Menu
What drew you to writing crime novels?
The range and capacity of the genre! It can be used to tell anything from political narratives to love stories, all the while keeping the reader guessing. I always say that good crime fiction is as insightful as Booker winning novels, because violence always reflects the societies and individuals involved.
Is there a book that made you love crime fiction?
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie – not exactly an original answer, but I have very clear memories of reading it in the car on holiday as a fourteen year old and feeling like everything had changed.
Do you have a favourite film that has influenced your writing?
The Princess Bride, funnily enough. I love everything from the metanarrative to the characters, and the way it combines whimsy and silliness and action and philosophy. It reminds me that books don’t have to be one flat thing either.
Is there another genre you would like to try writing in?
Romance! There’s usually a love story involved in the crime novels I write, and I’d be curious to write a purely romance book. Though I’d have to resist the urge to kill people. I also love ghost and horror stories and could definitely keep killing people in this genre, so I see scope here. Maybe a romance ghost story murder is on the cards?
The new literary crime novel by Gold Dagger-shortlisted Burke-Patel is an atmospheric homage to Agatha Christie.
A guilt-riddled goldsmith works by the shore. A splintering writer returns to capture the fairy tales of the town where she spent her childhood summers. A body floats on the tide. The second novel by critically-acclaimed Bonnie Burke-Patel.
A thought-provoking, genuinely contemporary take on the country house murder mystery: the perfect combination of literary and crime novel.