A Wee Review - Family Life by Paul Charles

Family Life is the second of the Inspector Starrett mysteries set in the town of Ramelton in County Donegal. Dangerously close to Brian McGilloway’s stomping ground, but there’s room enough for both of them, thanks to the diversity in styles.

Family Life kicks off with the murder of a young farmer by the name of Joe Sweeny. By all accounts, a downright decent bloke who played well with others. His body is discovered on the day of Liam Sweeny’s 64th birthday. Liam is the patriarch of the Sweeny clan. The immediate family extends to Liam’s wife Collette, two more sons, Tom and Ryan, and a daughter, Teresa. All have returned back to the Sweeny farm to celebrate Liam’s birthday with their significant others in tow. It comes to light very early on that almost every guest at the party has a motive for the murder related to Joe’s place in Liam’s will. And so Starrett, though mildly depressed by the prospect, has no choice but to start his investigation with the dead man’s immediate family.

As the plot develops, so does a rather interesting study into the dynamics of family life that extends beyond the Sweeny clan and gives the thoroughly introspective Starrett food for thought. His own personal situation is far from perfect due to the fact that he spent his early years running from a vocational mistake he made as a teenager. Now, well into his forties and with romantic notions for his childhood sweetheart, he has the urge to overcome his emotional awkwardness and achieve the sense of ‘belonging’ he equates with family.

There are some surprising flashes of humour in Charles’ writing, considering the dark premise of a murder in which those closest to the victim are suspected. They caught me off guard from time to time, but served to keep me interested in the book at points where it began to feel like just one interview after another. Charles achieves the admirable task of keeping the reader interested in the slower side of police work. He goes with old fashioned detection over gunfights and body counts.

Charles’ background as a music promoter infuses the book with lots of great references to the industry. But he keeps them subtle and in line with the story, which is not to be sniffed at. The temptation to show off his personal knowledge (and detract from his characters in the process) would be hard to resist. If Starrett ever makes it onto the screen, Charles should definitely be drafted in to work on the soundtrack.

Family Life is a clever work of detective fiction set against a homely background that seems to magnify the brutality of a serious crime like murder. And there’s more Inspector Starrett to come. I have it on good authority that this series will form a trilogy at the very least. After that... we can but hope.

Family Life, Marketing and Bill Hicks

As a follow up to yesterday’s post on Paul Charles’ charm, I thought I’d share a line from Family Life that kind of nailed me when I read it. To put the quote in some context, a wet-behind-the-ears cop is conducting an interview with a murder victim’s brother, who happens to work in marketing. And then this:

‘There didn’t seem to be any apparent common denominator between marketing and murdering, so Casey decided to move on.’

Now, it may be cynical of me to latch on to this line as humour. After all, I’ve no basis at all with which to assume that marketing can be synonymous with murder...

Bill Hicks might disagree, though.

I don’t remember there being as much humour in the Dust of Death, the first Inspector Starrett novel, but that’s most likely due to the fact that I read it quite some time ago. Family Life deals with a very grim situation, a murder in which the victim’s siblings are the most obvious suspects, but Charles deals quite a few leavening moments along with the bleak. It’s disarming but it’s keeping me hooked.

Paul Charles' Charm

I’m currently reading Family Life by Paul Charles. It’s a police procedural set in a small Donegal town, the second in his new series featuring Inspector Starrett. Charles’ writing is of a no frills, matter-of-fact variety, but that isn’t to say that it lacks the panache and charm that I feel most writers of the Irish crime fiction set are bestowed with. But he approaches it quite differently than a lot of his contemporaries.

The following exchange between the protagonist and his father illustrates it pretty well, in my opinion:

'“Oh you should always be wary of someone who walks at least a step or two behind his wife.”

“Ach, sure, that’s only because city girls walk faster, Dad.”

“Aye, I did hear they were faster all right,” Starrett’s dad replied, and then he muttered something Starrett couldn’t make out.'

I think Charles has painted an honest representation of small town mentality here. Both humorous and disparaging, but true to the kind of characters he has created in this world. Starrett is a relaxed and mostly unflappable character (though quite innocent and shy at times for an inspector) who’s a bit more worldly from time spent living in London. Sometimes he’s a little dismayed at the old fashioned attitudes held by those close to him, and yet at other times he’s equally likely to embrace them. It’s an interesting mix.

