Researching History by Mark Wightman

I was thinking the other day about how, when writing historical fiction, getting things right matters so much. And not only because there will always be a keen-eyed reader waiting to pounce and let you know when you don’t! No, there’s more to it than simple compliance with the recorded facts.

When researching my new book Chasing the Dragon – the second in the Betancourt Mysteries series about a Eurasian detective battling injustice in colonial-era Singapore, I did a couple of months of research before I even attempted to write the first words. I recall speaking to a Very Well-Known Author about my method, and she questioned whether all this research was nothing more than dressed-up procrastination. Wouldn’t I be better, she asked, just getting a draft of the story down and working on polishing the details later? Perhaps. But I explained that isn’t why I do the research; it isn’t simply researching facts. At the earliest stage of the writing process I’m less interested in exactly how deep the Singapore harbour was in 1940, or how high Bukit Chandu is, or exactly how many miles it is from the Marine Police station at Empress Place to the opium processing plant at Pasir Panjang. I agree that all that can come later. The type of research that I have to do before I can start writing is researching the lives and times of the people – what would life have been like for the characters that populate my books? This is particularly true for the lives of the Asian characters. When I started researching my series, one of the most difficult challenges was finding source material that related the social history of the people I wanted to write about. There was plenty of material about the lives of the expatriate colonial community – memoirs, biographies, travelogues, etc, but next to nothing about the lives of the hundreds of thousands of Chinese, Indian, and Malay immigrants who had flooded into Singapore over the preceding hundred years or so. Often, the only time that the lives of the workers were recorded was in the coroner’s reports of their deaths and such reports make fascinating, if sometimes harrowing social histories.

Another challenge when researching and writing historical novels is to remember that I’m writing fiction and not a historical treatise. If the reader learns something about the subject I write about (and I hope they do) then fine and well. But it’s important to tell the story through the sensibilities of the characters as they would have perceived things at the time, and not merely retell the received wisdom of later historical studies. In Chasing the Dragon, the story pivots around two apparently unrelated things: an ancient relic known as the Singapore Stone, and the government-run opium trade. Researching these two subjects presented unique but different challenges.

The Singapore Stone is a fragment of a much larger edifice (one of a pair, in fact) that someone, at some point in the pre-colonial past, erected as a monument – to what we don’t know – at the entrance to the Singapore River. The original stones were estimated to be about 3m high and between 60 and 120 cm thick. The stones happened to be in the way of a British engineer, so, rather than work around them, he blew them up, and all we have of them now is a single fragment which resides in the National Museum of Singapore. What made these stones fascinating is that they had engraved upon them about fifty or so lines of cuneiform writing which, when translated, or so it was hoped, might shed some light on who had left them and why. Several people tried, including Sir Stamford Raffles, the ‘founder’ of Singapore himself, but no one was successful. From my story’s perspective, an archaeologist is close to unravelling the secret of the stone. My challenge as a writer was to be careful about what could be reasonably inferred, given that much of the knowledge gleaned about Singapore’s real history (which, it is now believed, may date back to the 10th century CE) wasn’t uncovered until the numerous archaeological digs began in the 1980s. The temporal distance between the author and their subject matters.

The only remaining fragment of the Singapore Stone, courtesy of the National Museum of Singapore

An artist’s rendition of the markings on the Singapore Stone

In the course of his investigations my detective, Inspector Maximo Betancourt, is led into the murky world of the government-run opium trade. My challenge here was not so much finding about how the colonial government actually ran the importation, processing, and distribution of opium – all that is well-documented, starting with the activities of the British East India Company in India in the 18th C, right through to the start of the Second World War. My challenge again was finding out what life was like for working class opium addicts in the colony. In this case, newspapers were less helpful, as they gave only bald matter-of-fact reports of opium-related crime. More valuable were coroner’s reports which, depending on the number of witnesses who knew the deceased and how voluble they were about telling their stories, could show a lot more about how the person had come to be enslaved by the drug, and the effect it had had on their life. But the thing I found that shone the most light on the lives of opium users was a series of photographs taken by an American photographer named Carl Mydans in 1941/42 which captured every aspect of the trade, from the squalor and depravity of the government-licensed dens to the production line at the packaging plant – an engineering marvel known as the ‘House of the Tiny Tin Tubes’.

The interior of an opium den. © Carl Mydans/LIFE Magazine, Time Inc

Inside the opium packaging plant at Bukit Chandu, Singapore. © Carl Mydans/LIFE Magazine, Time Inc.

I hope that in my novel Chasing the Dragon and its predecessor Waking the Tiger I manage to give a flavour of Singapore and the lives of its denizens as they actually were in 1940. I know I had, and continue to have, a fascinating time learning and retelling the history.

Chasing The Dragon by Mark Wightman (Hobeck Books) Out Now. 

