Detective Thriller
Date Published: March 1st 2021
Publisher: Happy London Press
A church going district of North London and a neighbourhood where friendly residents know each other. But when a brutally murdered woman is found next to a burned-out black candle, a strange mark etched deep into her back, the locals became afraid.
Her old boss, a Chief Superintendent in the Met, calls for PI, Tammy Pierre’s assistance. He’s aware of her Caribbean links, and knowledge of Obiah, a voodoo curse found in Trinidad, and used, some claim, to commit bizarre murders. So, is it voodoo? Or just superstition?
A trip to the West Indies reveals some disturbing facts, new evidence of child abuse and murders going undetected for over twenty years.
Returning to London, her situation becomes dangerous – is it all more than Tammy had bargained for?
Interview with Andrew Segal
For those interested in exploring the subject or theme of your book, where should they start?
For the aspiring crime writer I would say read as much crime fiction as you possibly can. Crime writers have very different ways of going about things. You must decide whether you want puzzles like Agatha Christie’s Poirot. Modern originality such as that produced by Belinda Bauer, (Snap, Rubbernecker, The Beautiful Dead). Unusual themes by Graeme Macrea Burnett, (His Bloody Project, The Disappearance of Adele Bedeau, The Accident on the A5). Sheer genius with psychological crime thrillers written by Barbara Vine, (The Minotaur, A Fatal Inversion). Vine was the alter ego of Ruth Rendell, who herself penned the detective Wexford series.
How did you become involved with the subject or theme of your book?
Obiah, or voodoo as it is more commonly known, originated in the Caribbean. I wanted to write crime novel that posed the question, Is it real, or is it superstition? And how far can rational individuals be influenced by it, if at all.
What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?
My book is a thriller, a crime thriller with a strong element of mystery. I wanted to write a page turner that would keep the readers’ undivided attention. From the reviews I have received I believe I may have achieved my objective.
Anything you would like to say to your readers and fans?
Do let me have your comments, good or bad. We all of us need to keep learning.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
Mixing my metaphors, the pieces of the plot explored separately were eventually put together like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Then the outcome, or headshot moulded like a clay bust, succumbed to my probings, daubing and finishing.
Can you tell us a little bit about your next books or what you have planned for the future?
The Black Candle Killings follows The Lyme Regis Murders, featuring the same private investigator, Tammy Pierre. A further book in the series, The Politician’s Wife, is already written.
How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing for about thirty years. It all started with a short story, Cat and Mouse, about man intimidated by his pet, and went on from there.
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in The Black Candle Killings ?
My principal character is Tammy Pierre, private investigator. Pierre Search and Security is located in London’s Mayfair. Tammy is six feet tall, smokes too many panatellas, drinks too much vodka, does lines of cocaine and has the morals of an alley cat. She’s in a relationship with her PA, Ginny Jones, and betraying her with her occasional Israeli boyfriend, Dov Jordan, who is also her coach in Krav Maga, the Israeli system of martial arts.
Chief Superintendent Bob Walker, Tammy’s superior when she
was a DI in the Met, and who nearly threw her out of the force
when she totalled the car of a man who’d cut her up, now, refers
work to her. They have a great mutual respect for each other.
A major CIA operative who insists on being called Felix, in
acknowledgement of his Bond hero, wishes more of his boys
had Tammy’s guts.
If you could spend the day with one of the characters from The Black Candle Killings who would it be? Please tell us why you chose this particular character, where you would go and what you would do.
The Black Candle Killings is the book I’ve been referring to. Inevitably I’d want to spend a day with Ms Tammy Pierre. I’d like to follow her on a job to see how she operates and to find out how she manages to keep her cool in often highly dangerous situations. I’d like to know whether she uses solely logic, or whether and if so how she applies her feminine intuition.
http://bit.ly/AndrewSegal
About the Author
Sir George Everest said, they climbed that mountain, ‘Because it is there.’ The same might be said of writing. Why do we write? because of the idea, the notion, the thought. ‘Because it is there,’ and the irresistible urge to put it down in print.
My inspirations have come from real people, events or situations that have presented themselves. Titles like, I am a Contract Killer, Beads of Blood, Death Zone, License to Kill, are all based on my own lifetime experiences, questions asked, incidents occurring. So far, nobody has been murdered on my watch. But the notion gave rise to the impetus to write my first murder mystery, The Lyme Regis Murders. Could I make the jump after years of writing macabre short stories to a full-length drama? That familiar beating in the gut, said, ‘Yes, try it. Give it a go.’
And so to that cosy coastal town where nothing untoward ever happens. Or perhaps it does. The author seeks to shatter notions, change people’s perceptions, spoil long held views. That was my intention in entering into the world of crime thrillers. I’ve found that ‘nice’ people are not always what they seem. The helpless can be transformed into the most dangerous, the most dangerous become the most harmless. It’s all up to the writer and what they’re hoping to achieve. For me, so far, there have been several children’s books, one collection of short stories, with three more planned and three novels completed, plus a fourth in the mixer.
Whilst a short story might be written with a flurry of adrenalin in the space of a few hours, a book will need more than just a flash of creativity. It will need, perseverance, discipline and dogged determination. But then, isn’t that what is required of every ambition?
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