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Ayo: For those who don’t know much about you would you like to give us a bit of background information about yourself?
Liz: Born in London, spent most of my life in Hertfordshire (with a few excursions into Buckinghamshire). After a business course at the City of London College I worked in a variety of fields from Japanese Banking, via film/TV companies and eventually ended up as a Contracts Manger for an electronics company whilst nursing the conviction that I was really a writer (I just hadn’t written ‘the book’ yet).

Ayo: Was there a specific incident that encouraged you to start writing and why did you decide to start with a “Mills & Boon” type novel?
Liz: I’ve written for as long as I can remember. I think I probably started as soon as I could string sentences together and just kept scribbling. Then the electronics company installed computers (since they actually built the things we were, naturally, the last company on the block to have them in the office) and I had word processing at my fingertips all day long! Therefore, I started writing short stories for magazines when I should probably have been writing contracts. I think I decided to write a Mills & Boon type novel after reading about the small fortune earned by one of their writers. Sadly my knack of killing my (very irritating) heroine on page one did limit the plot a bit (not to mention the length of the book). Ayo: Are there any writers that you would consider to be influences? Liz: If there are, it is entirely unconsciously.

Ayo: What made you decide to set the series along the South Coast?
Liz: For the first book (Who Killed Marilyn Monroe), I already had the donkey-plot, so I needed a setting where one would naturally find donkeys. The beach was the obvious choice. I chose the South Coast because my father’s brother lived in Kent and we used to make a family trip down there every year (the memories of huddling together on a freezing beach sharing body warmth and wondering how much longer you need to stay out here enjoying yourself just never leaves you!) However, I kept the details sketchy so I could play around with the geography if I needed to for the plot.

Ayo: How did the character Grace Smith come about?
Liz: I started out with the idea of a female PI and let her develop from there. I didn’t even know her first name was Grace until half way through ‘Marilyn Monroe’. I think she may be a bit of wish fulfilment on my part; hence her tallness and her willingness to jump in with both feet where others fear to tread.

Ayo: Did you intend to write a series?
Liz: No. I wrote the first book and Orion bought it on the basis of a two-book deal. The series grew from there.

Ayo: The title of your first novel was Who killed Marilyn Monroe and was published in 1997, How did you come up with the idea for the story?
Liz: I’d had the donkey plot in my head for ages. I’ve no idea where it came from. For a long time I’d thought it would be a historical novel (donkeys being more common in other periods). However when the title popped into my head, it was too good to ignore, so I set it in modern times.

Ayo: Who Killed Marilyn Monroe garnered a lot of rave reviews when it came out, how did you feel about it and did you feel it put added pressure on you when you came to writing JFK is Missing?
Liz: As far as I can remember I’d written (or nearly written) JFK by the time Marilyn was published, so I wasn’t working on

Ayo: Don’t Mess with Mrs –In Between is the third book in the series. Have they become easier to write?
Liz: No!

Ayo: Barking was nominated for the CWA Dagger in the Library. How pleased were you when you found out that you were short-listed?
Liz: The CWA Dagger in the Library is awarded for a whole body of work rather than one specific title; it just so happened I was nominated around the time Barking came out. I was knocked out (and amazed) to be short-listed.

Ayo: Your latest book Sick as a Parrot has a rather rude psychotic grey parrot. It is my favourite one of the whole series. What did you consider the impetus for this novel?
Liz: Mainly the deadline from the publishers! (The plot – of an adopted girl searching for her family and finding a mother convicted of murder – was the starting point. Other aspects, such as that psychotic parrot and Terry Rosco’s homelessness, evolved as the characters ‘bedded in’, started contributing and driving the plot along. In this case, to an ending I hadn’t anticipated.)

Ayo: Have you been pleased about the way in which it has been received?
Liz: Yes, very. Ayo: In all the books so far in the series, Grace seems to be looking for somebody, and there is always an animal involved. Was this intentional? Liz: No, they just seem to have evolved in that direction.

Ayo: How would you like the character Grace Smith to be remembered?
Liz: As that character who knocked Harry Potter off the best selling list.

Ayo: Which of the characters in the series do you most identify with and why?
Liz: Grace probably. Not because there is any resemblance between us, but simply because I write the books in the first person and that makes for a more intimate relationship between you and the character. In the third person, it’s easier to stand-back and be more objective about the character(s).

Ayo: Is there anywhere that inspires you to be the most creative when you are thinking of plots?
Liz: No, I wish there was – I’d go there a lot. As it is, I just play around with ideas in my mind until the basis of a story solidifies.

Ayo: Now that you have finished five books, is there anything about them that you would change?
Liz: The sales figures.

Ayo: Are you happy about the way in which the series as a whole has been received?
Liz: Yes, the reception has largely been very positive.

Ayo: Would you consider writing another series or a standalone novel?
Liz: Definitely. I’ve discarded plots in the past because they just wouldn’t fit in with Grace, I’m sure I’ll write them up eventually.

Ayo: The Times Literary Supplement called you the UK’s answer to Janet Evanovich. Has this been a hindrance or a blessing?
Liz: I haven’t really been conscious that it has been either. I’m also not sure it’s true. We both feature female lead characters and the books are funny….but apart from that……????

Ayo: Do you have a favourite out of the books in the series and if so which one? Liz: The favourite is always the one I’m working on at present.

Ayo: Part and parcel of being a crime writer means attending book signings and conferences. Do you enjoy doing this bearing in mind the fact that writing is a solitary task?
Liz: Sure, it’s great to get some feedback.

Ayo: Is there any book you would have liked to have written?
Liz: To Kill a Mockingbird (great story told with not a word out of place)

Ayo: You have also written a number of novels set in England during the period of World War 2 under the name Patricia Grey. Have you any plans to write some more and what made you decide to use a pseudonym?
Liz: I used a pseudonym because I was shy about admitting I was ‘a writer’ at the time. The books came to a natural end just about the time the ‘Grace Smith’ novels took off. I’d thought I wouldn’t write any more, but I read one again recently and thought ‘that’s not bad at all’ so who knows, I might well do so (a detective working in England in the Second World War – where have I heard that idea before??)

Ayo: If you could take, five characters away on a desert island whom would they be and why?
Liz: Ben Gunn (he must have picked up a few tips on how to survive on a desert island); Jo March (my heroine when I was a child, we could compare writing tips); Professor Dumbledore (I suffer from travel sickness; if I ever want to get off this island I want to be transported by magic rather than conventional transport); Waterloo, the dog from Barking; (I got really fond of him when I was writing the book) and O’Hara from Sick as a Parrot (because the guy is gorgeous and sexy and I invented him, so it’s only fair I get to spend time with him).

Ayo: What are you working on at the present?
Liz: I’m just completing the sixth Grace Smith (out in all good shops late 2005).

Ayo: Thank you.

Further information about Liz Evans can be found at:-
http:// www.lizevans.net