Crime author Dave Warner’s cosy turn
Dave Warner is best known for hard-edged crime fiction, but his latest novel, Sound Mind Dead Body, tips its hat to the Golden Age of mystery. In this interview, he talks Agatha Christie, Art Deco atmosphere, red herrings, and the race between reader and detective to solve the puzzle first.
You mostly write police procedurals, and private investigator–led novels. What is it about the Golden Age of crime that appeals to you?
The very first crime story I wrote was a murder weekend play – in fact, that is the original source material for Sound Mind Dead Body. That was 1983. While I had read and loved Sherlock Holmes and Raymond Chandler mysteries, I did not read Agatha Christie until 1980. By 1983, I had read every one of her books. She hooked me with a mix of atmosphere and plot, and I enjoyed the Art Deco era too, in which many of her best stories are set. Plot is prime in this genre, and characters can be types – less complex than in other genres – but the detective must engage us. I love the bout between detective and reader as to who can solve the puzzle first, and I admire the craft of the writer to give the readers all they need to solve the crime, and yet still fool them.
How did you plot this one out?
My aim was a homage to my favourite Agatha Christie novels, so I wanted to write a classic ‘drawing room’ murder with limited suspects, numerous red herrings and a fictional place where we’d all like to spend a weekend or two. While the 2019 film Knives Out has seen a revival of the Golden Era transposed to modern times, I simply wanted to recreate for readers the same pleasure they might get if a previously lost Christie turned up. Where most ‘clue-dunnits’ fall down is that not every character has a completely credible motive for being the killer. So my first task, even before I decided who the murderer would be, was to make sure each could be the killer, both in motive and opportunity. Next, I looked for some inspiration as to significant events to obfuscate the machinations of the main crime. I also needed to ensure that my ‘cast’ were cut off from the world beyond. I wanted that claustrophobic feel. In the end, I had to essentially plot seven different crimes that might have happened. A couple of the twists, of course, came from the grand dame herself.
You often have strong female ‘Watson’ characters to your male ‘Holmes’, as well as a sweet love interest. Is Dave Warner a bit of a romantic?
Yes, I am a romantic, but for Sound Mind Dead Body there were good reasons for creating a character like Prudence Meadows, who may play second fiddle to Fred Willets but has her moments of writing the score. Firstly, I am well aware that female readers are the great majority of fiction readers and, especially in this sub-genre, that would overwhelmingly be the case. I’m hoping my usual hardcore male readers will come with me on this one, but they might not, so it’s important for me that my female readers can have a relatable and hopefully sympathetic character to join them on the clue-solving journey. I also felt that Prudence gives the story some real humanity. She brings out the humanity in Willets. And while I sometimes feel that the romance subplots in Agatha’s books weren’t her strong point, I believed it would be terrific fun to make Prudence like Agatha – a smart young woman who was also trained in pharmacology and science. I think the period post–World War I was a time when many young women had to resign themselves to being spinsters because the young beaus had been killed off. It gives a poignancy to Prudence’s and Fred’s stories.
What’s next for Dave Warner? Will we get to meet Fred Willets and Prudence Meadows again?
Oh, I hope we do get to meet them again. I love this genre and hope it gets enough reader support to justify more. Next up though is a return to my very first detective hero, Snowy Lane. The feedback I get is that he remains my readers’ favourite Warner detective, though Dan Clement is closing the gap. Snowy will be returning with a blockbuster story of mystery and suspense in 2027.
Sound Mind Dead Body is available now from all good bookstores and online.