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Family Life

In ones and twos the Sweeney clan and their partners, wives and children gather at Liam Sweeney’s farm on the outskirts of Ramelton, County Donegal to celebrate Liam’s birthday. The banter and storytelling is great as they await the arrival of the single missing family member. But when Inspector Starrett arrives unexpectedly at the farm it becomes clear that all is not well. The body of a Sweeney family member has just been discovered in the courtyard of a waterfront warehouse in the nearby town and the circumstances are suspicious to say the least.

In the course of the investigation Starrett begins to realise how weird and wonderful the politics of a family are as he discovers that of the several suspects he and his team throw up, two or even three of them are family members. On top of which, it appears to Starrett’s team that every family member has a secret or two they’d like to keep hidden. But while working on this investigating Starrett discovers some drastic news which concerns his own family.

Paul Charles was born in Magherafelt, Ireland and is one of Europe’s best known music promoters and agents. He is the author of seven previous Inspector Christy Kennedy novels: I Love The Sound of Breaking Glass, Last Boat To Camden Town, Fountain Of Sorrow, The Ballad Of Sean And Wilko, The Hissing Of The Silent Lonely Room, I’ve Heard The Banshee Sing and The Justice Factory. The first Starrett mystery, The Dust of Death, was published by Brandon in 2007

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A Wee Review - The Dust of Death by Paul Charles

With The Dust of Death, Paul Charles introduces a new detective onto the Irish crime scene. Charles originally made his mark in crime fiction charting the career of Inspector Christy Kennedy, an Irish cop on the streets of Camden Town; where Charles himself lives and works in the music industry. For the first of a new series, Charles takes us to rural Donegal. And it’s not just a new setting he’s experimenting with. There’s something very interesting about Inspector Starrett. Something a little supernatural.

Charles wastes little time with lackadaisical introduction to his new character. He simply throws the man in at the deep end and allows the reader to watch him react. The book opens with Starrett arriving onto the scene of a brutal crucifixion. In a church. The victim is quickly identified as a local; master carpenter, James Moore. An altogether inoffensive and self-contained family man. And so the key to solving the case lies in determining why anybody would want this quiet, unassuming man dead, and in such a brutal way, more so than who carried out the act.

Paul Charles is incredibly adept at painting a large cast of three dimensional characters. We see all kinds in this novel, from the morally conservative to the ethically questionable, each one painted to exquisite detail. And they interconnect and interrelate in the manner expected in a rural setting. As the mystery unwinds, each player contributes to the denouement. I find this quite remarkable, as in a recent CSNI interview, Paul Charles admitted that he doesn’t know who has committed the crime while he pens the first draft of his mysteries. He prefers to travel the same journey as the protagonist and solve the case alongside him. I suppose it’s only fair when you think about it, though.

Naturally, the most interesting member of the cast is Inspector Starrett, the humble protagonist of The Dust of Death. An affable and intelligent chap, he is the son of a woman said to possess the gift of healing. And he has a gift of his own. It’s not something he fully understands, or even believes in; but he has a knack for identifying when somebody is lying to him. A handy skill for a police inspector to possess. He has also escaped some brushes with disaster in the past, following an instinct to avoid certain places and situations. But like I say, this gift seems to be in a raw, unnourished form. There’s potential there, though, and I look forward to seeing how this facet of his character may develop as the series progresses.

So, The Dust of Death has set up an intriguing premise in this new series, and I’m glad to be jumping aboard on the ground floor. A second Inspector Starrett mystery will be published through Brandon Books some time next year. I believe the title will be Family Life. But if you’re jonseing for another Charles fix a little sooner than that, the ninth Inspector Kennedy novel was released last month. Go on and treat yourself to The Beautiful Sound of Silence, why don’t you? I have.

An Interview - Paul Charles

Paul Charles was born in Magherafelt, Ireland and is one of Europe’s best known music promoters and agents. He is the author of seven previous Inspector Christy Kennedy novels: I Love The Sound of Breaking Glass, Last Boat To Camden Town, Fountain Of Sorrow, The Ballad Of Sean And Wilko, The Hissing Of The Silent Lonely Room, I’ve Heard The Banshee Sing and The Justice Factory.

