I was completely honoured and thrilled to be asked to organise a blog tour for the brilliant third book in the Charles Holborne series, The Lighterman. I couldn't have done it without such amazing bloggers on board and my heartfelt thanks goes out to each and every one of you. You're all amazing, and work tirelessly behind the scenes to help get the word out about books that should not be missed. The Lighterman and the entire Charles Holborne series certainly fits that bill; I really can't stress how absolutely brilliant this series is - my review (that you can read here) urges you to 'read it or regret it'.
Special thanks go to Matthew of Urbane Publications for supporting the tour and for providing prizes for the giveaways and of course many thanks to Simon Michael for not only writing the books in the first place but for providing such riveting content and answering all of our questions. Simon, it's been a pleasure and I'm already feeling bereft at the thought of missing our almost daily emails!
So without further ado, I'm delighted to share my question and answer session with Simon Michael for this final stop on the blog tour.
Welcome
to my blog, Simon, as we celebrate the release of The
Lighterman, the third book
in the Charles Holborne series. As you know I've become quite a fan
of your books but for any readers who haven't yet discovered the
series, can you tell us a little bit about it?
They
are crime and legal thrillers with a different point of departure to
any others being written at the present. They’re set in London in
the 1960s and instead of being told from the perspective of a
policeman or a detective, they’re told from the point of view of a
hardened criminal barrister. Those of us who’ve worked in the
justice system as I have for the last 39 years know that the formula
so often trotted out by crime writers – grizzled maverick copper
with a drink problem, a poor relationship with his boss and a broken
marriage, piecing together the clues and catching the “baddie”
before he or she does the bad thing again - isn’t how it really is.
“You’re under arrest” is not the end of the search for the
truth; it’s often the beginning. Working out who’s telling the
truth, who’s lying, who’s trying to tell the truth but is
mistaken – in other words the way in which our jury system operates
– involves more than putting together a jigsaw of clues. It
involves peeling back the layers of human nature, people’s
motivations and personalities. So I write about real people, real
cases, real violence and corruption and how ordinary people react in
those circumstances. I show the events and people in the lead up to
a crime, the crime itself, the investigation and part at least of the
trial.
The Kray
twins, particularly Ronnie, feature throughout the Charles Holborne
series. What made you include Ronnie Kray in your books rather than
a fictional gangster?
My plots
ideas are based on real cases where I was instructed for the Defence
or the Crown. I often include real court documents (with identities
and circumstances changed) which the public generally doesn’t see.
I want these books to be as true to the gritty violence and
corruption of the period in which they are set as possible. 1960s
London wasn’t all Carnaby Street and flower power – for most
people and for most of the decade it was grey, poor and post-War. So
it follows that I use real people too. Of course, the anti-hero
barrister, Charles Holborne, is fictional – although loosely based
on me – and other characters have been made up too. But there is a
strong thread of true historical fact in all of the books. So, for
example, Book 4 in the series, which is now over half-written, takes
us back to the dealings between the Krays and Lord Bob Boothby and
the establishment cover-up of the truth. And they all feature in the
plot.
Why did
you choose the 60s era as your period setting?
The 1960s
is such an interesting period. The pre-War deference to authority
was breaking down. We discovered sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.
There was a huge wave of immigration from the West Indies. Organised
crime had London by the throat. There was no DNA, no police
computer, no mobile phones. Detectives had to detect
– to use their wits and understanding of human nature. The decade
is a gift
to a writer exploring themes of alienation, exclusion and corruption
like myself.
Like Charles
Holborne, you are also a barrister. How much of yourself is in
Charles Holborne's character?
Probably
a bit too much (according to my OH, especially the sex scenes). But,
to be a bit more considered in my response, when I went to the Bar I
was an outsider. I was from a Jewish family; we were poor (to get
through University I had to work as a council labourer every
vacation, and I worked behind bars, washed cars, cut hedges –
anything to pay for the next term’s expenses); I was the first
state-educated pupil in my Chambers; I hadn’t been to Oxford or
Cambridge; I even had to buy a second-hand wig. I was something they
hadn’t seen before, and I felt excluded. I have taken that feeling
of alienation and prejudice and inserted it into Charles Holborne,
but I’ve made it worse for him: I’ve made him a real East End
lad, with a bit of a criminal past, a man with a penchant for
violence and a strong connection to the very criminals he now
prosecutes. I make him an outsider trying to be honourable and
honest, surround him with corruption and greed, and test him.
Everyone
seems to have an opinion on the British legal system - what do you
think are the best and the worst things about the law?
The
best: the system relies on twelve men and women, good and true. Each
brings his or her life experience into the jury room and, usually,
they somehow reach the right result. The worst: decades of cuts in
criminal legal aid have decimated what was, in many people’s
opinion, the best legal system in the world. It’s almost
impossible to make a living now as a junior criminal barrister, and
the best minds are turning to other areas of law or doing something
different altogether. Result: we shall have a third-world criminal
justice system, with criminals being acquitted and the innocent
wrongly convicted. You’ve been warned!
When
you aren't writing, what do you enjoy doing?
In no
particular order, skiing, theatre, films, reading and eating
chocolate. And being with my adult children, who are the most
interesting, funny, infuriating and expensive bunch of young people
you could hope to meet.
Not that
I ever want to it finish, but do you have a set number of books
planned in the Charles Holborne series and when can we expect to read
our next instalment?
Book
4, provisionally entitled The
Death of Teddy Behr,
will be finished before the end of this summer, and I hope will be
published next spring/early summer. Book 5 is also mostly completed,
but needs work. Books 6 and 7 are in the planning stages. Not sure
if there will be more than that, but we shall see. I haven’t quite
made up my mind whether Charles is essentially the honest man he
would like to think he is, or he is at heart corrupt. I always think
of Michael Corleone – the one son of Vito who starts pure – a war
hero, deliberately kept at arm’s length from the Mafia by his
family, being drawn inevitably, ineluctably into crime and becoming
completely evil.
Thank
you for answering my questions and for visiting my blog. You'll not
be surprised to hear that I am already looking forward to your next
book – no pressure of course!
So fancy winning a copy for yourself? Check out my giveaway below. UK entries only and winners will be notified by email within 24 hours.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
There have been some AMAZING stops along the way during this blog tour; my favourite guest post, possibly of all time, has to be the tour of London on The Booktrail. I urge you to check out all of the stops on the tour, especially this one.
Tour stops can be visited by clicking on the blog name below:
By The Letter Book Reviews
Reflections of a Reader
The Book Review Cafe
Jo's Book Blog
Never Imitate
A Lover of Books
The Booktrail <----- SERIOUSLY, DON'T MISS THIS!
The Last Word Review
Book Literati
