Meeting Crime Writer, Lesley McEvoy, at Empire House, Slaithwaite
An author event, part of the Huddersfield Literature Festival, held at Empire House in Slaithwaite on Sunday 18th May and hosted by ‘A New Leaf Book Shop,’ proved extremely popular with local readers, particularly fans of crime fiction.
Author Lesley McEvoy, whose novels include ‘The Murder Mile’ (2021), ‘The Killing Song’ (2022), ‘A Deadly Likeness’ (2023) and ‘The Invisible Dead’ (2024), treated attendees and regular customers of Slaithwaite’s independent bookstore to a reading from her latest crime novel, ‘Corpse Light,’ due to be released in July.
“This was another fantastic literary event – Lesley McEvoy is such an interesting and engaging author with a fascinating story of her own,” comments Jane Taylor-Barron, owner of A New Leaf Book Shop. “The story of her challenging journey on the path to becoming a published author captivated the audience and proved to be a perfect example of how success can be achieved by those who ‘write what they know’ and ‘never give up.’ After listening to the intriguing opening of Lesley’s latest novel, many of the attendees have already pre-ordered the novel in anticipation of its launch in July. I am absolutely sure that ‘Corpse Light’ will prove to be just as popular with my customers as her previous novels.”
Lesley McEvoy’s crime novels are, indeed, inspired by ‘what she knows’ – that is, her own experience as a behavioural analyst/profiler and psychotherapist. During a career spanning more than 25 years, Lesley set up her own consultancy business and therapy practice, working in the corporate world and in some of the UK’s toughest prisons. Many of the people and the situations she encountered influenced the characterisation and the themes of her novels.
“We had to smile when Lesley commented that she’d found more psychopaths when working in the corporate world than she ever had in prisons,” says Jane. “She did explain, however, that psychopathic traits, such as emotional detachment, are often those that help individuals succeed in business. Similarly, she told us that, in prison, she met criminals who, if they had chosen another path, may have become millionaires through business.”
Whilst Lesley McEvoy’s career as a behavioural analyst differs to the role of her protagonist, Dr Jo McCready, who is a forensic psychologist, similarities exist between them. Jo McCready, is also a strong Yorkshire woman and is described by Lesley as her ‘younger, fitter, smarter, avatar.” This rich portrayal of character, the thorough understanding of the world Dr McCready inhabits, and the accurate descriptions of landscapes and townscapes firmly rooted in West Yorkshire, all contribute to the atmosphere of these cleverly crafted crime novels.
During the course of the author event, Lesley McEvoy recounted a disturbing incident during which the idea for her first novel, ‘Murder Mile’ presented itself. Working as a newly qualified hypnotherapist, she was treating a patient who was at a low point in her life and becoming dependent upon alcohol. Whilst in a deep state of hypnosis, the patient’s eyes flew open and, rather than being their original, bright blue colour, they were absolutely black. When the patient spoke, rather than a gentle female voice, a deep guttural male voice came out of her mouth. This ‘voice’ warned Lesley to ‘back off’ because he liked being in the woman’s body and he liked drinking. If Lesley interfered, he said he’d kill the woman and then kill Lesley herself. When Lesley brought the woman out of her hypnotic state, she didn’t remember a thing and whilst Lesley did not tell her of the ‘encounter,’ the seed of an idea was planted.
The story that developed from the idea was based on the idea of dissociative identity disorder (a condition once called multiple personality disorder) when trauma causes a personality to split into several ‘selves’ as a way of dealing with it. In the novel, a young woman in a psychiatric ward is suffering from severe anxiety and depression and is haunted by memories of a time when, as a heroine addict, she believes she murdered prostitutes by stabbing them. Dr Jo McCready is called in to help her unlock her memories and she unlocks an ‘alter ego’ claiming to be Jack the Ripper who thanks Jo for setting him free. The young woman is soon found murdered in the same way as Jack the Ripper’s first victim in 1888 - and then the serial killing begins.
“The creative writers in the audience at the author event were able to take heart from the story of Lesley McEvoy’s journey to becoming an author.,” continues Jane. “Lesley described growing up in the 1960s and being interested in writing from a very early age. At primary school, when she was about five years old, she told her teacher that she wanted to write books like Enid Blyton. Instead of being encouraging, the response was that ‘people like us read books, not write them.’ Undaunted, Lesley continued writing and began seriously looking into agents and publishers from the age of about 19. She submitted her first serious attempt at a novel in 1980 but after many rejections and numerous attempts to secure an agent, her first novel ‘Murder Mile’ – was finally published in 2019.”
“Lesley also described the difficulties in finding a ‘voice; for her protagonist, which is a challenge that novelists must face. Whilst the first-person narrative flowed more easily, it presented a number of problems because, unlike a third-person narrative where one can just ‘move the characters on the board,’ the first-person narrator can only see things from her own perspective and learns what is happening at the same time as the reader. Lesley also stressed the importance of writing regularly, of reading – although she cannot read fiction when she is searching for ideas herself - and of never giving up.”
“During the question-and-answer session, Lesley confirmed that she didn’t plan her entire novel in detail from the start but always begins with a ‘what if?’ When she hears a story or reads something that’s interesting, she thinks ‘I wonder what if…?’ She tackles the ending and knows the beginning will start with Dr Jo McCready called in by the police as a consultant – so then she has to tackle what she describes as the muddle in the middle.”
“It was such a pleasure to host the author event,” concludes Jane. “Lesley came in to talk to some of our book club members a couple of weeks ago and she always presents her work and her own life history in such an interesting and relaxed manner. She takes the time to speak to those attending and is happy to sign copies of her books. We are looking forward to hosting another event once Lesley’s latest novel is published, which is scheduled for July.”
To discover more about author, Lesley McEvoy and her crime series, please visit her website: www.lesleymcevoy.com and her novels are available from A New Leaf Book Shop, Slaithwaite.
By Sheila Frampton