It’s a real pleasure to welcome another avid crime reader and writer on the blog today: Janet O’Kane. Now happily ensconced on the Scottish Borders, Janet is not only a friendly voice and discerning reviewer on her blog http://janetokane.blogspot.co.uk/ and on Twitter under the handle @JanetOkane, she is also the only writer I know who keeps chicken. I ‘ve had the pleasure of interviewing Janet about her debut novel No Stranger to Death for Crime Fiction Lover. She kindly agreed to answer even more of my questions here today.
How did you get hooked on crime fiction?
I dedicated No Stranger to Death to the person responsible for my love of crime fiction: my Mum. I remember climbing aboard the mobile library with her when I was small, thrilled to be choosing my books as she chose hers. She read historical and crime fiction and once I’d outgrown children’s books (there being no such thing as Young Adult literature back then), she introduced me to her favourite authors. I read all of Jean Plaidy’s historical novels but it was the so-called Queens of Crime – Christie, Sayers, Allingham, Marsh – whose work captured my imagination. Agatha Christie was still writing at that time; I recall the arguments at home over who got to read her latest book first. Mum’s now in her 80s and still a huge crime fiction fan. When I last visited her, the pile of books next to her bed included ones by Mari Hannah, Denise Mina and Ann Cleeves.
Are there any particular types of crime fiction or subgenres that you prefer to read and why?
Maybe because I cut my teeth on traditional crime, I gravitate more towards police procedurals and psychological crime fiction than action-based thrillers. I can also see from my shelves that I’m biased towards UK writers (though I’ve recently been on a Scandi-crime binge), especially Scottish ones, although this has been a conscious decision because I live north of the Border now. That said, I’m open-minded and will try any author once.
What is the most memorable book you have read recently?
Of all the books I read in 2014, two in particular stand out. The first is Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason. I’d not read any Icelandic literature before and it’s made me keen to try more. I’m a big fan of fictional investigations which delve back into the past to solve a present-day crime, and this is an excellent example of that type of story.
2014 was also the year I started downloading audio books, and I enjoyed another excellent novel this way: A Pleasure and A Calling by Phil Hogan. It’s an unusual tale of an estate agent who keeps the keys to every home he sells, so he can let himself in when the new owners are out. As well as being truly creepy, this novel has some very black humour in it, and I can’t understand why it’s not been hugely successful.
If you had to choose only one series or only one author to take with you to a deserted island, whom would you choose?
I think the complete works of Scottish crime-writer Christopher Brookmyre would keep me busy for some time and, very importantly, would make me laugh too. His debut novel Quite Ugly One Morning is among my all-time favourite reads, and I’ve enjoyed plenty of his subsequent books too.
What are you looking forward to reading in the near future?
I’m currently trying a new approach to reading, by choosing a different theme every month. So far I’ve done Scandi-crime and Scottish crime, and next up is books written by friends. I’m particularly looking forward to reading at least one of Dave Sivers’ Archer and Baines novels and Rebecca Bradley’s recently published debut, Shallow Waters.
Outside your criminal reading pursuits, what author/series/book/genre do you find yourself regularly recommending to your friends?
I have a fondness for science fiction, probably because, like crime fiction, it’s a broad genre which embraces many different types of stories. When I was a teenager I read all John Wyndham’s books and they’re still on my shelves. I reread The Chrysalids recently and found myself loving it all over again but for different reasons to when I was younger. I’ve also enjoyed I Am Legend by Richard Matheson and for my recent Open University degree I read several books by Philip K Dick, including Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
What a delightful personal selection; this is what I love about this series, who’d have guessed that Janet O’Kane is a sci fi fan? So pleased to see that Phil Hogan’s delightfully subversive book gets a mention here – I too thought it deserved much wider recognition.
For previous participants in the series – and there have been some good’uns (only good’uns, to be honest), just follow this link. If you would like to take part, please let me know via the comments or on Twitter – we always love to hear about other people’s criminal passions!
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