Tony Mott on Deadly Autumn Harvest

Thank you for allowing me to introduce myself directly to your readers. My name is Tony Mott, Mott being my mother’s maiden name, and I live in Braşov in Romania. I have written nine novels and two non-fiction books so far. I always knew I wanted to write crime fiction, but at first I was a bit scared of it. My first two books only skimmed the surface – a couple of disappearances here and there – but I’ve now moved more firmly into mystery and thriller territory.

I was born and bred in Brașov and consider it the most beautiful town in Romania. It’s unusual nowadays, when people seem to lead such a nomadic existence, to live in the same town all your life. The longest I ever lived elsewhere was when I was working for a multinational and had to spend three months in Bucharest and another three months in Germany. In my first five novels I did not have the courage to use Brașov as the setting for the whole story, but I’ve always enjoyed telling other people about the beauties of my hometown.

When I started the Gigi Alexa series, I decided that Brașov would not only be the backdrop, but almost become a character in itself. The atmosphere in the old town is very picturesque and friendly, the surrounding landscape is superb, with Mt Tampa overlooking the town. Gigi Alexa, the main protagonist, is a forensic pathologist and collaborates with the police. She loves her hometown as much as I do but complains that it’s boring (as do many of its inhabitants). Nevertheless, she quite enjoys the provincial languor, the quiet that descends upon the centre after eight o’clock at night on a weekday and after midnight at the weekend.

Right next to Mt Tampa (where you can see the Hollywood-like sign of ‘Brașov’) is Dealul Melcilor, Snail Hill, where I used to go frequently as a child. I’d been reading Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s The Leopard and I thought it would be a good idea to bring back a lizard for my mother, as a stand-in for a salamander. She didn’t appreciate my present. There is a legend that a long time ago a dragon lived on Mt Tampa who swallowed up people, but that he was killed by a young man who tricked him into swallowing a calf hide filled with slaked lime. The more the dragon drank water, the more his insides burnt, and so he died. After his death, a multitude of lizards appeared in that spot – like the one I took for my mother. Legend has it that if you see a lizard there, you’ll have good luck for a whole year, but if you harm a lizard, misfortune will stalk you for three years.

I was at a film conference recently where they discussed filming in Brașov – how beautiful the town was and how well it would work as a film backdrop. We are in discussions about filming this series but I’m not getting my hopes up: the Romanian film industry is quite complicated and very few films and TV series ever get made. Of course, Brașov looks beautiful in every season, but it’s not just about the landscape but also about the story. I hope the story that you will discover walking alongside Gigi through the streets of the city will chill and thrill you.

All the things I read in my teens made me want to explore many different careers: lawyer, psychologist, medical doctor, police officer, detective. As you can see, they are all linked to my innate curiosity to understand how the human mind works, how we make decisions, why we often make the wrong choices, how we construct our real identity beyond what we choose to show to the world. That is how I started writing my non-fiction books, which are all about understanding ourselves, our drivers and values, how to have a sense of purpose and how we can help ourselves to be well balanced, at peace and at ease with the world and the people around us.

My other great passion was storytelling. I believe this is what unites us humans: the way we talk about the things we’ve experienced or the dreams that we have. Although I’m a very matter-of-fact person, I’m also fascinated by mysteries, and demand logical explanations which is what drew me to crime fiction.

Finally, let me tell you a secret: the best place to encounter Gigi if you ever come to Brașov is on the hiking paths on the hills surrounding the city or else on the narrow streets of the Old Town, including Rope Street, the narrowest street in Eastern Europe, only 1.35m in width. Since we mentioned legends earlier, it is said that the couples who kiss on this street will remain together forever.

Deadly Autumn Harvest by Tony Mott (Corlyus Books) Out Now 

A series of bizarre murders rocks the beautiful Carpathian town of Braşov. At first there’s nothing obvious that links what look like random killings.With the police still smarting from the scandal of having failed to act in a previous case of a serial kidnapper and killer, they bring in forensic pathologist Gigi Alexa to figure out if several murderers are at work – or if they have another serial killer on their hands. Ambitious, tough, and not one to suffer fools gladly, Gigi fights to be taken seriously in a society that maintains old-fashioned attitudes to the roles of women. She and the police team struggle to establish a pattern, especially when resources are diverted to investigating a possible terrorist plot. With the clock ticking, Gigi stumbles across what looks to be a far-fetched theory – just as she realises that she could be on the murderer’s to-kill list.

Launch of We are The Salt of The Earth

On Thursday 9 May 2018 The High Commission of Canada based at Canada House in London hosted the book launch of Roxanne Bouchard’s book We are The Salt of The Earth which is published by Orenda Books.  It is the first English translation of the novel. Her English translator David Warriner was also present and gave a reading from the book.

Author Roxanne Bouchard was interviewed by journalist Kathy Guest about We are The Salt of The Earth with the topics ranging from the fishing community and the people there.  How she did her research and the various themes that could be found in the novel. Roxanne Bouchard also read from the book in

French.

It was a brilliant launch with a vast number of people in attendance.  Not only were those in attendance treated to an interesting conversation between the author and Katy Guest but copies of the book were also given away to those who were there.

Congratulations to Orenda Books for having such a wonderful book launch in such a special place.

