It’s Meet the Author Monday! Each week we meet a new author and get to know a little about them, their writing process, publishing experience, and tips for other writers. Today we’re talking to Diane Jeffrey, author of “The Crime Writer“.
About Diane Jeffrey:
Diane Jeffrey is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning author
She grew up in North Devon and Northern Ireland. She now lives in Lyon, France, with her husband and their three children, Labrador and cat.
Diane has written seven psychological thrillers, all published by HQ / Harper Collins
THE GUILTY MOTHER, Diane’s third book, was a USA Today bestseller and her fourth novel, THE SILENT FRIEND, was a Karin Slaughter Killer Reads pick for ASDA. Her fifth psychological thriller, THE COUPLE AT CAUSEWAY COTTAGE, won the 2023 International Thriller Writers award for the best ebook original novel.
THE CRIME WRITER is Diane’s latest psychological thriller and will be released in March 2025 in ebook, audiobook and paperback.
Diane is an English teacher. When she’s not working or writing, she likes swimming, running and reading. She loves chocolate, beer and holidays.
Above all, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends.
About The Crime Writer:
The Crime Writer: A gripping psychological suspense mystery crime thriller from the author of The Guilty Mother, new for 2025 and perfect for fans of Freida McFadden and C L Taylor!
He plots perfect murders. Did he commit one?
Award-winning author Diane Jeffrey returns with this blistering, dark thriller.
2019. 34 year-old Leona Walsh vanishes on a bitter afternoon while jogging on Exmoor. It’s a mystery which captures public interest and ignites wild speculation. The police have a prime suspect: Leona’s husband, Matthew, a renowned crime writer. He can plot the perfect crime. But is he capable of committing the perfect murder?
Despite extensive searches, the police find no trace of Leona. As public interest dwindles, Matthew returns to raising their daughters, aware the cloud of suspicion is never far away.
2024. Some human bones are discovered in a garden. Could they be Leona’s remains? And if so, is there enough evidence to find out what really happened five years ago?
Journalist Gabriela Conti covered the news story back in 2019. The police may have stopped watching Matthew, but Gabriela hasn’t forgotten him. And she is determined this case will define her career… even if that means getting close to a murderer.
‘The Crime Writer bursts with suspense and intrigue with lots of thrilling twists’ Jane Corry
‘Such a clever premise and so brilliantly executed, The Crime Writer brims with authenticity and atmosphere – I was completely immersed in what it feels like to be at the heart of a high profile missing person case. Tense and twisty.’ T. Orr Munro
‘An engrossing, enthralling, intriguing thriller’ Liz Nugent
Author Interview with Diane Jeffrey:
- What is the first book that made you cry?
I cry a lot when readingmoving books or watchingfilms (I’ve even been known to cry whilewatching animated films with my kids when they were younger!).
I think the first book that made me cry was probablyLittle Womenby Louisa May Alcott. I wasvery young when I readitand I was absolutely devastated when Beth died. I wanted to go backto the beginning so that she would be alive again!
Watership DownandTarka the Otterare also memorable books I read when I was young thatmoved me to tears.
Other books have scarred me for life, too! I was forced to read The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein when I was 9 years old (my English teacher convinced my mum that it was time I was weaned off Enid Blyton for good). I cried because I hated it! There are pages and pages of description where nothing happens!It was torture! (This is possibly the only time I’ve actually preferred the film to the book!)
- What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching beforebeginning a book?
I love doing research. I learn so much!I do a bit of research before I start, but then I tend to research as I go along. It depends on the book what topics I research. The Guilty Mother, and The Crime Writer have courtroom scenes and so I had to do a lot of research into criminal law and trials. I also sat in on a murder trial at the Old Bailey, which was fascinating!
The danger with research is that it’s so interestingI’m tempted to include it all in the book. In my debut novel,Those Who Lie, I needed to know about fake Ming vases. The whole of chapter two read like a Wikipedia page in my first draft! The trick is to do a lot of research so you know what you’re talking / writing about, but then only to use what you need!
