During lockdown, I wrote 50,000 words on a time-jump novel – a love story. It was good, but I had the annoying habit of killing people – too many for a romance, my agent dryly pointed out.
So, the book was a duff, but the characters – grumpy, loner Robin Butler and chatty Freya West – stuck in my head. I returned to my happy place, and started writing a police procedural. I had an idea – that a man would be found dead in a hotel room with all the markers of a tragic accident, but where the cop he was having an affair with suspected more sinister goings-on. That became Last Place You Look – the first in the Butler and West series.
Robin Butler and Freya West have been an absolute joy to write. Some characters arrive fully formed and Robin was exactly that. From the beginning I knew how he would react in any circumstance, down to what he would say and the expression on his face. I even knew what he looked like.
This makes the process of writing a book incredibly easy. Or at least – easier! Half of the battle of a first draft is getting to know the characters. But with Butler and West that was sorted from the off. All I needed was a pesky plot. No mean feat!
There was a downside – they had an incredible amount of backstory. I have spreadsheets detailing mannerisms, descriptions, timelines, ages and murder victims. Exposition can get boring and wordy – necessary for those who hadn’t read the books before but not so much it gives previous plots away. Thank goodness for editors, to give feedback on the worst of this.
But as someone I deeply loved, I had a habit of putting Robin through the worst of situations. He starts the series utterly alone and depressed, and across five books – trying to avoid spoilers – his best friend is arrested for murder, he’s been punched in the face, dumped by his girlfriend, and put into hospital twice.
And that’s not mentioning his long-standing crush on Freya.
From the beginning, Robin and Freya were destined to be together. But, as in all good romances, the path of true love can never run smooth.
Putting a love story into a crime book has met with mixed reviews from readers. Personally, I love it. The best thrillers have an element of romance – the Strike series by Robert Galbraith, Josh and Maeve as written by Jane Casey, Patricia Cornwell’s Scarpetta and Wesley. It is human to fall in love. We invest our time in these people; we care.
Even with the best of these novels, a writer can’t keep star-crossed lovers apart forever. I wanted Robin and Freya to fall in love – they deserved their happy ending. But it’s bittersweet. Once together, they can’t work as partners in the police force. So, in my head at least, the series had to end.
Completing that final proofread of Out of the Ashes was, I must confess, a little emotional. The book, and the series, is exactly how I wanted it to be and I have been overjoyed by ever single review and message from readers saying how much they’ve loved it. I will miss Robin. It’s a strange thing to say about a character that exists solely in my own head, but it’s true. If I’d spent as much time thinking about a real man as I have Robin, my husband would have reason to be concerned.
I am excited already about what’s next to come. I have just finished the first book in a new series. Finding the Dead follows PC Lucy Halliday, a police dog handler to her specialist search dog, Moss, as she comes to terms with the disappearance of her husband, eighteen months previously. But when they find a body in the woods, the subsequent murder investigation, under the watchful eye of DI Jack Ellis, gives Lucy pause. All this time, Lucy has suspected her husband is dead. A renowned journalist, he was investigating something new when he went missing. Could this woodland hold the answer?
There are dead bodies, dirty cops, dogs and deception. And a little romance – but not where you might expect it.
As for Butler and West, I still have plans. An idea is growing. So, who knows, they may yet return…
In the meantime, you have Lucy, Jack and Moss to keep you company. I hope you love them as much as I do.
Out of the Ashes by Louisa Scarr (Canelo Press) Out Now.
Stalking. Arson. Murder.Butler and West are back together... and the stakes have never been higher.When an old friend tells DS Freya West that she's being stalked by someone she met online, Freya promises to help. But there are no leads, and the dating site refuses to give up their data. To make matters more complicated, DI Robin Butler is back in town. He's investigating a string of arson attacks that have escalated to murder, and the cases seem to be connected somehow. They're going to need their wits about them... Because this is a killer more devious than any they've hunted before, and he wants to obliterate everything they hold dear.
You can find Louisa Scarr on X @paperclipgirl. And on Instagram @louisascarrwriter and on Facebook.
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