Singapore, 1940 A local fisherman finds the body of a missing American archaeologist. Detective Inspector Betancourt of the Singapore Marine Police is first on the scene. Something doesn't quite add up. He finds out that the archaeologist, Richard Fulbright, was close to deciphering the previously-untranslatable script on a pre-colonial relic known as the Singapore Stone. This was no accidental drowning. Is there more to this case than archaeological rivalries? Betancourt also discovers that Fulbright had been having an affair. He is sure he is onto something bigger than just academic infighting. A government opium factory draws criminal interest. In his investigations into the death, Betancourt finds his own life in danger, and now he has also put himself on the wrong side of British Military Intelligence, and he is unsure which set of opponents he fears the most...

More information about Mark Wightman and his books can be found on his website. You can also follow him on X @mark_wightman and on Facebook. He can also be found on Instagram @mark_wightman.

An unexpected consequence by Brian Price

I never thought I would write a thriller. I had read crime novels for decades, my childhood reading featuring Leslie Charteris’s Saint and John Creasey’s Inspector West among others. As an adult, I had written three books on chemicals and the environment, but had never considered writing fiction.

I turned to crime when I attended Crimefest in Bristol and found the writers who attended approachable and friendly, whether they were self-published or million-sellers. I wanted to contribute in some way, as a kind of payback for the pleasure crime writers had given me, so I set up a website where I used my scientific knowledge to offer tips to authors on how to avoid simple mistakes with things like knockouts (don’t use chloroform), firearms (silencers don’t work) and poisons (they take time to kill). At my wife’s suggestion, I pitched this concept to publishers and the result was Crime writing: How to write the science, a well-received guide, for writers, readers and students, to many aspects of science and crime.

I have advised a number of writers on a range of scientific topics, from lopping off limbs to poisoning celebrities and disposing of bodies, and I think something must have rubbed off. After writing a few short crime stories, I took the plunge and decided to write a novel. I was kick-started by a competition, run by Crime Fiction Coach, for the best first sentence of a novel. My entry ‘The small, grey-haired woman grimaced as she entered the police station, dragging a tartan shopping trolley containing her husband’s head’ won and, because someone said they couldn’t wait to read the rest, I had no alternative but to write the book.

This was a very new type of writing for me. Science writing is relatively straightforward. You decide on the subject you want to write about, and the facts you wish to convey. You do the research and then present the information in a way that suits your intended readership. You don’t have to make stuff up (unless you’re part of QAnon or wear a tinfoil hat). But, apart from factual things I needed to hang the plot on, like police procedures, everything in my novel had to come from my imagination. I had to write about people I had never met, doing jobs I had never done, in places I invented. 

At the time, I didn’t know any police officers, and I certainly didn’t know any gangsters or drug dealers, so creating realistic characters was difficult. The plot was easier, although I had to keep checking that it was credible but still entertaining, and I was OK with forensics. But I needed something a bit different from other thrillers, and I found this in the form of a novel type of profitable contraband.

So, after many months of toil, I had something I thought others might want to read. I had it critiqued and then submitted synopses to thirty or so agents and publishers. After repeated refusals, some friendly and some even offering suggestions for improvements, I considered self-publishing, although that would have required me to develop a whole new set of particular skills. But, late in 2020, Hobeck Books asked for the full manuscript and, shortly after, offered to publish it. I was thrilled! The result was Fatal Trade, which came out in September last year.

I was delighted with the reception Fatal Trade received. People seemed to like the characters, the pace and the plot, giving the book an average of 4.5 stars on amazon. Hobeck were keen to publish a sequel and Fatal Hate comes out on the 12th of April.

Most of the same characters are involved, and it is set in the same imaginary town. Like Fatal Trade, it is fast-paced, twisty and has some truly odious villains. A third novel, Fatal Dose, is in preparation.

I came to realise, quite early on, that there were two pitfalls I had to avoid when writing fiction. One was information-dumping. I might be fascinated by the biochemistry of a particular poison, but is the average reader? What it is, and how quickly it kills, is probably enough, with a few symptoms thrown in. I didn’t want to make the mistake of, for instance, spending a page and a half describing a particular type of rifle ammunition. 

The other danger zone was my personal attitudes. There are issues in both books about which I feel strongly, but I was careful to avoid preaching or writing an essay on politics. Readers want to be entertained, first and foremost, and I let my characters’ views and behaviours paint the picture. It is up to the reader whether they share or reject these views but, as long as they notice them, and enjoy the books, I’m a happy crime writer.

Fatal Hate by Brian Price (Hobeck Books) Published 12 April 2022

A boring office administrator is found dead outside the chocolate warehouse where he worked. But who would want to kill him and why? Did he see something he shouldn’t have or did one of his right-wing associates turn on him? DC Mel Cotton and her colleagues’ investigation takes them into the murky world of terrorism, smuggling and murder. What is in the mysterious packages moved from the warehouse in the dead of night and why did someone try to burn watching police officers to death? Meanwhile, a determined young woman vows vengeance on the two men responsible for her sister’s death. She will do anything for justice and she soon becomes involved with a member of a group of local notables with depraved tastes and extreme political views. Someone is going to die. As the two worlds converge, Mel Cotton’s courage is tested to the limit. And the presence of a hitman in town means no-one is safe. Is time running out for her?

M.W. Craven has described Fatal Hate as ‘High quality crime writing’, and Graham Bartlett called it ‘A turbocharged, complex and intelligent thriller with a stunning cast, told with the authority and authenticity we have come to expect from Brian Price. I dare you to put it down.’

