Sweet Little Lies (Cat Kinsella #1)(120)
The other simple pleasure we get from our book club is the chance to spread the word about new stories that we have personally relished reading. It’s terrific when a stranger comes up to us and thanks us for recommending a novel that they, too, have fallen in love with. Seeing that kind of impact that reading can have on people is deeply satisfying. The power of the written word cannot be overestimated – a great book can quite literally change lives – and writers gain tremendous confidence when they realise their words have reached an audience who understands, identifies, and loves what they are reading.
Caz is a seriously exciting debut author. Sweet Little Lies will grip you from the first line to the last; you will be held tight by Caz’s compelling and distinctive voice. Cat Kinsella is a wonderful, fully-formed character. We can’t wait to see what she – and Caz – do next.
RICHARD AND JUDY
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It takes a large number of people to make the largest of dreams come true so here goes .?.?.
To my agent, Eugenie Furniss, for believing in me so passionately from the outset. Your enthusiasm for my writing knocked me sideways! Huge, huge, heartfelt thanks.
To Katherine Armstrong, editor extraordinaire – thanks for loving Cat, Parnell et al as much as I do, and for applying your shrewd eye and big heart to Sweet Little Lies and making it all the better for it. Thanks also to Bec Farrell who first championed my book, and to all at Bonnier Zaffre – you’ve made me feel so welcome during what has been a slightly out-of-body experience! Thanks also to Jon Appleton for his eagle-eyed copy edits.
To Richard & Judy and WHSmith for choosing Sweet Little Lies as the winner of the ‘Search for a Bestseller’ competition. It’s rare I’m rendered speechless but well done, you managed it.
To Erin Kelly, Anna Davis and Rufus Purdy at Curtis Brown Creative. Can’t believe it’s nearly three years since I walked into the boardroom with a hint of an idea and a whole load of self-doubt. I owe you a huge debt for helping me flip that around the other way!
To Alan Howarth for his invaluable insight into police procedure. A ‘couple of quick questions’ turned into months of daily badgering but please know how appreciated it was. Any remaining errors are entirely mine, not Alan’s.
The list of cheerleaders is endless. To anyone who ever listened to me constantly banging on about writing a book and managed to stay interested, thank you. Special shouts to Helen Powell, Carla Todd, Cat Sweatman, Fiona Kirrane, Alison & Garry Naughton, the Frear family, and Jenny Quintana (and indeed all my CBC cohorts!).
To Mum, whose love and faith in my ability is as constant as the sun, and to Dad, a first-class story-teller and presumably where I got the gene. I hope I’ve made you both proud.
To Neil, for absolutely everything. For tea, plot suggestions, keeping me sane, and making me feel like the only girl in the world. You’re a prince among men, baby. This book wouldn’t be what it is, and I wouldn’t be where I am without you. I love you, always.
And finally. Thank you, lovely reader, for buying my book.
xx
Caz Frear on her inspiration for Sweet Little Lies
It’d be so much neater to say that the plot of Sweet Little Lies was inspired by one thing – a dream, a news report, an overheard conversation on the bus – but the truth is there was no single inspiration. Cat’s world and Maryanne’s fate just seemed to slip into my consciousness and I can’t remember the how or the why. I do remember that it started with Maryanne. I had a strong image running through my head, almost on a loop, of a young, pregnant, Irish girl boarding the boat to England, and gradually that image developed into something more complex. Soon I decided that my novel wouldn’t be about this girl’s journey, but about the mystery surrounding her disappearance.
Initially it wasn’t a police procedural, although that seems inconceivable now. For years, I had this slight hang-up that you couldn’t write within the genre without being somehow involved in the criminal justice system, and therefore the early seeds of Sweet Little Lies were planted very much in the psychological-thriller space with Cat Kinsella (she was always Cat Kinsella!) as simply a young woman who fears her dad may be involved in the disappearance and subsequent murder of another young woman.
Thankfully I got over my hang-up! I accepted it was plain old fear of failure that was holding me back and lo, DC Cat Kinsella was born (thanks to the internet, the APCO Murder Investigation Manual and the generosity of a very helpful police officer.)
The first image I ever had of Cat was her squaring up to her Dad in an ‘I-know-what-you-did’ style denouement (yes I know, very soap opera) however, as the story took shape, I realised it would be far more unsettling if Cat never knew for sure – at least until much later – exactly what her dad had done, just that he had done something. I loved the idea of them trapped in this toxic dynamic – Cat never sure just how dangerous her dad actually is, and her dad never sure why she hates him so much.
Cat announced herself quickly as I knew exactly how I wanted her to come across. Like so many crime fiction fans, I love a flawed detective, but it was important to me that Cat was flawed but entirely relatable. Someone you might go for a pint with. Someone you recognise. Someone who’s messed up on the inside but managing to function normally on the outside, at least most of the time. I think that probably goes for most of us!