Five Books With L C Tyler

It’s the interview that all the great crime authors want to do – there’s actually a bit of a queue already – but today, it’s the turn of a long-time friend-of-the-blog. In fact, when I first met him at Bodies In The Library way back when, he told me that he was already reading the blog! Hands down one of my favourite authors, and not just because he says nice things about me. So, without further ado, I give you the man responsible for two of the funniest things I have ever read and a whole bundle of cracking mysteries too.

Introduce yourself

I’m L C Tyler, author of twenty one books of (mainly) crime fiction, some historical, some contemporary. I’ve won the Last Laugh Award twice (which may give you a further clue as to the type of book I write) and a CWA Dagger once. My pre-writing working career took me to Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Khartoum and Copenhagen. I have been married to my wife Ann for over forty years and we have six grandchildren (which is as close as I’m going to admitting my age).

What book inspired you to write crime fiction?

I have a slight problem here in that I didn’t set out to write crime fiction and realised that my first book, The Herring Seller’s Apprentice, was crime fiction only when my editor informed me of the fact. Thereafter I wrote crime fiction because that’s what the contract stipulated. My early inspiration to write really came from PG Wodehouse, Jerome K Jerome, Mark Twain, Anthony Buckeridge and Evelyn Waugh, though I’d also read a lot of Agatha Christie, as evidenced by the titles of many of my books. Can I say the book that inspired the to write crime fiction was Right Ho, Jeeves? No? OK, I thought you’d say that. In that case put me down for the first Christie I ever read – The Body in the Library.

I should point out here that Mr Tyler is having this conversation in his head, not with me, so as the interviewer in absentia, I’ll allow Right Ho, Jeeves!

Which of your own books are you the most proud of?

Another tricky one. Jeffrey Archer, I think in his last ever interview, said that all authors think their latest book is their best. Or alternatively, I suppose, the one they’re working on now. As (agent) Elsie tells (crime writer) Ethelred in the next in the Herring series (Surfeit of Herrings – out in February 2027): ‘Writers always think their next book will be their masterpiece, Ethelred. As they type their usual sad crap, they’re thinking to themselves: “This time people will finally have to appreciate my very special genius”. Isn’t it what you think as you type?’ I also have this fear that, if you name one book as your best, all of your other books will hate you for ever. Still, if I had to name just one, I’d go for Crooked Herring, which was one of the two books that won the Goldsboro Last Laugh Award and has a first line that still makes me smile. (Just don’t tell my other books I said so.)

What crime novel should everybody read?

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold – it has the most perfect plot of any book I’ve ever read. There’s a spine-tingling moment just before the end where you realise how thoroughly Le Carré has taken you in. My entire historical series (featuring John Grey, a seventeenth century spy) is an attempt to write something half as good.

What’s your favourite non-crime novel?

Brideshead Revisited – a book I have read and reread – superbly crafted in every respect. A lesson for any writer in how to create character and dialogue. Totally evocative of the period in which it was written. And very funny.

Please plug your latest book.

If you want to organise a wedding, you could go to a wedding planner. If you want to manage your money, you could go to a financial planner. But where do you go if you need advice on murdering somebody? Sable Knight can sort that out for you. Her day job is running a small publishing house and editing crime fiction. But she has an interesting sideline that makes her and some of her writers a bit of very useful additional income. Until things start to go wrong … The Murder Planner is a darkly comic mystery, published by Allison and Busby on 22 October.

Yes, it’s out tomorrow, so you’ve still got time to get in the queue. I’ll be posting my review tomorrow, but rest assured, it’s brilliant. Original, funny, clever – the whole package.

L C Tyler Bibliography

Sable Knight