Job:- Author
Twitter :- @RobertGoddardUK
Introduction
Goddard's first novel, Past Caring, was published in 1986. Into the Blue, (1990) the first of the Harry Barnett novels won the first WH Smith Thumping Good Read Award, Long Time Coming which was published in the UK in 2009 won the 2011 Edgar Award for Best Original Paperback and was nominated for the 2011 Anthony award in the same category In 2019, Goddard was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger by the Crime Writers' Association. He has also received acclaim for his historical Wide World trilogy, set in Europe and Japan during 1919, and featuring the intrepid ex-flying ace James ‘Max’ Maxted.He has since written more than twenty novels; the majority have been Sunday Times Top Ten best-sellers in the UK.
Current book? (This can either be the current book that you are reading or writing or both)
I’m currently immersed in a lot of background reading for a new novel in which we will return to some of the characters who featured in This is the Night They Come for You.
Favourite book:
It’s a close call between The Calculus Affair and The Castafiore Emerald - Hergé’s greatest achievements in his Tintin series that so captivated me as a child.
Which two characters would you invite to dinner and why?
Bearing in mind my previous answer, I think it should probably be Captain Haddock and Bianca Castafiore. Sparks are likely to fly, but Haddock’s fondness for whisky has blinded many to his appreciation of fine wine - plus he can entertain us with anecdotes culled from his nautical career and, late in the evening, perhaps a sea shanty or two, accompanied by the Milanese Nightingale herself.
How do you relax?
Walking, watching cricket and loitering in pubs.
Which book do you wish you had written and why?
I’m not really sure how to answer this question, as we all write in our own way and if I wrote somebody else’s book I’d end up re-writing it in my particular style.
What would you say to your younger self if you were just starting out as a writer.
You really are going to be able to sustain a career as a writer!
How would you describe your latest published book?
The St Hilda’s event is set to coincide with publication of my latest novel, The Fine Art of Uncanny Prediction, which features a second appearance by Japanese detective Umiko Wada and sees her drawn into a nest of mysteries concerning her former boss Kazuto Kodaka and the troubled past of Japan itself.
With Celebrations: innocent parties, guilty pleasures being the theme at St Hilda's this year, which are you three favourite psychological books and why?
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, The Magus by John Fowles and The Secret History by Donna Tartt - classics of psychologically intriguing storytelling all three.
If you were to rewatch a psychological film which film would it be and why?
Picnic at Hanging Rock - there’s a chance that one day I’ll be able to work out what actually happened at Hanging Rock that summer’s day in 1900, even though I realize the scriptwriter didn’t know himself.
What are you looking forward to at St Hilda’s?
The unexpected!
The Fine Art of Uncanny Prediction by Robert Goddard (Transworld Publshers Ltd) Out 17 August 2023
Umiko Wada never set out to be a private detective, let alone become the one-woman operation behind the Kodaka Detective Agency. But so it has turned out, thanks to the death of her former boss, Kazuto Kodaka, in mysterious circumstances. Keen to avoid a similar fate, Wada chooses the cases she takes very carefully. A businessman who wants her to track down his estranged son offers what appears to be a straightforward assignment. Soon she finds herself pulled into a labyrinthine conspiracy with links to a twenty-seven-year-old investigation by her late employer and to the chaos and trauma of the dying days of the Second World War. As Wada uncovers a dizzying web of connections between then and now, it becomes clear that someone has gone to extraordinary lengths to keep the past buried. Soon those she loves most will be sucked into the orbit of one of the most powerful men in Tokyo. And he will do whatever it takes to hold on to his power...
Information about 2023 St Hilda's College Crime Fiction Weekend and how to book tickets can be found here.
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