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Author Q&A: The Missing

By Julia Scirrotto on Monday 22 February 2010

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The Missing LP - book reviews - Marie Claire

Debut novelist Jane Casey talks to Marie Claire about her new crime thriller

Twenty-something Sarah Finch is ticking along on autopilot - stuck in a teaching job she hates at a posh girls' school, living back at home with her alcoholic mum - when she discovers the murdered body of one of her students while out jogging in the woods. Cue a police investigation, a media firestorm, an ever-shifting list of suspects and secrets from Sarah's past with eerie relevance to the girl's murder. The result? A page-turning thriller that combines whodunit drama with a seriously relatable girl-making-her-way-in-the-world narrative. After burning through the book in three days, we caught up with Casey to get the story behind the story and chat about life as a first-time novelist.

MC: Did any real-life events inspire the action of your book?
JC: I was in Surrey around the time that the schoolgirl Amanda Dowler disappeared in 2002, and I remember seeing the posters that were put up in the area. I'm sure that's where some of the inspiration for The Missing originated. But I didn't base my missing schoolgirl on what happened to her; my victims are entirely invented. However, all of the criminal elements in the book have some basis in reality, no matter how awful they may be. Nothing in it is completely farfetched.

Your husband is a criminal barrister - did he lend his professional expertise to the writing process?
He gave me invaluable insight into things that I would never have known otherwise, from the smell in police station cells to the correct colour of the detectives' folders. He has a passion for accuracy and gets very huffy if I ever try to bend the rules of police procedure for the sake of dramatic tension! And he always picks up interesting stories at court - the material for about two novels a week.

The book is a complete thriller - how did you keep the suspense levels up?
By being absolutely ruthless about what I wrote. I cut thousands of words from the first draft - anything that didn't move the story forward or add to the reader's understanding of the characters. A lot of my finer phrases and flourishes bit the dust, but all for a good cause.

There's also a love story mixed in with the criminal investigation, as the main character, Sarah, finds herself drawn to one of the detectives.
I'm a frustrated matchmaker in real life - there's nothing better than bringing two people together and watching them fall for one another. If I have to invent them to make it happen, so be it... And as a reader, I get totally involved in romantic storylines, so having one in The Missing was another strategy to keep my readers hooked.

You were working as a children's book editor when you wrote The Missing, but it's is a pretty dark psychological drama. Was it strange to be doing both at the same time?
I wrote the book in the early morning before going to work, and it was actually very useful that it was so different from what I was doing during the day. I would spend my morning commute thinking about what I needed to write next, and then put it aside for the day. By the time I went home in the evening I'd be ready to think about it again.

How long did it take you to write the first draft?
About ten months. I tend to write in short bursts, but regularly. I try to get some done every day. It's like exercise - it's much easier when you do it all the time!

Any tricks for beating writer's block?
When things are going badly, I go and put on some make-up. It's weird, but it always works.

Who are your favourite crime writers?
I love the classic crime novelists like Dorothy L Sayers, Margery Allingham and Ngaio Marsh, but also the current queens of the genre, PD James and Ruth Rendell. I get completely drawn into the novels of Nicci French - no one is better at creating intriguing characters. And in the last year I've discovered Kate Atkinson, whom I hadn't read before writing my own book. She's extraordinarily good.

You're also busy with your first child, a five-month-old son. How do you fit writing into your new-mum schedule?
I don't write in the mornings any more! It has to wait until he has gone to bed in the evenings. He is a full-time job, but very rewarding. I'm glad that my next book doesn't feature any cruelty to children, because I don't think I could write about it now.

What's next for you?
I'm writing my second book at the moment - another crime novel, due out later this year. One of the narrators is a policewoman and I'm really enjoying exploring a murder investigation from the inside. Like The Missing, it's about how your past can catch up with you even if you think you've left it behind.

Review by Julia Scirrotto

Release date: Monday 22 February 2010

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I've read The Missing: it's fantastic : a tension filled page turner which is also beautifully written. I can't wait for Jane's next book.
Comment by Ailsa Holland on March 01 08:30