Episode 9
Lynda La Place, Anthony Horowitz and P.D James join Mariella for this week's Crime Special
It's Crime Special week on The Book Show and joining Mariella for some gruesome murder and morgue talk are the acclaimed writers Lynda La Place, Anthony Horowitz and P.D James.
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The three ultimate crime connoisseurs share some bloodcurdling details with Mariella as they discuss the origins of their fascination with crime and mystery and their reasons for remaining faithful to this not-so-merry genre.
With a feisty sparkle in her eye, actress, screenwriter and author Lynda La Place talks of her most famous crime character Anna Travis, which is also the protagonist of her newest book, Bloodline.
Meanwhile, our other lady guest this week has probably read more novels than any other guest we've had on The Book Show. At the astonishing age of 91, P.D James (Phyllis Dorothy James) published a unique novel which is in essence the crime sequence to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. And it doesn't take long to figure out why she took this route; her apparent fascination for both Jane Austen and the crime novel is not only compelling, but contagious. All we can say is that the book leads us into the lives of legendary characters Elizabeth and Darcy and brings in an enthralling contrast to their happy marriage.
And just like P.D James who simply had to do this novel, so Anthony Horowitz responded positively at the request of writing a Sherlock Holmes novel. He explains that even though one of his favourite bits of authoring a novel is the creation of a character, he simply couldn't resist the temptation of taking the ready-made characters Holmes and Watson, and creating a story around them.
When the captivating, foggy talk on the set clears up, Mariella asks the guests which crime novel they regard as unrightfully neglected.
