In the St Hilda's Spotlight:- Trevor Wood

 

Name:-Trevor Wood

Job:- Author and volunteer at People's Kitchen

Website:- https://trevorwoodauthor.co.uk

Twitter:- @TrevorWoodWrite

Introduction:-

Trevor Wood is the author of a trilogy of novels set in Newcastle. The first novel in the series The Man on The Street was published in 2020 and was nominated and won the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger in 2020 as well as the CrimeFest Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award. It was also shortlisted for the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2021 and was a Theakston's New Blood Author in 2020 as well as being a Guardian Crime Book of the Year. The sequel, One Way Street was published in 2021. The final book in the trilogy Dead End Street featuring Jimmy Mullen was published in 2022

Current book? (This can either be the current book that you are reading or writing)

One of the joys of being part of the crime writing community is that I get advance copies of a lot of new books and I’m currently reading a proof of Nadine Mathieson’s The Binding Room. I loved The Jigsaw Man and am happy to report that the sequel is just as good if not better!

Favourite book

I could probably give you a different answer every day for a year. But today I’m going to say American Tabloid by James Ellroy.

Which two characters would you invite to dinner and why?

Let’s get Tilly from Mike Craven’s The Puppet Show (and all its sequels) and Duchess from Chris Whitaker’s We Begin At The End round for a chat. I think they’ll find each other fascinating. 

How do you relax?

I’m a huge music fan and love to cook so I like combining the two by sticking on some new tunes while I’m cooking up a storm in the kitchen. 

Which book do you wish you had written and why?

It would have to be Killing Floor. It’s a terrific book but it would also mean that I’d be Lee Child and that would be pretty cool

What would you say to your younger self if you were just starting out as a writer.

Wait until you’re older, you don’t know enough about anything

How would you describe your series character? 

Jimmy Mullen is a homeless veteran suffering from PTSD. He’s not an easy man to get to know but once you have you’ll find he’s fiercely loyal to his friends. If he lets you in you can be sure he’s got your back, no matter what problems that causes him. 

With Town and Country: Green Lanes to Mean Streets being the theme at St Hilda's this year, Where is your favourite town and where is your favourite country? Why have you chosen these?

It’s got to be the Toon! I fell in love with Newcastle on my first visit, over 30 years ago, and that love has never faltered in all the time I’ve lived there. It’s a warm, welcoming and vibrant city that rewards those who embrace its playful spirit ten-fold. It’s the first place I ever felt was home. 

My favourite country has to be Canada. My daughter is doing a Phd in Vancouver so we’re spending the whole summer there this year (I’m returning a few days earlier than planned specifically to come to St Hilda’s). We first went there around 20 years ago and have been returning on a fairly regular basis ever since. I love the diversity of its cities and the wide open spaces elsewhere, it’s truly spectacular.

What are you looking forward to at St Hilda's?

As always, it’s meeting my fellow crime writers and our brilliant readers. I love to make new friends and am sure I’m going to come away from St Hilda’s with a whole bunch of them.

Dead End Street by Trevor Wood. (Quercus Publishing)

A group of vigilantes are carrying out a campaign of harassment against the homeless, hounding them both verbally and physically to get them off the streets. Jimmy Mullen is approached by his friend Gadge, who wants to confront the people behind it but Jimmy has finally got his life back on track. He's working at a hostel for 18 to 25-year-olds and he's reluctant to get involved in anything dodgy.Gadge decides to go it alone but is attacked by two of the vigilantes. The police find him unconscious in an alley, covered in blood. Problem is, there's a dead body in the alley too and it's his blood that Gadge is covered in. He's also got the murder weapon in his hand.Convinced that Gadge has been set up, and feeling guilty that he didn't back him up in the first place, Jimmy returns to the streets to try and find out who's behind his friend's difficulties. Unfortunately, he's about to discover that Gadge has a lot of enemies to choose from.

Information about 2022 St Hilda's College Crime Fiction Weekend and how to book tickets can be found here.