Always ask a policeman! 'The Unmasking' - advice from ex-detective

While researching her crime novel, The Unmasking, Elsa Evripidou decided to get expert advice from ex-detective, Graham Bartlett.

Write about what you know. That's the advice that is offered to would-be authors.

But what if you have a great idea for a crime novel but have no background in police investigations (or crime, for that matter!)?

I decided to write my novel using online research, books on the subject and what I had gleaned as an avid reader of crime fiction. However, after completing a first draft, I was still left with the niggling feeling that I might have made obvious errors that would leave the reader feeling that my story was unrealistic. I then had a serendipitous meeting with Graham Bartlett at an Eastbourne Literary Festival event.

As well as being a published crime novelist, Graham served for thirty years as a police officer, rising to the rank of Police Superintendent.

This places him in a unique position to advise authors on depicting policing in novels. Most importantly for me, he was a police officer in the late 1990’s when my novel is set.

I took his card, looked at his website when back at home, and was immediately thrown into the depths of imposter syndrome. Graham had glowing testimonials from practically a who’s who of my favourite crime writers – Peter James, Elly Griffiths and Mark Billingham to name but a few.

Eventually, I convinced myself that everybody has to start somewhere and arranged a one-hour online consultation. I sent Graham my first chapter and a short explanation of my story beforehand. I also spent a long time going through my novel so that I could prepare questions for our meeting. Some of the questions included the ages at which officers could achieve their respective ranks, the technology available at the time, the police disciplinary procedure and the mechanics of a large investigation into a serial killer.

The consultation itself was a very positive experience. To my great relief, I hadn’t made any huge errors that would require major rewrites, and the ones I had made were relatively easily fixable. The great thing with Graham was that he was able to see things from both a police and an author’s perspective and could suggest workable solutions to possible problems.

For example, in the hunt for a serial killer, there would naturally be large teams of officers involved. However, in my novel I wanted to focus on only a handful of people. He suggested implying the participation of other officers by describing a crowded incident room whilst still concentrating on my central cast of characters.

After the meeting, Graham sent me a recording of our conversation so that I would be able to put his suggestions into practice in my re-edit of the novel.

As well as this invaluable resource, I am left feeling much more confident about my story and that I have made a great connection who can help me with my future crime writing.

For an online consultation with

Graham Bartlett, the details are on his website:

https://policeadvisor.co.uk/ 

For a sneak preview of Elsa's riveting crime novel, head over to her profile page where you can read the disturbing opening to

The Unmasking.

You can also read some of her highly entertaining short stories in our recent anthology Strata 3 - Shifting Tides, available from our online shop.