Q1. What are you writing at the minute?

I’m just concluding work on the second instalment of the Inspector Starrett series, which is set in Donegal. It’s called FAMILY LIFE. I actually started work on the book the same day I completed work on the first Inspector Starrett mystery, THE DUST OF DEATH. FAMILY LIFE concerns a farming family called the Sweeney’s. All twelve members of the extended family meet upon one fine August evening on the farm to celebrate the birthday of the father Liam. I realised after I’d written the first 20 pages that I need to stop and go off and get to know this (fictional) family before I could continue writing. The getting to know them was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Q2. Can you give us an idea of (author’s name)’s typical up-to-the-armpits-in-ideas-and-time writing day?

I write most days. I like to write first thing in the morning, 06.30 (ish) for three (ish) hours. If I’m working on a first draft I like to go to it every day. I find it easier this way to keep up to speed with everything that’s going on. A lost day costs two days (easily) to catch up. I, my detective (and hopefully the reader) work our way through the story at the same time. At the beginning of the this process I, like my detective, and hopefully the reader, do not know “who did it, why they did it or how they did it.” We all pick up the information simultaneously. I love to try and keep my stories realistic and I find this method (not knowing) helps. I don’t work on any other writing projects while working on the first draft but I’ll happily attend to other matters, such as short stories etc while working on additional drafts. I love the space you go to while trying to catch that vital first version of the story.

Q3. What do you do when you’re not writing?

I love to go to the movies. I read a lot. I listen to music a lot. I go to a lot of concerts. I walk around the scenes of my stories continuously considering the plot, thinking about characters and trying to keep my stories real.

Q4. Any advice for a greenhorn trying to break into the crime fiction scene?

Always serve the story. First and foremost always try and have a great yarn to tell. Let your characters and the plot rule the page; keep yourself off the page. Be careful when you cross the road. Be wary of taking advice from people you don’t know. Remember that everyone has to start somewhere and, to quote Colin Dexter, “the first line is as good a place as any.” Prepare yourself for rejection but never lose faith in your work. Mary Martin a lady with immense patience who (way, way back) used to manage Van Morrison and Leonard Cohen used to say, “Perseverance pays.”

Q5. Which crime writers have impressed you this year?

John Connolly, Stephenie Meyer, Alan Bennett, Sheldon Siegel and I’ve a lot of time for the Ulster gang: Colin Bateman, Sam Millar, Eugene McEldowney and Eoin McNamee, a giant amongst writers.

Q6. What are you reading right now?

Stieg Larsson’s amazing and highly engaging The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - should be given out free at Underground Stations instead of The Metro.

Q7. Plans for the future?

The new Christy Kennedy mystery, THE BEAUTIFUL SOUND OF SILENCE, is published on Sept 2nd by the good people at Brandon. It’s the 9th in the series. I’ll be doing promotion on that in Ireland, UK and America and while in USA I’m going to see Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe and Jim Keltner doing a benefit concert in SFO. They haven’t played together since the Little Village days and the concert is sure to be a major treat. Then I’m going to see Jackson Browne in concert in Seattle. As soon as I’ve sent FAMILY LIFE to the publishers I’ll be starting work on the next Christy Kennedy mystery, A PLEASURE TO DO DEATH WITH YOU, which I’ve been bursting to start work on for a wee while now. Last summer I was up at the Giant’s Causeway and while there I spotted this phenomenally beautiful Indian princess. She was with her family who were busy, hyper and happy, happy go lucky all around her. She had such a powerful but sad presence as she moved gracefully through the tourists. To me she looked very sad and incredibly lonely. I started to wonder how someone with such stunning natural looks could look so sad and lost. Right there in that thought I found the genesis for A PLEASURE TO DO DEATH WITH YOU.

Q8. With regards to your writing career to date, would you do anything differently?

It’s been too enjoyable for me to want to have changed anything.

Q9. Anything you want to say that I haven’t asked you about?

You should have asked me, “And what’s the title of your new book again, Paul?”
And if you had, I’d have replied, “It’s called, THE BEAUTIFUL SOUND OF SILENCE, Gerard, and it’s published by Brandon on Sept 2nd.”

Thank you, Paul Charles!