How to Write Crime: ‘Avoid the cliches and tropes, such as the divorced alcoholic detective’

Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin has been killing people off under the pseudonym Sam Blake since 2016, when her debut novel, Little Bones, topped the best-seller lists.

Why the pseudonym? Or is an alias all part of the mystery?

“My full name is extremely long to squish on a cover,” says Fox O’Loughlin, who adds that research suggests “some men don’t buy crime written by women.” Their loss.

Did you grow up soaked in crime?

Fox O’Loughlin started writing when her husband went sailing across the Atlantic for eight weeks, which sounds like the premise of a novel in itself. Rejections piled up, but she says that “just keep writing” was the best advice she ever got. In addition to penning best-sellers, she also set up writing.ie, which is a brilliant resource for all aspiring writers. Growing up a lover of puzzles and mysteries, she devoured Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. These days she loves Agatha Christie and Daphne du Maurier: “Rebecca is my favourite book. It’s a multilayered work of thriller perfection that revolves around a romance. It’s got everything.”

I read somewhere that Christie wrote her stories first and added the murders later

“True or not, it’s definitely a good story. A few red herrings are vital, but too many and you’ll just get confusing. The American crime writer Jeffery Deaver talks about putting three twists into each of his books, says Fox O’Loughlin: “one you’ll spot, one you’ll only get if you’re a real crime buff, and one that nobody will get.” A good story is at the heart of the best novels, criminal or otherwise. “There are lots of ways to approach a story,” advises Fox O’Loughlin. “It’s important to start right before the action begins, but different writers use different techniques. In Something Terrible Happened Last Night, we open with a prologue. The book is divided into three parts and we don’t find out who the victim is until the last third. In The Mystery of Four there’s a daily countdown to the opening night of a play.”

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Why do we love (fictional) crime so much, is it because we like gruesome detail?

“In a world where we don’t know what’s happening next and anxiety levels are high, it’s a genre where you can trust that, most of the time, you will find a definite conclusion.” In fact, Fox O’Loughlin doesn’t go in for gore at all. “The reader’s imagination is a powerful tool and I want to leave space for that, rather than supplying all the detail. I’m not keen on blood and gore as a reader!” she adds.

Do you start with a character, a crime, or a what if?

“It depends on the book. Sometimes it’s a character, sometimes a scenario, location or a crime. Stephen King talks about great story being the collision of two unrelated ideas.” Inspiration can come from anywhere. “The Mystery of Four was inspired by Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy, Amanda Lees’s Dictionary of Crime and a Trevor McDonald TV show about cold cases. Something Terrible Happened Last Night grew from a story I heard about a transition year party.”

What about pitfalls?

Avoid starting the story too soon. “Often new writers have too much backstory, and explain every character before anything happens. Reading crime is really helpful, to avoid the cliches and tropes: like the divorced alcoholic detective, for instance. Keeping your story original and fresh is vital.”

Sam Blake will read at The Spike Island Literary Festival, which focuses on all things criminal, including readings, interviews and meet the agent sessions, from August 18th-20th. spikeislandcork.ie. Sam Blake’s latest book is the Mystery of Four, and her next, Three Little Birds, is due out in early 2024; samblakebooks.com. Her online group Writers Ink! offers mentoring and coaching via Facebook.