Marina Pascoe
I consider that I was privileged to grow up in a beautiful corner of England – Cornwall.
My home. In all the years I lived in the county, I probably never realised how lucky I was – not until it was taken away from me.
Our house was always packed with visitors from beyond the Tamar seeking sun and solitude – now I appreciate why they wanted to come, probably not to see us but to visit one of the most spectacular and beautiful areas in the world.
I spent the first 12 years of my life living at Maenporth, wandering on the beach, summer and winter, walking the cliffs and exploring rock pools – yes, I did all this alone, something I feel sad that my own daughters have missed out on, living in such different times.
Several years later, when I had to leave my beloved Cornwall for a move "upcountry", I ran away at every opportunity to return "home" until the petrol costs became prohibitive and I, exhausted. Now landlocked on the Dorset/Somerset border, I long for the days when a visit to the beach meant flip-flops and a two-minute walk… not a 30-minute drive, preparation of polar exploration magnitude and then, completely wiped out, the prospect of the drive home.
As for my novels, The Bartlett and Boase Mysteries, well, for me, can I say that crime has been a big part of my life? In all the right ways I hope.
I read my first Agatha Christie novel when I was 11, lying in my bed at Maenporth with the light of a torch… who, of a certain age, didn't do this, not even caring if their mother had told them their eyes would fall out? I was hooked and rushed at every opportunity to get further supplies from the Falmouth Library on the Moor.
Then along came Joan Hickson as Miss Marple and I was addicted all over again. I progressed to another brilliant, yes, brilliant crime writer, Georgette Heyer, known for her "regency adventures" but with a crime-writing mind to offer serious competition to Agatha Christie, dare I say even to surpass her?
When the stories I enjoyed – that is, inter-war, jazz-age sleuthing seemed to be running dry, I was bereft. What else but to try my hand at writing one myself? I had already had local history books published and, coming to it late in life, gained a masters degree in regional histories – so, how difficult could it be?
Almost impossible! For the first time in my life, I felt my hat coming off to all those writers who had kept me company and inspired me over the years.
Bartlett and Boase turned over and over in my head, their characters and relationships building over a long time. Visits to Falmouth for inspiration and incredible support from my husband and two teenage daughters, led to their eventual creation and the first novel Empty Vessels was written under the pseudonym "Marina Pascoe".
A second book Too Many Cooks which opens in Kimberley Park (no more spoiling than that), will be out later this year, followed by the third, A Fool and his Money also for 2014. In total, I have planned seven stories.