An Interview with Bonnie Burke-Patel

Tell us your story – when and how did you start writing fiction?

Mine is that boring old chestnut: a child who liked reading and writing and never stopped. I grew up in semi-rural South Gloucestershire with my three siblings and our dogs, and there was very little to do apart from live and play in imaginary worlds. Why would you ever stop?

What’s the one line or paragraph you’re most proud of in your shortlisted book?

I still love the opening lines, bringing the reader to the village as the season turns.

Upper Magna in autumn is a world purified by fire. The leaves are a blaze of forest and crimson, and sweep across the landscape; reaching up into the sky from skeleton fingers, carpeting the paths underfoot. Against the burning, dropping leaves, the air is fresh and cold. Behind such clarity, there is the faintness of woodsmoke and sweet rot. Everything is clean, stark, beautiful not in its beginning but its end.

Let’s say you’re going rogue: which crime fiction villain would you most enjoy being (just for research, of course)?

Oh, definitely Justice Wargrave from Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. He works so deviously, but also creatively, methodically, and with psychological precision. Potentially that shouldn’t be so appealing…

Which writers have influenced your own writing the most?

Agatha Christie is, of course, a huge influence. But I read widely, and some of the biggest influences have been gothic writers like Robert Louis Stevenson and M.R. James; as well as those who play with genre like Susanna Clarke and Akwaeke Emezi.

I run and walk a lot while listening to music, and my second book, Dead As Gold, is potentially a testament to how influenced I am by lyricists like Hozier.

You’re cast in a gritty crime drama. Are you the detective, suspect or the wildcard Witness?

Witness. I’m just too soft and cheerful to be either a detective or a plausible suspect. I’d probably cry during the police interview. I’d also ask for all the lights to be turned on and the cops to stop mumbling. Complete atmosphere-ruiner.

What’s the best book you’ve read recently?

I’ve been spoiled by a whole run of excellent books. I’m currently mid-way through Chris Whitaker’s epic All The Colours of the Dark, and before that devoured Rosanna Pike’s A Little Trickerie. As a writer, I’m privileged to read a lot of work before the general public, and recently got my hands on the beautiful, gothic She Herself is a Haunted House by Georgia Poplett Mason. I can’t wait for other readers to discover her so I have people to talk to!

What inspired you to take the leap and write your first novel — was there a moment that sparked it?

My first novel is actually my third novel! I had two books (one crime, one a ghost story) outright rejected by agents before writing I Died At Fallow Hall, which got me signed by my brilliant agent, Jane. I always said I’d keep writing even if I was the only person to ever read it, because I need to write to process the world. In fact, a lot of Fallow was written on my phone on the train commute between dropping my son at school, and getting to work as a preschool teacher. I was obsessed with the question: what would a country house murder mystery look like if you set it in contemporary Britain?

What’s been the biggest surprise (or challenge) about publishing your debut book?

I’m definitely not the first writer to have felt like an outsider, but with being published I’ve suddenly got to spend time around other bookish outsiders. I still love working by myself, but now I can exchange extremely niche memes with fellow nerds. It’s taken thirty-four years, but I finally feel as though I’m finding my community.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone writing their first crime novel, what would it be?

It’s a cliche, but just keep going. You will get rejected, because literally everyone does at some point. But keep writing, keep honing your craft. After two wholly rejected books, Fallow is nominated for the McDermid Debut Award and my publishers have contracted me for another three novels!