When and how did the idea for "The Corpse Flower" originate?
The idea originated a few years ago in a small town in the South of France, the same town that I lived in as a child and where I have spent every summer since. One day, I was at the market square, and I was watching this brisk-looking guy feeding a kid goat with a feeding bottle while my children were standing around and petting the animal. As I was standing there, I suddenly noticed this woman sitting at a café across the street. She stared at me, and I could see in her eyes that she recognized me from somewhere without being able to put her finger on it. It turned out to be an acquaintance from my childhood, but for some reason, the look on her face made me think of the opening scene of a crime novel: A woman on the run is recognized in a small town in France and immediately flees the scene. That evening I wrote the opening scene for "The Corpse Flower". The plot then marinated in my thoughts for a long time before I wrote the rest of the book, and by then the two main characters, journalist Heloise Kaldan and homicide detective Erik Schäfer, were born.
How did you come up with the title "The Corpse Flower"?
A few months into the writing process, I saw a documentary about corpse flowers on the National Geographic channel and was wildly fascinated by the phenomenon. A cunning plant that smells like death? How wonderfully disgusting and exciting at the same time. I knew that I had to incorporate this Frankenstein-like plant in the story and I thought that it would make for a good title, too.
Many crime novels tend to have the protagonists solving crimes on their own, without much input from the police, who are usually incompetent, corrupt or just hostile. And then there are often journalists as secondary characters in police procedurals. But towards the end of The Corpse Flower, Kalden and Schäfer are working as a team, which is quite unusual. Will they be doing so in future novels?
Well, I suppose it is a rather unusual set-up, but like my main character, Heloise, I am a journalist, so it was natural for me to write about someone in that line of work. And in a crime novel you naturally have to include the police to some degree. But to me, the most unusual thing about this particular duo, is Schäfer’s character. In most of the crime novels I’ve read, the homicide detectives always have some kind of darkness or a deep struggle within, like a substance abuse problem, a failed marriage, strained relationships with their children, etc. I wanted to introduce a different type of detective; someone who is happily married, well functioning in life and good at his job, and I liked the idea of him and Heloise forming a friendship of sorts. It’s true that they sometimes work together and in some cases share information, and they’ll continue to do so throughout the series, but they are also very aware of the fact that he is a policeman, and she is a reporter. They certainly don’t always keep each other in the loop.
The Corpse Flower by Anne Mette Hancock is published by Swift Press, £12.99 hardback.
Danish journalist Heloise Kaldan is in the middle of a nightmare. One of her sources has been caught lying, and she could lose her job over it. And then she receives the first in a series of cryptic letters from an alleged killer. Anna Kiel is wanted for murder but hasn't been seen by anyone in three years. When the reporter who first wrote about the case is found murdered in his apartment, detective Erik Schafer comes up with the first lead. Has Anna Kiel struck again? If so, why does every clue point directly to Heloise Kaldan? As Heloise starts digging deeper she realises that to tell Anna's story she will have to revisit her darkest past, and confront the one person she swore she'd never see again...
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