Meet Elly Griffiths:

Elly Griffiths writes a series of crime fiction novels with a difference – rather than the protagonist being a Detective or amateur sleuth, Ruth Galloway is a Forensic Archaeologist who lives in the saltmarshes on the north Norfolk coast. Her debut novel and first book in the series, The Crossing Places, was reviewed by me yesterday.

Elly’s Ruth Galloway novels take for their inspiration Elly’s husband, who gave up a city job to train as an archaeologist, and her aunt who lives on the Norfolk coast and who filled her niece’s head with the myths and legends of that area.  Elly has two children and lives near Brighton.

 

A big welcome to Elly:

Boof: Congratulations on being shortlisted for the Theakston’s Crime Fiction Awards this year. This was your debut novel and you were up against some of the heavy-weights of crime fiction like Ian Rankin and Peter James to name just two. How did you react when you found out you had been nominated?

 Elly: I was just amazed. To think that I was on the shortlist with such giants of the crime-writing world – it still doesn’t seem real. I was star-struck the whole time at Harrogate. When Reginald Hill asked me what my book was about, all I could say was ‘Norfolk.’

 

Boof: The heroine of the series, Ruth Galloway, is in her late 30’s who loves solitude, cats, is slightly over-weight and orders lots of books from Amazon (a girl after my own heart!). How did you come up with her?

Elly: I really don’t know how I came up with Ruth. She just appeared in my head fully formed. Maybe there are some elements in Ruth of my two sisters and one of my oldest friends – all strong, independent women- and maybe there’s a little of me. Like Ruth I struggle with my weight, I love cats and reading – and Bruce Springsteen! 

Boof: Ruth is an archaeologist and this is how she helps the police with solving a crime. What research did you need to do about archaeology for the books?

Elly: My husband’s an archaeologist and he helps me a lot with the technical stuff. He has also introduced me to a colleague who’s a forensic archaeologist. She actually does work with the police so she’s has given me some invaluable insights.

 

Boof: Your series of books are set in Norfolk on the English east coast: what made you decide to set the books here?

Elly: My aunt lives in Norfolk and, when I was a child, we used to spend holidays there. Now I go there with my children. I just love the space and the loneliness and the sense of history. The North Norfolk coast is very beautiful and also slightly spooky. 

Boof: The second book in the series, The Janus Stone, has just come out in paperback and there is a third book due out in January 2011. How many more do you plan to write in this series?

Elly: I’m currently writing Book 4 and I’ve got ideas for at least three more. That’s the great thing about archeology – and Norfolk. There are so many eras to choose from. The Crossing Places starts with Iron Age remains, The Janus Stone involves a Roman excavation, the new book, The House At Sea’s End, is about bones from the Second World War. I’ve got ideas for books about Aborigine skulls, Victorian graveyards, medieval plague pits…

 

Boof: Can you give us any sneak previews of what we might expect in future books? (I’m particularly interested to see what, if anything, develops between Ruth and Detective Harry Nelson)

Elly: I’m not sure myself what will happen to Ruth and Nelson in the end but, in the next few books, their relationship just gets more complicated.

 

Boof: Who are your favourite crime fiction authors?

Elly: I love C J Sansom, Ian Rankin and Reginald Hill (still can’t believe I spoke to Reginald Hill!). But my favourite British crime writer has to be the first – Wilkie Collins.

[Boof: Yay! I love Wilkie Collins!]

 

Boof: Who are your favourite crime fiction characters from other books? Did Ruth or Harry end up with any of the characteristics of any of them?

 Elly: Count Fosco in The Woman in White is my favourite literary character of all time. I love the way that, though he’s a thorough villain, he’s not quite all bad. I hope that my characters are not black and white but shades of grey….

 

Boof: What jobs did you do before you started writing and how did you make the transition to being an author?

Elly: I used to work in publishing. I was an editor in one of the big companies. You’d think that this would be the perfect job for an aspiring writer but fifteen years in publishing almost killed off any desire to write. I didn’t start to write seriously until I left publishing.

 

Boof: Where is your favourite / most productive place to write?

Elly: I write in a room that I call the study but, unfortunately, the kids think it’s the place where they watch TV and play on the Playstation.

 

Boof: Have you ever read a book and thought “damn, I wish I’d written that!”

Elly: I don’t think so though one of the things that motivated me to finish The Crossing Places was the thought that someone else would write a book about a forensic archaeologist.

 

Boof: If you were to be stranded on a desert island on a year and you were only allowed to take 3 books with you, which ones would you choose?

Elly: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, The Mating Season by P G Wodehouse, Nice Work by David Lodge

 

Boof: What is your literary ambition?

Elly: I’d love to write a really long book like The Moonstone or The Woman in White. And I’d love to be serialized on Radio 4.

 

Boof: Finally, the quick fire round:

Favourite colour: Red

Favourite animal: Horse

Favourite food: Pasta

Favourite song: Thunder Road by Bruce Springsteen

Favourite author (non-crime): David Lodge

Favourite holiday destination: Italy

Favourite childhood memory: Going to Seven Sisters beach with my family and a whole group of friends, walking for miles over the sand and finally swimming in the sea.

 Thank you so much to Elly for agreeing to be interviewed on The Book Whisperer. The Crossing Places is a great book and I am really looking forward to reading the others in the series.