‘Whether you’re a fan of crime fiction or true crime, or a would-be crime writer yourself, you’ll find laughter, understanding, insight, ideas, advice and hopefully some inspiration in this collection of essays.’
Opening If I Tell You… I’ll Have to Kill You with this bold statement, editor Michael Robotham fulfills his promise to the reader by presenting them with a collection of revealing essays from 20 successful Australian crime writers, including Kerry Greenwood, Shane Maloney, Peter Corris and Tara Moss. Each piece sheds light on the authors’ lives, motivations and strategies, and the stories behind the best-selling crime novels they have written and continue to write. Authors of other genres need not be disheartened by this book’s focus on crime, as much of the content is widely applicable.
With careers ranging from journalism to private investigation, psychology, filmmaking, charity, modelling and even working in red-light districts, these authors’ stories are very individual and sure to inspire future authors. By reading this book, the reader will, as Robotham says, learn about the highs and lows, as well as the nuts and bolts of the writers’ working lives.
Many of the authors collected in this anthology quite literally go step-by-step through the ways in which they write a book, from start to finish – extremely handy for budding crime writers.
If I Tell You… is neatly structured, with helpful hints and recommendations residing at the end of each chapter. In the chapters, each writer is given an opportunity to spill out the details of their own life as a crime author into 10-15 pages. Many of the authors include sections in their essays on what they think are the most important aspects of writing. The headings of these sections themselves are insightful, and vary immensely. Leah Giarratano’s essay: ‘Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know,’ exemplifies this with such headings as: ‘Becoming a writer,’ ‘Inner conflict,’ and ‘Loving the bad guy.’
Following their essays, the authors impart their own rules of crime writing to the reader. While some of these rules may overlap, each writer does their best to encourage and prepare future authors for life as a writer – unsurprisingly, the majority of them have a shared belief that writing frequently is more important to an author’s professional growth than anything else.
Finally, each essayist lists their five ‘must reads’ before passing the torch onto the next author. Interestingly, not every recommendation is for further crime writing, as the inclusion of JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and Bram Stoker’s Dracula make clear. For those interested in reading these influential works of fiction, a complete list of all the recommended books is provided at the end of the collection.
Reading this book will allow those new to the genre of crime writing to learn much, while providing veterans of the genre with the chance to reaffirm what they already know (and maybe learn something new). Along the way, they will find out exactly how far Tara Moss will go for her research, why Katherine Howell keeps a diary for every novel she writes, and the surprising differences between real detectives and fictional ones.
4 stars out of 5
If I Tell You… I’ll Have to Kill You
Edited by Michael Robotham
Paperback, 319 pages, RRP $24.99
ISBN: 9781743313480
Allen & Unwin
If I Tell You… I’ll Have to Kill You was created as a fundraiser for the Australian Crime Writer’s Association and all royalties from the sale of the book go towards the ACWA.
