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Ayo: What was the very first crime fiction book that you read and who introduced you to the genre?
Cath: Would the Secret Seven, by Enid Blyton, count? Other than that it was probably as a teenager devouring my way along the A-Z fiction shelves at Bradford library and the book was something like an Ed McBain

Ayo: Who were your influences when you decided to start writing and what books influenced you as well? you?
Cath: Sue Grafton, Marcia Muller, Sara Paretsky, P.D. James (Cordelia Gray), Liza Cody and Val McDermid. They were all busy re-inventing the private eye tradition with independent women in the lead. I read a lot of science fiction at the time I started out, liked Ursula LeGuinn, Philip K. Dick, and Asimov but also I read more generally. Among my favourites were Alice Walker, Marge Piercy, Doris Lessing, John Fowles, Wendy Perriam, Norman Mailer, Mary Stewart, Fay Weldon, Gore Vidal, Toni Morrison, and William Golding – all sorts really.

Ayo: What other books are you also attracted to?
Cath: Any good story grabs me. Now it’s 95% crime but the genre is so broad I don’t really feel I’m missing out by not reading more widely. There’s not enough time to read everything I’d like to.

Ayo: What do you think of the state of contemporary crime fiction writing today? Cath: It’s flourishing. As a reviewer I am privileged to read a lot of new publications and there are some brilliant stories coming out and lots of good new writers and always something fresh. When you think how hard it is to get into print (and to keep getting published) there must be even more authors whom we don’t get to see.

Ayo: What do you enjoy reading about in crime fiction? Have you got a specific sub-genre that you read the most?
Cath: No. I read all the sub-genres

Ayo: Is there a subject that you would not write about or feel would be too difficult in some way for the reader perhaps or for you to spend time with?
Cath: I wouldn’t rule anything out. Also I think what you feel able to tackle changes as life does; there may be things I choose not to deal with yet which I might feel ready to handle later. Another aspect to this is whose story you are telling, whose voice you are using: looking at child abuse from the perspective of the child would be very different from looking at it from the perspective of, say, a detective.

Ayo: What's the best thing about your life as a writer and can you sum that up? Cath: Writing. I love it.

Ayo: What's your work schedule normally like?
Cath: I start once the kids have gone to school and stop when they get back. Occasionally the deadlines mean I have to keep going, and work weekends and so on; that’s hard for all of us as I don’t have a room (or even a computer) of my own.

Ayo: Do you enjoy being part of the mystery community and the accompanying events?
Cath: Very much so. People have been very welcoming and generous and I really enjoy hearing others talk about their work and meeting other writers and getting to talk to readers, too.

Ayo: What do you find the most difficult when you are writing?
Cath: Finding a pen … and re-writing, which I loathe.

Ayo: Characterisation or plot? Which do you think is more important?
Cath: The first. If I’m not involved with a character I don’t really care what happens to them.

Ayo: Looking for Trouble the first in the Sal Kilkenny series was short listed for the CWA John Creasey Award for best 1st crime novel and was also serialised on Woman's Hour for BBC Radio 4. How pleased were you about this and did you feel that there was an additional demand on you afterwards as a writer?
Cath: Over the moon. Hearing Jenni Murray say my name on the radio was a huge buzz. Lots of people listened to the serialisation and still remember it. Being short-listed was very unexpected and the recognition was marvellous. Yes, after that there was something of the second book nerves but I just got on with it. By then I was hooked.

Ayo: Did you intend to write a series? What persuaded you to do so?
Cath: Yes. It made sense and fit with the sort of book I was writing.

Ayo: You and your protagonist are quite similar in some ways. Was this intentional?
Cath: Yep.

Ayo: You evidently like writing short stories. DOA appeared in the Crime in The City anthology while Rock-a-bye-baby appeared in the Murder Squad Anthology. Also in 1999 you had a collection of short stories published called The City Life Book of Manchester. Do you see writing short stories as some sort of release? Cath: It’s a release from writing long stories. I’ve only got to grips with short fiction fairly recently but now I enjoy the change. Being able to experiment is part of the appeal, trying things out and not having to sustain them for a whole book. I can be more daring, take risks.

Ayo: Bitter Blue is the sixth in the series featuring Sal Kilkenny and in this latest book there are three strands to the story. The Lucy Barker investigation, the problems that Sal's daughter is having at school and the surveillance case that she is dealing with. Where did the idea for the story come from?
Cath: Sal stories always start with new clients and new cases. Once I’ve thought of something different from previous books I can start writing; the rest gets made up along the way.

Ayo: Sal always manages to juggle an increasingly hectic domestic life with her job as a private investigator, which means that she comes across as a really down to earth person. However, it is certainly taking a toll not only on her but also on her daughter Maddie. Is this a reflection on your life style?
Cath: Getting the balance of work and family right is something that taxes a lot of us, and there are still far too few choices for working parents, but I don’t think Sal does too badly. Unlike Sal I have a partner and we’ve been lucky in being able to share the juggling so when I’ve been busier he’s taken on more childcare.