Other topics I’ve researched for my books include the rate of decomposition for bodies in cold water as well as in soil; death in absentia; cot death; police procedure, especially in murder inquiries; PTSD; anaphylactic shock … I wouldn’t be surprised if a serial killer had much the same internet search history as I do!
- What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters of the opposite sex?
The first time I wrote from the point-of-view of a man, it was the character of Jonathan Hunt in The Guilty Mother. I was really worried about doing this because I wanted him to sound like a male, but I didn’t want him to be stereotypical. Jon is a journalist, so I contacted are porter in North Devon, where I grew up, a man, and he kindly spent a couple of hours on the phone talking me through a typical day in his working life. Thanks to the journalist, Jon’s professional life took shape in my head. As for his home life, I created a single father who cuts a lot of corners between work and bringing up his kids. I think Jon is my favourite character out of all of my books. He’s quick to judge people, but capable of revising his opinion. He has an interesting backstory and sees parallels in the case he’s supposed to be investigating, which reopens his wounds.
Matthew Walsh, one of my two main characters and narrators in The Crime Writer is a man, too. I loved writing from his point-of-view. He’s an unreliable narrator, he’s an accomplished liar, but I believe he has a strong redeeming quality: he would do anything for his daughters.
- How long on average does it take you to write a book?
It takes me just over a year, on average, to write a book once I’ve planned it in some detail. During lockdown, I wroteThe Couple at Causeway Cottage in seven months, simply because, despite the fact that I was working full-time from home (I’m a teacher), I had much more time on my hands. The book I’m currently working on has taken me absolutely ages! I actually started it before The Crime Writer, but got stuck about five chapters in, so I abandoned it, started work on a completely new idea (which became The Crime Writer) and came back to it over a year later, when I wrote a few more chapters and then got stuck again! Luckily for me, my writing buddies read what I’d written so far and brainstormed ideas with me and I was able to get going again! I’ve got four chapters of this one left to write and hopefully it will become Book 8 and be published next year!
- Have you always wanted to be a writer?
Yes! Like many writers, I wanted to be a writer from an early age–around 7 or 8, in my case. I wrote my first novel (a “chick-lit” novel) when my son was a baby in 2003–2004 and although a couple of literary agents took the time to write back to me with some very useful feedback, it was never published. I kept writing, but only really short stories and poems for myself, and then I tried my hand at a psychological thriller many years later. This became my debut, Those Who Lie, which was published in 2017, when I was 43!
- Where do you get your inspiration?
Sometimes, my inspiration comes from placesI visit.For example, my second book, He Will Find You, is partly set in the Lake District because I have been there on holiday and I love it! The Couple at Causeway Cottage is another example. It’s set on Rathlin Island, a small island off the Northern Irish coast, a few miles away from where my parents live. I know this place well and love it. But I’ve only ever visited when the weather has been good and I know it’s a completely different place during stormy weather, when the ferries can’t run and the islanders are stranded. It was this thought that gave me the idea forThe Couple at Causeway Cottage.
At other times, it might be something in the news that kicks my brain into action. This was the case for The Guilty Mother. During the 90s and Noughties, several women were falsely accused of infanticide and imprisoned for life. Their stories stayed with me for years and although my book is not at all based on what happened to them, that is where the idea came from and their ordeals are mentioned in my book.
For The Crime Writer, I had the characters of Matt and Gabi in my head and the idea came from the characters themselves!
- What advice would you give a new writer, someone just starting out?
Firstly, read, read, read!!!
And secondly, never give up!It took me several decades!
To learn more about Diane Jeffrey, here’s where you can find Her:
Website: https://dianejeffrey.com/
Instagram: @dianefjeffrey
Bluesky: @dianejeffreyauthor.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dianejeffreyauthor/
