Synopsis – Blood Matters
When the body of Doug Pritchard, an aging music journalist with a history of sensational scoops, is found face down in a dark roadside ditch, DCI Carmichael and his team embark on an investigation that takes them in several directions.
What did Pritchard uncover?
Did that secret bring about his violent demise?
And do the tragic deaths of two local pop idols, twenty years before, have any relevance to his murder?
As DCI Carmichael delves deeper into the case it becomes clear that, despite the outwardly close connections of the residents of the small hamlet of High Maudsey, neither long term friendships nor family ties should be taken at face value.
This the tenth in his series of well-honed detective novels by Ian McFadyen featuring DCI Carmichael, leads the detective and his team through as many twists and turns as the quiet country lane where Doug Pritchard’s body was discovered
As with all McFadyen’s Carmichael novels, this book is packed with a host of intriguing characters and an expertly crafted plot; and once again the author displays his skill as a writer in the great tradition of English crime novels.
Author Bio
Ian McFadyen was born in Liverpool and enjoyed a successful career in marketing before becoming a writer. He lives in Hertfordshire with his wife but spends a great deal of his time writing in his bolthole retreat on the Norfolk / Suffolk border. Blood Matters is the tenth in a series featuring DCI Carmichael.
Facebook: Facebook.com/ianmcfadyenauthor
Twitter / X : @ianMcFadyen1
Instagram : @ianwmcfadyen
Author Q&A
How did you get into writing?
I started writing novels about 20 years ago. It was something I’d wanted to do for many years but had never found the time to undertake seriously. The simple aim back then was to just write one book, but I got hooked and have now had 11 published and more in the pipeline.
Is it your full-time job?
Yes, it is my main occupation now, but I do a few other things too. Being totally honest, I only seriously considered myself an author after my second book was published and it only became my main job about 7 years ago, but I’ve now fully embraced my new profession, and love it!
Where did you come up with the idea for this book?
All my books are whodunits, so the starting point is almost always the twist. However, unusually for me, I got the idea for the title of ‘Blood Matters’ first, when I was tracing my family tree. The twist came to me very quickly and from that off I went!
Other books planned?
I am already well underway with Carmichael number 11 (‘The Corpse Bell’) and have an idea for another book which I’ll start after ‘The Corpse Bell’ is published. I am very excited about both projects.
Anything else you’d like me to know and the readers to know?
I like to make my books easy to read. I want the action to move quickly, and I try to help this along by having short chapters (on average no more than 1000 words). I try and have more than one thing going on at a time in each chapter, moving the reader from one scene to another and back. I find this allows the story to progress quite rapidly. I also try and leave something at the end of most chapters which encourages the reader to start the next rather than having a break.
Also, there’s nothing that gives me more satisfaction than injecting false trails with the sole purpose of leading the reader off course. Whether it’s the introduction of a possible suspect with a not so obvious reason to be the killer or a tiny mention of something or other that the reader thinks they’ve picked-up on and is a key clue to cracking the crime – but of course it isn’t.
Even more pleasing for me is when I’m able to add to the reader’s frustration by making their prime suspect the next victim of the real killer.
