can inform the plot. Other than that my main preparation is trying to noodle my way through all the potential plot pitfalls before I get started and to save myself time in the long run… often in vain!

Do you start with plot (like me) or character?

A mixture of both. I have a sketchy idea of the plot at first but then I need my characters to be more fully fleshed out before I can see the whole thing clearly. Before I started writing I always used to think it sounded a bit like a ‘line’ when authors said this, but it really is as though they take over and start driving the plot!

I often get asked whether I’d like to write a standalone – do you ever think about writing a series?

Definitely! I love reading series and seeing the characters grow across multiple books, so it would absolutely be something I’d be interested in doing at some point. It’s often hard to leave my characters behind at the end of the book! I really enjoyed writing Jess, the protagonist of The Paris Apartment, and I’d love to return to her one day.

What’s next for you – are you working on another crime novel?

Yes! I’m just getting started on my next murder mystery and at that lovely stage where it all seems easy and full of promise before I start finding all the problems and plot holes. I’m also putting the finishing touches to a Miss Marple short story I’ve been asked to write for a new collection, out next year, along with a wonderful group of authors including Kate Mosse, Dreda Say Mitchell and Naomi Alderman.

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading a book called Heiresses by Laura Thompson which is a fascinating look at women and money and power through the ages. And I’m waiting anxiously for my copy of Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks: 1941-1995 as I’m a huge fan of her writing and by all accounts she lived a wild and wonderfully eccentric existence!

And here are two questions I always ask: If you could only take three books with you to read on a desert island, what would they be?

Probably the three books I seem to be able to read again and again without getting bored, as I find new things to entertain me in them each time! Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca: the original and ultimate psychological suspense; Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr Ripley: a fascinating study in getting the reader to root for a hugely flawed and unlikeable protagonist and Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast: I love its evocation of a lost time, a lost Paris and the gossipy portraits of lots of famous writers!

Looking back, what would you tell your younger self?

If I had to tell my younger self something I’d say ignore the people (err… read teachers) who tell you to stop staring out the window and daydreaming… that’s now what your older self basically does for a living! And don’t worry about the odd detention (or two). It’s character-building…