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Still Waters Run Deep
PEOPLE PERSONnel follows a burnt-out HR manager trudging through her final year at a shrinking charity while juggling caregiving for her declining mother and quietly plotting a radical act of mercy. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I have worked in HR in the not-for-profit sector for over 30 years and I live in Whitstable (UK). I have written before (historical) but thinking of the old adage, ‘write what you know’ I decided to do just that. I wrote something where character and location were key. You’ll notice it is not set in a particular time because I didn’t want it to date. I hope it will be picked up and televised one day so that my antihero can reach a wider audience and I can retire, like Janice.
I found Janice to be a very well-written and in-depth character. What was your inspiration for her and her emotional turmoil throughout the story?
Thank you. No spoilers but I wanted her to be a very ordinary person who ends up in the position of doing extraordinary things. She flies under the radar. She is invisible and for what happens in the story the fact that she is so overlooked gives her a very significant advantage.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Still waters run deep. It’s the quiet ones you want to watch out for. Again, no spoilers, but most fictional killers are larger than life as are the characters who catch them. To me it’s far more disturbing if the killer turns out to be someone just like you. I put, ‘But she always seemed so nice…’ on the back cover because that’s what people always say when their crimes come to light. Janice is a person who keeps herself to herself.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when can your fans expect it to be out?
I wrote this book 8 years ago and only very recently revisited it and got it published. I do have ideas for another book about Janice, perhaps a prequel, and hopefully that will be out in the next 6-12 months rather than in another 8 years.
Author BlueSky
She commutes every day from her home in Whitstable, Kent to London and is soon to retire from her standalone role for a not-for-profit sector organisation, that is facing very difficult financial decisions. She is innocuous, dull, easily overlooked and cut an inconsequential, loveless path through, what appears to have been, a largely non-eventful life.
Everyone knows she wouldn’t lift a finger. Everyone knows she wouldn’t swat a fly. Everyone knows she’ll just sit there and be quiet. No one would think twice about her, but Janice Mead’s savage way of exiting those who are now surplus to her requirements may change all that. See what kind of a person Janice Mead really is.
PEOPLE PERSONnel
PEOPLE PERSONnel follows Janice Mead, a seasoned HR manager trudging through her final year at a shrinking charity while juggling caregiving for her declining mother and quietly plotting a radical act of mercy. Set against the backdrop of a dreary office and the grey sprawl of southeast England, the story slips between sardonic workplace comedy and unsettling introspection before veering into a shocking yet oddly tender act of revenge and redemption. Holup delivers a narrative that simmers slowly, then boils over in a morally complex and relatable way.
Holup’s writing is dry, sharp, and deeply British. The voice of Janice (or Myra, depending on which identity you trust) is both painfully funny and heart-achingly bitter. Her observations cut deep, especially on ageism, bureaucracy, and the way society quietly dismisses older women. I found myself wincing at how real it all felt. There’s no sugar-coating here. It’s the raw, unfiltered truth of late-career burnout and quiet domestic despair, until, suddenly, it’s a murder mystery disguised as an act of grace.
What really surprised me is how effortlessly Holup builds a character who is both forgettable and unforgettable. Janice is invisible in the way that older women often are, and yet she becomes the exact opposite by the end: powerful, decisive, terrifying in her stillness. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. The bees, the gloves, the crispy pancakes, all these odd details add up to something chillingly intimate. The ending, though extreme, felt almost inevitable. It left me with that odd emotional mix of satisfaction and sadness, like watching a long-overdue storm finally break over a parched field.
If you like character-driven fiction with bite, with humour that borders on cruelty but never loses its humanity, then you’ll get a lot out of it. It’s perfect for readers who enjoy Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, but wish Eleanor had a darker side and a plot to poison someone. PEOPLE PERSONnel is bleak, funny, and full of feeling.
Pages: 307 | ASIN : B0FC462XY8
LITERARY TITAN 