Your creative output is prodigious and diverse, including 20 crime novels, six poetry collections including the TS Eliot Prize shortlisted Pessimism for Beginners and three translations of Tove Jansson’s Moomin picture books. What do you love about each form? What do you bring to crime fiction as a poet?
For crime, mystery and satisfying solutions; for poetry, musical memorability. I’ve also been addicted to self-help books since my teens and recently started writing them; I wrote the latest, The Double Best Method, after I invented the world’s greatest decision-making method – really! Try it and see.
Does a desire to get to the truth of something link the poet and the crime writer? Anything else?
A love of structure: in metrical poetry and in tightly plotted crime fiction, everything has to be in exactly the right position in relation to everything else.
You created and teach a master’s degree in crime and thriller writing at Cambridge University. What is the most important lesson?
To prioritise a gripping story and the reader’s enjoyment above all else.
You were asked by Agatha Christie’s heirs to revive her most famous character. Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night is your sixth ‘continuation novel’. What is the appeal and what are the challenges of this subgenre? What’s the new one about?
The appeal was that Christie is my favourite writer of all time; the biggest challenge was historical accuracy. The new book is a Christmassy mystery – Poirot must solve the mysteries of a dysfunctional family, and a murder in a local hospital, before Christmas Day.
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You’ve written a murder mystery musical movie, The Mystery of Mr E, which premieres in December. How did it come about?
I realised that I’m always least bored at the theatre when there’s a) a mystery and b) catchy songs, so I thought, “Imagine something like Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, but with music.” The musical started life as a school production and caught the attention of a film director. It’s a family-friendly puzzle-mystery which opens with the enigmatic Mr E announcing (despite the lack of a victim): “I am the murderer,” and then disappearing. Who is he? Whom, if anyone, has he murdered? I loved the idea of an inverted murder-mystery puzzle – we (apparently) have the murderer and the confession right at the start of the action, and yet this is the beginning rather than the end of the mystery. The detective characters (twins who call themselves The Generalists) have to then find the murder that goes with the self-proclaimed killer.
Do you ever feel that the plot-stock of the genre has been exhausted and how do you continue to generate new ideas, new motivations?
I’m constantly having new plot ideas that are exciting and original. The idea that there are only seven stories is nonsense, unless you insist on boiling a story down to its most basic “something happened to someone” level. The intrigue is in the specific details in each case.
How do you approach the portrayal of violence against women in your fiction?
I write about anything and everything that happens, so women (and men) are victims in my novels. I’m interested in psychology, not violence, though – violence mainly happens offstage in my books.
Crime has become the most popular genre. Why do you think that is?
It’s the best: compelling mystery followed by ingenious solution. So satisfying!
Your mother, Adèle Geras, is also a writer. How big an influence was she?
My mum passed on her love of books and reading, and she normalised writing as a career, so it felt like a possibility for me.
You construct your plots like a story architect before you start writing. Why?
If I get my plot all worked out in detail first, I can concentrate on bringing it all to life as effectively as possible when it comes to the actual writing.
Which projects are you working on?
My next psychological thriller, The Opposite of Murder, which is out next year.
Have you ever made a literary pilgrimage?
I stayed at Greenway, Agatha Christie’s Devon holiday home, as soon as it was open to the public.
What is the best writing advice you have heard?
It’s not specifically writing advice, but life coach Brooke Castillo says, “Be the person (in how you think and feel) who already has the result you want, and you will be much more likely to create that result.” This blew me away when I first heard it – it’s so true.
Who do you admire the most?
Agatha Christie and Brooke Castillo – two very different women!
You are supreme ruler for a day. Which law do you pass or abolish?
A compulsory annual trip to the cinema to watch 12 Angry Men – a fun way of reminding people of the importance of the presumption of innocence and the reasonable doubt principle.
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Which current book, film and podcast would you recommend?
End of Story, by Louise Swanson, Dear Child (Netflix), and The Life Coach School podcast.
Which public event affected you most?
The Baby P and Arthur Labinjo-Hughes cases. I can’t bear to think about that kind of cruelty to children. (I’m not sure these count as public events, but when it comes to news items, I’m always most affected by personal stories like this.)
The most remarkable place you have visited?
Arizona. Breathtakingly stunning.
Your most treasured possession?
A little agate Buddha ornament, and an ocean jasper palm stone that I take with me everywhere. If you mean “things in my life”, then my family – including my dog, Chunk.
What is the most beautiful book that you own?
It’s the words that matter – though I do care about book covers. I can’t bear bad book jackets.
Which writers, living or dead, would you invite to your dream dinner party?
Agatha Christie, Ruth Rendell and Daphne du Maurier. A small, intimate gathering so we can talk properly.
The best and worst things about where you live?
I live in three places: Cambridge, Cornwall and the Cotswolds. The best thing is that they’re all beautiful. The worst thing is missing each one when I’m not in it.
What is your favourite quotation?
Marcus Aurelius: “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”
Who is your favourite fictional character?
Bartleby the Scrivener.
A book to make me laugh?
Coming From Behind, Howard Jacobson.
A book that might move me to tears?
A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving.
Sophie Hannah will be appearing with Jane Casey, Steve Cavanagh and moderator Andrea Carter on a panel, On the Shoulders of Giants, at Murder One crime writing festival on Sunday, October 8th at 5pm, dlr LexIcon. Tickets at MurderOne.ie The Mystery of Mr E will be streaming on several platforms from December 1st. Her decision-making book, The Double Best Method, is out now
