It
was at the end of the evening that things became particularly spirited. As I
added my signature to her purchase, a middle-aged lady engaged me in
conversation, expressing her strongly-held opinions about D.I. Helen Grace, my
series protagonist. Gripping my arm, she declared: “Helen Grace must get
married. And she must have babies. She must be happy…” I was slightly taken
aback, but happy to chat, and five minutes later, I got my arm back. Turning to
the next customer, I was surprised to see that this lady had a perplexed and unhappy
expression. Leaning in close, she whispered: “Helen Grace must never get
married. It would be a betrayal of her character….”
I
left the event with a slightly bruised arm and plenty to chew on. For these two
readers had inadvertently hit upon the key challenge faced by any series writer
- how to develop and evolve your protagonist, whilst somehow keeping him or her
exactly the same? How do you move their story, their life, their character on,
whilst simultaneously keeping hold of the characteristics, flaws and
personality that drew readers to your creation in the first place?
It’s
an issue that’s been at the forefront of my mind of late, as I pondered where
to take Helen Grace next. As I sat down to write the ninth instalment of the
series, All Fall Down (out June 11th), I found myself facing a difficult
dilemma. At the end of the previous book, Helen had found herself in a fledgling
relationship, with fellow officer DS Joseph Hudson. As loyal readers will know,
this is an unusual situation for Helen. Because of her difficult family
background, her disastrous history with men and her innate desire for privacy,
romantic liaisons have been few and far between. So how should I play this one
out? Would this end up being yet another near miss for Helen? Or could it be
the start of a new chapter for Helen? A new life involving love, commitment or
even – whisper it – marriage and kids? A few books ago this would have seemed
impossible, but now…?
Such
new vistas are exciting for a writer. What would Helen be like in a monogamous,
fulfilling relationship? What would she be like if she fell pregnant? Being a
parent fundamentally alters your outlook on life, so wouldn’t it be fun to
explore this change through my series protagonist?
It would no doubt be a challenging, illuminating journey…yet what if it somehow
“neutered” her? What would Helen be like if she suddenly had to worry about
childcare, or a husband waiting at home, or kids’ birthday parties and the
school nativity? Would this be a step too far for a woman who spends her life chasing
down vicious serial killers? Would I have lost something by taking her down
this path?
Many
august crime writers have wrestled with this dilemma, coming to very different
conclusions as to the best route forward. Lee Child took the bold and brilliant
decision not to age his protagonist Jack Reacher, making him an ageless, mythic
hero, dispensing justice wherever he goes. Sadly, I’ve missed that boat with
Helen, who’s proved unable to cheat the ageing process, so perhaps I should follow
the lead of Ian Rankin and Michael Connolly. Their brilliant creations, John Rebus
and Harry Bosch, have aged more or less in real time, so their physicality,
attitude, abilities have changed over the years. Their drive and desire for
justice has remained undimmed, of course, but both have had to adapt to
changing conditions (as they stepped away from being a police officer) and growing
personal limitations, leading to an interesting deepening of their characters.
Or perhaps I should take a lead from long form TV drama (my day job) – where
the golden rule for any series protagonist is that you take them on a long,
difficult journey over the arc of the story…only to land them right back where
they started come the end.
There
is no correct answer, of course, no right path for Helen. But one thing is
certain - whichever route I choose in All Fall Down, one Greek lady will be left
disappointed.
All Fall Down by M J Arlidge (Headline)
"You
have one hour to live." Those are
the only words on the phone call. Then they hang up. Surely, a prank? A
mistake? A wrong number? Anything but the chilling truth... That someone is
watching, waiting, working to take your life in one hour. But why?
The job of finding out falls to DI Helen Grace: a woman with a track
record in hunting killers. However, this is A case where the killer seems to
always be one step ahead of the police and the victims. With no motive, no leads, no clues - nothing
but pure fear - an hour can last a lifetime...
All Fall Down by M.J Arlidge is published in hardback by Orion Books on 11th June
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