Q&A with Murder at Thornwood Park author Joan Sauers

We chat with Murder at Thornwood Park author Joan Sauers.

 A&U: Rose McHugh has become such a beloved amateur sleuth. What do you enjoy most about writing her?

JS: I enjoy getting her into trouble and then watching her get herself out! I enjoy creating gnarly conflicts in her relationships and then seeing her struggle to resolve them.

A&U: You’ve described Rose as a historian turned detective. Why do history and crime make such a perfect pairing?

JS: Because historians investigate what happened in the past, and how and why it happened, but they’re not constrained by all those police procedural rules. And of course history is full of unsolved crimes.

A&U: This novel explores a decades-old cold case involving missing women during World War II. What inspired that storyline?

JS: I’ve always seen Rose’s skills as a historian as her superpower which was under-utilised in the previous books. So when I found out that the Robertson Hotel had been used as a training camp for women of the Australian Air Force, it was a match made in heaven – or the Highlands.

A&U: Thornwood Park is wonderfully gothic and eerie. Were there any literary or cinematic influences behind the estate?

JS: I was inspired by both Manderley, the creepy mansion in Daphne DuMaurier’s classic, Rebecca, and Thornfield Hall from Charlotte Bronte’s  Jane Eyre. And a little bit the castle in Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast.

A&U: Did you know who the killer was from the beginning, or did the mystery evolve as you wrote?

JS: It evolved. As with my other two books, I changed my mind several times about whodunnit. I had to keep reminding myself that if it was obvious to me, it would be obvious to the reader. And sometimes, characters did surprising things that reinforced latent themes.

A&U: What do you think Australian cosy crime can offer that feels distinct from British or American cosy mysteries?

JS: Our bushland, botanicals and birdlife are unique, and cosy crime relies heavily on the environment it’s set in. But also there’s something about the dry Australian sense of humour that sets it apart, which is on display in my books.

A&U: Do your screenwriting instincts influence how you structure your novels?

JS: They influence things like my visual vocabulary and the fact that I use the present tense. But I structured each book to be easily adapted as one season of television – and now that the TV show is going ahead, it’s going to make writing the scripts a lot of fun!

A&U: Your dialogue feels very natural and witty. Do you hear characters’ voices clearly in your head?

JS: I do. I kind of act out each part. And it’s important to speak the dialogue out loud as you write – it has to really flow off the tongue without any trips.

A&U: If you could cast Rose McHugh in a TV adaptation, who would you love to see play her?

JS: There are so many great Australian actors who could play her, but I’ve always pictured Justine Clarke. She has the warmth and the intelligence.

A&U: The novel highlights how easily women’s stories can disappear from history. Was that theme central to the book from the start?

JS: I did have that theme in mind from the start, and I want to feature more real life women’s stories in future novels.

A&U: Memory, secrets, and buried histories run through the series. Why are those themes so compelling to you?

JS: I guess because we should learn so much from historical truths and yet we fail repeatedly to do so. Also, it’s just plain fun putting together disparate clues to figure out the solution to historical puzzles.

A&U: What can readers expect next from Rose McHugh?

JS: The next setting will be at a writers’ retreat at a former Catholic convent in the Highlands where, guess what – someone goes missing and shocking secrets are revealed that may involve nuns, novelists, and one or two ghosts.

A&U: Finally — for anyone new to the Rose McHugh mysteries, why is now the perfect time to jump in?

JS: Because if you start with Echo Lake, you won’t want Rose’s journey to end, so luckily you will have two more books in the series to see you through. Also, you’ll want to read the books before the TV series comes out, so get started now!

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Murder at Thornwood Park

by Joan Sauers

Set within a village community all living at the edge of the atmospheric forests of the mysterious Southern Highlands, historian turned detective, Rose McHugh, channels her expert skills to solve an historical series of murders.

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