Murder at Macbeth begins when a young actress unwittingly stabs herself live onstage which casts suspicion on her castmates. What was the inspiration for the setup to this thrilling novel?

I was actually inspired by a newspaper article about a London West End actor who was accidentally stabbed live on stage. That got me thinking; what if that had been intentional? What a dramatic way to murder someone and believe you could get away with it.

I’ve always been fascinated by the superstitions surrounding Macbeth about it being cursed and the fact the play itself is about corruption and deception provided an interesting parallel to the murder mystery. Plus, I found the concept of interviewing suspects who are also actors really interesting; they could so easily be playing a part to hide the truth.

I enjoyed the mystery at the heart of this story. Was the mystery planned or did it develop organically while writing?

A bit of both. I had the main story arc of who was the murderer planned out from the start, but the nuances of the story and how things were revealed throughout developed more organically. I enjoyed drip-feeding subtle clues along the way, including ones to throw people off. Ultimately, I wanted readers to be shocked by all the twists and turns, but with the benefit of hindsight would think, “yeah, that makes sense.”

The characters in your novel were intriguing and well developed. Who was your favourite character to write for?

I think one of the key elements of a great mystery is to have really compelling characters. In Murder at Macbeth, I put a lot of time into creating multidimensional characters who really drove the story as everybody had a legitimate motive that could drive them to murder. I think my favourite character to write was actually the victim, Nikki. She was initially presented as a lovable, charismatic golden girl who everyone adored, but I enjoyed writing the flashbacks to show her seemingly perfect life start to unravel as secrets are revealed to unveil a web of scandal, blackmail and deceit.

What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?

I’m currently working on a non-fiction book called Indie Writing Wisdom, which will come out this Winter. With the aim to inspire the next generation of writers, this book will provide an inspiring collection of practical advice on a wide range of subjects from crafting interesting characters, writing motivation and plotting to editing, cover design, book marketing and much more.

Eleven successful indie authors from all around the world will be sharing their expertise about their own self-publishing experiences and the useful approaches they took to ensure their books stood out effectively in a marketplace that has millions of books vying for attention.

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