Q&A with Kate Emery author of A Murder is Going Down

We chat with the queen of cosy crime Kate Emery, author of A Murder is Going Down.

A&U: Hey Kate! Thanks so much for chatting with us. First up, could you tell us a little bit about A Murder is Going Down?

KE: A Murder Is Going Down is about an Aussie teenager, Heidi, who is already having a pretty rubbish time - she's been dumped by her fairly terrible boyfriend and best friend - when her older brother Felix dies suddenly. The more she learns about Felix's death the more Heidi starts to wonder if there was something suspicious about it. With the help of a new friend, Patrick - and a little unwanted help from her ex-bf and ex-BFF - she starts investigating and soon finds out... well, I don't want to get into spoiler territory.

A&U: Can you talk to us a bit about the initial inspiration for A Murder is Going Down? Where did the spark come from?

KE: I have always been scared of lifts. Every time I get in one I'm convinced it's going to break down and I'll have to climb out into the lift shaft and die horribly. It's possible I've seen too many bad movies. So the spark for A Murder Is Going Down came from the idea of imagining someone who was stuck in a lift and had to witness their boyfriend getting murdered on the outside but being unable to help. Anyone who has read the book will know that's not exactly what happens in it but that's where it started.

A&U: How did writing A Murder is Going Down differ from your previous novel, My Family and Other Suspects?

KE: The biggest difference is the way the story is structured. A Murder Is Going Down is narrated by Heidi in the present, looking back while she is stuck in a lift with an older woman and has to pass some time. So the story jumps between Heidi in the present explaining to this woman what happened, and Heidi in the past trying to find out how and why her brother died. I've never written a book like this before but it was very fun and let me play around with audience expectations about exactly what was happening.

A&U: You’ve garnered the title “The Queen of YA Cosy Crime”. What do you love most about writing in this genre?

KE: Cosy crime is just the best. The idea of "cosy crime" can be a bit misleading because some people think it's all warm tea and slippers but, to me, cosy crime just means amateur detectives and not taking anything too seriously - while also trying to scare people, just a bit. I grew up reading Agatha Christie novels and have always loved murder mysteries. There's nothing more fun as a reader than being led through a twisty turny mystery, knowing that all will be revealed in a couple of hundred pages. As a writer, there's nothing more fun than being the one behind the scenes who gets to pull the strings.

A&U: The protagonist in A Murder is Going Down, Heidi, has SUCH a strong voice she practically bursts off the page! How did you go about capturing that?

KE: Heidi is definitely a slightly tweaked version of the inner monologue that's constantly running in my head. She's funnier than me, braver than me and cooler than me, which is really fun to play with. But because she basically is me, it's also very easy to figure out how she would react in any given circumstances. She was so much fun to write.

A&U: What is your planning process like for a novel like this? Do you know exactly where you’re going to end up from the start, or do you just see where it takes you?

KE: I am an absolute pantser, meaning I do very little planning. I tend to have an idea for a story and just start writing it. This is not a strategy that I would recommend. I have tried to plan my mysteries more carefully and got as far as doing a chapter by chapter breakdown but I found that as soon as I started writing the book, I got bored and wanted to abandon my plan and veer off in a different direction. This way of working definitely means I have to do a lot of rewriting and it's probably shaved a few years off my life from stress, but it also makes the process of writing so fun because I'm discovering the murder mystery as my characters are.

A&U: And finally, what advice would you give for any aspiring cosy crime writers out there who might be reading this Q&A?

KE: Don't abandon your manuscript halfway through when you decide it's terrible and the mystery doesn't make sense. I have experienced that feeling every single time I've written a book. Before I ever published my first book, I used to stop writing when I felt like that and start a new project. Only when I forced myself to finish a book-length manuscript, (however bad I thought it was) did I get a publishing deal. For me, at least, the book doesn't become decent until about my third draft, and it doesn't approach good until my fifth. But if I never finish it in the first place, I don't have the chance to edit it and get it there. I'm currently working on my next book and have just reached the stage where I'm starting to doubt I have any talent at all - only knowing that if I keep pushing I'll get through it, is keeping me going.

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A Murder is Going Down

by Kate Emery

A brilliant and hilarious cosy YA crime from the author of My Family and Other Suspects, with a mystery that will keep readers guessing to the very last page.

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