For many years Chris Nickson lived in the US, where he was a music journalist (among many other things). He now writes historical crime, mostly set in Leeds where he was born and raised, covering a range of era from the 1730s, all the way to the 1980s. Lately his focus has been on Simon Westow, an 1820s thief-taker, and Detective Superintendent Tom Harper, a working-class man who runs Millgarth police station in Leeds in the late 1800s/start of the 20th century.
Hi Chris how lovely to see you in my virtual cocktail lounge. What can I get you at the bar?
C: I’d love a cup of tea, please. No sugar, just the tiniest splash of milk.
Well that’s a first but fortunately my teapot is at hand. So where did we first meet in real life?
C: We haven’t – at least not yet. Maybe sometime post-coronavirus, if such a time can exist.
Well I hope it does and I look forward to visiting Leeds some time. First impressions?
C: You’re a good writer, and a lovely genial soul.
That’s kind. Points in common?
C: Both crime writers, of a certain age, and our politics both seem to lie firmly on the left.
The last novel I read of yours was The Tin God, a Tom Harper Mystery, which I loved. Tell me about your latest book.
C: Last month The Mystery Press published The Anchoress of Chesterfield, which, as the title suggests, isn’t set in Leeds, but is the fourth in an occasional series set in medieval Chesterfield. I lived near there after I moved back to the UK and really like the place.
Set in the 1360s, it features John the Carpenter who has been happy to leave the investigation of death behind. For six years now he’s been content to work with wood. But times are growing desperate.
Then the coroner summons him to look at the mysterious death of an anchoress, a religious woman who lived in confined solitude. She’s been murdered. Her father is an important local landowner, a man of influence with the crown. He’s distraught, and the money he offers John to find the killer can solve his problems and leave his family comfortable for life. But the path to the truth leads John to places where he’s not welcome and in danger for his own life.
Sounds intriguing. What are you working on now?
C: There’s a new Simon Westow, To The Dark, coming at the end of December, and another Tom Harper set for the middle of next year. Publication has been delayed because of Covid. I’d completed another Tom Harper to follow that, now awaiting my revisions, and I’m 10k in yet another one, because the devil finds work for idle hands.
That’s some output! When you take a breath between books, what would be your dream panel (at any event) – subject, fellow panelists or a Q&A with someone you have met or would love to meet?
C: Raymond Chandler, Knut Hamsun, and another long chat about the blues with guitarist Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top. We once spent several hours discussing it on the phone.
Great choice. What are you most looking forward to when lockdown is finally lifted?
C: I’m not sure I trust this government to lift it safely, so I’ll hang back.
Is there anything lockdown has made you think about or want to do?
C: It’s certainly made me think a lot more about my own mortality, and the need to get the books written that I want to complete.
Thanks for joining me today, Chris. More tea?
You can find out more about Chris Nickson and his books here and follow him on Twitter @ChrisNickson2