Readers of Fatal Hate are invited to take part in a competition to spot the “Easter Eggs” – cultural references – in the book. The winner will receive a very special box of chocolates featuring such favourites as Strychnine Surprise, Cyanide Swirl and Belladonna Cream, plus a signed copy of Brian’s next book, Fatal Dose.

Fatal Hate is published as a paperback and ebook by Hobeck Books and is available on Amazon and Waterstones.

You can find more information about Brian Price and his books on his website. You can also find him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter @crimewritersci. 

 

Olly Jarvis on Using His Expertise

 

How thriller writer Olly Jarvis drew on his expertise as a criminal barrister to write his latest thriller

Like most people, I knew something about the famous characters in history and their accomplishments – from Boudica to Napoleon, Plato to Isaac Newton. All from different places in the world, and in time. What if there was a link, a common denominator that could explain their exploits? 

In my other life as a criminal defence barrister, my job is to persuade juries. To give them an interpretation of the facts that fits with my client’s case. It’s not easy, particularly when the evidence is stacked against the defendant. And of course, there is always prosecution counsel, presenting his or her own spin on the evidence. It’s not a perfect system, but the jury, in my opinion, gets it right 99.9% of the time.

There are similarities between the court process and writing a novel – can the writer persuade the reader to come on a journey through 100,000 words? When defending a trial, the case can be lost with one ill-judged question in cross-examination. With a novel, one illogical action by a character, or a clunky piece of dialogue and the author can lose the reader. This challenge goes to the heart of what I have tried to say with The Genesis Inquiry – not to persuade a jury, but the reader, of something extraordinary in our history. A whole new way of looking at the world. Something that I found more staggering, the deeper my research went. 

There are some remarkable patterns in the history of humanity, inevitably culminating in invasions and clashes of cultures, all based on some perceived difference between peoples. We still see it today.

When I was at school, I learnt about various religions, but not from the perspective of their similarities. It seems to be a human characteristic that we spend so much time focusing on the differences between us. Populations so often obsess over what they see as crucial distinctions between cultures and creeds. As I looked more deeply at ancient manuscripts and books, I learnt of so many forgotten links that join us together. The threads of history began to intertwine the further back I went. I had to unlearn what I had been taught and look at the evidence afresh, just as I would approach a new brief. 

A picture began to emerge that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I had the premise for an international thriller. Could there really be one undiscovered truth that links everything in our past, and provides the key to our future? Is there one critical place in time that set the tone for our epoch? A starting point. To my astonishment, I found such a place. I will leave it to the reader to decide if I’m right.

Who is Ella Blake?

The central characters in The Genesis Inquiry go on a life or death journey to uncover the truth about our past and ultimately, who we are and where we came from. 

The heroine, Ella Blake, is a top barrister with a PhD in history, but not the typical high-flyer one might expect. She’s battered and bruised from a long career of fighting trials. I wanted a modern-day protagonist that I recognised from my own experience of courts and robing rooms. Many criminal lawyers’ mental health is hanging by a thread. It’s only recently that the legal profession, like many other sectors, began to recognise and address issue of wellbeing. It’s not easy to manage the daily stresses and challenges of life in the courtroom.

Ella is a great lawyer who has given her life to her job, but at a cost - mental health, family relationships and more. Deeply flawed, but a good person with an innate sense of right and wrong. The dysfunctional relationship with her daughter, Lizzie, a headstrong student is another layer of conflict in the novel. 

The Genesis Inquiry is crime/mystery thriller but it’s also a story of redemption, of second chances, not just for Ella, but for all of us.

I hope you enjoy the ride…

The Genesis Inquiry by Olly Jarvis published by Hobeck Books (Out Now)

Is there one last undiscovered, great truth? A moment zero, a place in time that links all cultures and creeds? A revelation that will unite us all and change the way we see history forever. Brilliant but burnt-out barrister Ella Blake accepts an apparently simple brief: investigate the mysterious disappearance of an African American polymath from his rooms at Cambridge University. The Inquiry quickly becomes the greatest challenge of her life – solving the mystery of Genesis. Facing danger at every turn, can Ella find the answers to the riddles and clues left by the missing genius? Reunited with her estranged daughter, the Inquiry sends them on a quest across the world and through ancient texts. What is the secret that binds us all? Who is behind the dark forces that will stop at nothing to prevent the world from knowing the truth?

Olly Jarvis is a novelist and criminal defence barrister, originally from London but now based in Manchester. Drawing on his experiences he writes both fiction and non-fiction with a particular understanding of the pressures and excitement of life in the English criminal courtroom. His debut novel, Death By Dangerous was longlisted for the CWA 2016 Debut Dagger. He went on to write the acclaimed Jack Kowalski series, set in Manchester. Cut-throat Defence and Unconvicted. For more information about his books visit his website.

Olly is also the creator of The Crime Hub, a website that brings together the different mediums of crime fiction, true crime and the realities of the Criminal Justice System. Contributors include Ann Cleaves, Stephen Fry, Alfred Molina and many more.