We are The Salt of The Earth by Roxanne Bouchard Published by Orenda Books (Translated by David Warriner)

As Montrealer Catherine Day sets foot in a remote fishing village and starts asking around about her birth mother, the body of a woman dredges up in a fisherman's nets. Not just any woman, though: Marie Garant, an elusive, nomadic sailor and unbridled beauty who once tied many a man's heart in knots. Detective Sergeant Joaquin Morales, newly drafted to the area from the suburbs of Montreal, barely has time to unpack his suitcase before he's thrown into the deep end of the investigation. On Quebec's outlying Gaspe Peninsula, the truth can be slippery, especially down on the fishermen's wharves. Interviews drift into idle chit-chat, evidence floats off with the tide and the truth lingers in murky waters. It's enough to make DS Morales reach straight for a large whisky...

Criminal Splatterings!

According to the BBC, Mark Ryland is due to play Thomas Cromwell in the Television adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and Bringing up the Bodies.  More information can be found here.  Mantel's Booker-winning novels follow Cromwell, Henry VIII's adviser, and his rise and fall in the Tudor court.  The books are being adapted for a six-part series due to be shown on BBC Two.

The BBC are also due to make two different dramas based on the Great Train Robbery.  The dramas will be told from the point of view of firstly the robbers who committed the offence and secondly the detectives as they solve the crime.  Entitled the Robbers Tale and The Coppers Tale the two 90 minute programmes are due to be shown on BBC One later on this year as part of the 50^th anniversary of the robbery.  More information can be found here.

As a result of the highly successful run of the first series of Father Brown based on the novels by G K Chesterton shown on BBC One, a second series has been commissioned.  The new series of ten forty-five minute episodes will begin shooting towards the end of May 2013.

The BBC have commissioned a new ten-part series on The Musketeers.  Set on the streets of 17th-century Paris where law and order is more an idea than reality, the series follows Musketeers Athos, Aramis and Porthos who are far more than King Louis XIII’s personal bodyguards.  The 10- part drama is due to be shown in 2014 and will feature Peter Capaldi best known for The Thick of It as Cardinal Richelieu.  More information can be found here.

Look out for Shetland a new crime drama based on the novels by “Vera” author Ann Cleeves.

Set against a stunning Scottish backdrop, Shetland, BBC One’s powerful new murder-mystery stars Douglas Henshall as Detective Jimmy Perez, a native Shetlander who has returned home after a long spell away and leads a murder investigation, uncovering secrets and lies from the past.  The first episode is due to be shown today on BBC One at 9:00pm.  An interview with Ann Cleeves can be read here and a clip can be seen here.  Ann also discusses Shetland in the Telegraph as well.

A new series of Perspectives is due to be shown on ITV starting with David Suchet setting out to unravel the mystery surrounding the life and work of Agatha Christie.  David Suchet: The Mystery of Agatha Christie is due to be shown on ITV on Sunday 17 March at 10:00pm.  More information can be found here.

In more Agatha Christie drama news, David Suchet, Pauline Moran, Hugh Fraser and Philip Jackson have been reunited once again in Agatha Christie’s The Big Four. Adapted by award-winning screenwriter and actor Mark Gatiss and actor Ian Hallard, The Big Four plunges Poirot into a world of global espionage where he uncovers a theatrical tale of murder, secrets, lies and love, set against the backdrop of the impending World War II.

The trailer for Iron Man 3 has been released and can be seen below.  It is due to be released on 25^th April in the UK.

And in more Christie news, according to Deadline.com and Empireonline, Paramount Pictures have bought the spec screenplay entitled Agatha.  The spec screenplay written by Allison Schroeder is based on a particular period in Agatha Christie’s life.

Congratulations go to David Hewson who is due to write the novelisation of The Killing III.  Hewson wrote the novelisation for The Killing II and according to the Bookseller, The Killing III is due to be published in February 2014.

Pan Macmillan have acquired two novels from debut author Clare Donoghue.  The first novel in series The Watcher is due to be published in March 2014.  The series is set in south London and features DI Mike Lockyer and DS Jane Bennett.  The Watcher follows the hunt for a serial killer preying on young women.

According to Booktrade.info, CSI Portsmouth the annual event that brings together top crime writers from around the UK to face a panel of crime experts have found themselves a new home.  The National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard is to be its new home.  This year the event is due to take place on Saturday 2nd November 2013 in The Princess Royal Gallery.  CSI Portsmouth is the brainchild of author Pauline Rowson whose books are set in Portsmouth.

If you have not seen or read it then there is a good article in the Guardian by Alison Flood who interviewed Ruth Rendell about her life in writing.  The article can be read here.  There is also an article in the Independent as well which is more personal and can be read here.

The Independent’s Invisible Ink: No 163 is on Sébastien Japrisot.  The full article can be read here.  Jasprisot is best known for his first crime novel published in 1950, The 10:30 From Marseilles

Interesting article in the Telegraph by Jake Kerridge who talks to French author Fred Vargas.  Whilst she still works as an archaeologist, she manages to writer her novels in three weeks!

Dennis Haysbert has booked a co-starring role in the CBS drama pilot Backstrom, from writer Hart Hanson, based on the Swedish book series that centres on Everett Backstrom, an overweight, hot-tempered detective who tries, and fails, to change his self-destructive behaviour.  Haysbert will play John Almond, a detective working with Backstrom.  Haysbert, most recently seen on the big screen in Sheldon Candis’ Luv, will next appear in a thriller titled Wards Island, alongside Ernie Hudson and Bill Duke, which centres on a viral outbreak in New York City that turns the infected into werewolves; and also he's replaced the late Michael Clarke Duncan in the follow-up film to the 2005 Robert Rodriguez-directed hit, Sin City, based on the comic by Franck Miller titled Sin City: A Dame To Kill For.