Author Interview: Robin Stevens

Hello everyone!

Today I‘m thrilled to welcome Robin Stevens, best–selling author of the Murder Most Unladylike Mysteries, to the blog for an interview. I hope you all enjoy reading it!

Hi Robin! Welcome to Golden Books Girl, it`s so lovely to have you! 

Thank you for having me, Amy!

1. Can you describe the Murder Most Unladylike Mysteries in 5 words for anyone who hasn`t read them yet?

Mysterious, exciting, funny, murderous, friendship.

 

2. My very favourite thing about the Murder Most Unladylike series is Hazel and Daisy`s friendship. Did you always set out to write a detective duo where both are equally good detectives in different ways despite their opposite personalities? Have you enjoyed changing the dynamics of their friendship with each book?

I’m so glad to hear that! When I was first planning out Murder Most Unladylike almost ten years ago I imagined a Holmes and Watson relationship, with one detective and her sidekick. But then Hazel’s character became so much more than that, and I realised I was writing about two friends who were equally smart and interesting, although very different in terms of character. Each book, for me, is about a new chapter in Daisy and Hazel’s relationship – becoming friends, arguing and making up again, dealing with romantic fall–out and family drama and growing up. Daisy has always been the leader and Hazel the follower – but in the sixth book, due out in February, I finally flip that dynamic and make Hazel the one in control!

3. You went to boarding school yourself as a teenager. Have any of your own experiences made it into the books? 

Oh yes! There was never a murder at my own school, but my memories of what a boarding school environment was like have all been put into my books. Daisy and Hazel’s friendship, too, comes from the friendships I had at boarding school. Because we were away from our families, we became family to each other – I’m actually still very close to many of my school friends today!

4.  Another really excellent part of Murder Most Unladylike for me is the settings of each book, which have ranged from Deepdean School for Girls to the Orient Express! Which has been your favourite to write about, and why?

It’s got to be the Orient Express. I went on an Orient Express day trip while I was researching the book and the glamour of it was incredible. I love to travel, and I’m fascinated by beautiful surroundings – and of course I’m obsessed with Murder on the Orient Express!

5.  In what way has the work of Golden Age crime writers such as Agatha Christie influenced you/your books? 

I’m a huge nerd! I studied the Golden Age of detection at university, so I know all of the rules that Agatha Christie and her friends used when they wrote their books. (They even had a club, where they’d talk about murder mysteries – if I could go back in time to anywhere, I’d go to a Detection Club meeting in the 1930s). When I write my books I’m secretly playing with those rules and putting my own modern twists on them!

6.  Your latest book is the Guggenheim Mystery, which is the follow-up to The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd. How did you feel when you were approached about writing it, and has it been a particularly special book to write because of the circumstances surrounding it? Siobhan always wanted to write a sequel to The London Eye Mystery, but tragically she died before she was able to begin it. I was approached by Siobhan’s Estate in 2015 to see if I would write it in her stead and I jumped at the chance. I knew what a huge honour it was, and from the first I felt incredibly privileged to be given the chance to carry on such a wonderful story. It’s been a terrifying, amazing adventure, and I really hope that my Guggenheim Mystery does Siobhan’s vision proud.

7. As part of your research for the book, you went on a trip to New York. What were your favourite moments from that, and do you feel it helped you in creating the mystery of the book? I did! 

A lot of that trip has made its way into the book, especially my experience of the Guggenheim. I visited during an exhibition change-over, when the museum was noisy and chaotic. I knew Ted would be very upset by this, and I also knew exactly how a painting could be stolen during just such a change-over …

8. The main character of the book, Ted, is autistic. How did you go about making sure his voice was authentic? Did writing his story present you with any challenges?

I read books like The Reason I Jump and The Autistic Brain – but what they made me realise is that there is no one way to be autistic. Ted’s syndrome makes him different from the rest of his family, but he is firmly himself, and so more than anything else I tried to make him the character we all know and love from The London Eye Mystery. I read Siobhan’s book again and again, and that was my main inspiration.

9.  Finally, before the quickfire round, can you divulge any details about book six, due out next year, or Hazel and Daisy`s 7th adventure?

Book 6 is set in Hong Kong, and centred around Hazel’s family. Hazel brings Daisy back to Hong Kong- but when they arrive she realises a lot has changed in the Wong household…

It comes out in February, and I’ll be able to reveal the title and cover in September this year. Book 7 is following it in October, and although I haven’t even begun writing it, I do know that it’s going to take place in a London theatre…

QUICKFIRE
Which of your characters are you most like? Hazel!

Favourite ice cream flavour? Blueberry

Animal you`d most want to be? Dog

3 random facts about you? I was on University Challenge, I have a bearded dragon called Watson and my favourite bunbreak is a cinnamon roll!

Your top 3 books of 2017 so far?- (in order of publication, for fairness): The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, The Explorer by Katherine Rundell and Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend

Thank you so much for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts about Robin’s in the comments or on Twitter @GoldenBooksGirl ! For fun, to celebrate her new book, I’d also love to hear where in New York you’d most like to visit if you went! I think mine would have to be Central Park!

See you soon with a new post 

Amy xxx 

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