Ayo: One of the attractions of the books that draws readers to the series is the great sense of place and atmosphere that is evident in all the books. What made you choose Manchester?
Cath: An obvious choice really, as it’s where I live and work. It suits the books too: it’s urban, has a fantastic mix of cultures, neighbourhoods, the contrast of wealth and deprivation, loads of locations, a turbulent history and the city is constantly changing.

Ayo: Out of all your books which is your favourite and why?
Cath: That’s like asking which is your favourite child. I can’t answer it. Readers say Bitter Blue, the latest, is the best (which is reassuring).

Ayo: How do you feel once you have finished writing a book? Do you normally have a great sense of elation or do you start to worry about how well it is going to be received?
Cath: Pleased and a little shell-shocked.

Ayo: You've written a non-crime novel called Trio what inspired you to write this book and do you have any plans to write any more non-crime books or start a new series?
Cath: Three babies are adopted in 1960 and Trio tells the stories of what happens to them, their birth families and their adoptive families over the next forty years. I was adopted at birth and in 1997 I was re-united with my Irish birth mother and my seven brothers and sisters (my parents had gone on to marry after giving me up). The novel was a way for me to express some of the emotions I’d had on that roller coaster journey and to look at how adoption affects the different parties involved. Fiction gave me the freedom to explore all that and an added bonus was writing about the forty years that I’d been growing up, recreating the era of my childhood and adolescence and so on: the moon landing, what was in the hit-parade, buying Sherbet fountains and flying saucers and Spanish (liquorice), loon pants, Marc Bolan … you get the idea. Now I’ve crossed the tracks it would feel easier to do it again if the impulse took me.

Ayo: What were the last five books that you read?
Cath: How Not To Write A Novel by David Armstrong (read it, it’s brill), Nirvana Bites by Debi Alper, Dissolution by C.J. Sansom, Bangkok by John Burdett and Half Broken Things by Morag Joss. Actually, they are all brilliant.

Ayo: In May 2003 you had a two-part television drama called Blue Murder, which featured Caroline Quentin shown on television. How did you become involved in this? Did it evolve from one of your short stories?
Cath: From a novel. Ann Cleeves in Murder Squad told us that Granada were looking for new drama ideas with strong female leads. Blue Murder was based on an unpublished novel (rejected seven times – wry smile). I sent a proposal in, was invited to a meeting and ended up writing the script – my first ever.

Ayo: Were you pleased with the result?
Cath: You bet!

Ayo: Did you have any say in the casting of the characters?
Cath: No, I was kept informed. Though all along I had been writing with Caroline Quentin in mind as they hoped she would be interested in the role.

Ayo: Blue Murder was very successful. Are there any plans for it to become a series?
Cath: Yes. Work is starting now for the series.

Ayo: Writing for television is not very easy. Now that you have done it successfully with Blue Murder are you planning to do it again and continue to write for television?
Cath: Well, I’ll be writing one of the next scripts. After that I don’t know. But I will continue to write novels.

Ayo: How big of an impact has your being a member of the Murder Squad made on your writing?
Cath: Not so much on my writing – apart from encouraging me to do short stories for our anthology – more on the range and number of events I do and the publicity we generate. Murder Squad was such a brilliant idea (thank you Margaret) and I’m really proud of our website and brochure and the book and the reputation we’ve built up. Feels like a bunch of friends now and we can share the triumphs and frustrations with each other and hopefully sell a few more books as well.

Ayo: If you were planning a dinner party and could invite five-crime fiction characters (dead or alive) whom would you invite and why?
Cath: Can’t I just get a take-away and leave them to it? I mean, I quail at the thought of meeting characters (let alone dinner parties) and in crime fiction most of them are damaged, depressed, dysfunctional or dead. However, if pressed, I will desperately seize on Thursday Next from the Fforde books who will be witty and literate but not snotty, Elizabeth Woodcraft’s Frankie Richmond – she can bring her Tamla collection and sort the sounds out, Sonchai Jitpleecheep from Bangkok who I’ve just spent a few days with, he will be a calming influence with his Buddhist mind-set and he’ll have the best threads, John Baker’s Geordie would be great too – he’s hungry for new ideas and likes to talk and work things out – he’d get on well with Sonchai and the rest and finally Nell Bray, Gillian Linscott’s suffragette and we could have a good natter about how the world has changed and what along way there still is to go. If anyone cried off I’d bring in Pepe Carvalho, Montalban’s Spanish PI, to do the catering. Yes, I’ll have him anyway, and I’ll be the wine waiter and just listen to them all get on with it and nick a bit of chorizo and patatas bravas now and again.

Ayo: What are you working on now?
Cath: This interview. And a couple of short stories. And the next Blue Murder script.

Our thanks to Cath for taking the time out to talk to us.

Books by Cath Staincliffe

Bitter Blue
Towers of Silence
Stone Cold, Red Hot
Dead Wrong
Go Not Gently
Looking for Trouble
Trio (Non-crime book)