A Bloody Hot Summer - Trevor D'Silva
Blurb: It’s 1927 and Great Britain is sweltering in an unprecedented heatwave. On the morning after her eightieth birthday party, Lady Fitzhugh is discovered bound and butchered in her bed, with her family and staff the prime suspects…
Whilst holidaying at nearby Meadowford Village, Detective Dermot Carlyle is asked to help investigate the brutal murder. The clues all point to a robbery gone wrong, but Dermot suspects that there is more to the horrific crime. The Fitzhughs’ secrets take Dermot along a path linking some of the biggest events of the British Colonial Empire – from India to Africa, to the dark days of the Great War itself.
As more murders take place, Dermot is racing against time to discover the killer’s identity. What are the family hiding, why did Lady Fitzhugh have to die, and what horror was committed in the colonies that led to this trail of death and deceit?
Welcome to Martin Matthews Writes, Trevor!
Thanks Martin, for interviewing me for my second novel. It is great to be interviewed again and you will be glad to know that this novel is set in England and Scotland. Since you’re from the United Kingdom, it would be of some interest to you and to some of your readers.
It sure is! Tell us a little about yourself:
Well, I was born and brought up in India. I immigrated to the US many years ago. I have four degrees; three in engineering and one in accounting. My first novel came out in October 2017. It took me seventeen years to write my first novel because I was studying and after that, I went into teaching. I taught for two years at a community college and also at a private university. I taught mechanical engineering and environmental science subjects. Finishing my first novel was always on my mind. Therefore in 2015 or 16, I decided that it was high time I completed and got it published. I did not want to be an old man when I completed it. Besides, I had many ideas to write other novels. So I made time to write, put in the hard work and finally finished it. Finding a publisher was hard, but then Black Rose Writing saw my pitch on a website and contacted me telling me that they would be glad to publish my novel. As a result, Fateful Decisions was published.
As mentioned above, I had so many ideas to write other novels. Being a fan of mystery books, I wanted my next book to be in that genre and to set it in 1920s England. I guess it’s because I grew up reading Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels. I also grew up speaking British English and I’m very familiar with a lot of British expressions and slang. I did not want to take another seventeen years to write it. I actually started it before Fateful Decisions was published. So, after it was published, I started concentrating on writing my second novel. I would work on it after I came back from my job at night and on also weekends. A year and a half later, A Bloody Hot Summer was published on November 14, 2019.
One thing I would like people to know is that my books are mostly of the historical fiction genre, but I also incorporate other genres into my books. Therefore, my books contain many sub genres, but they all come under the umbrella of historical fiction.
Hmmm, sounds intriguing. Tell us a little about your book.
A Bloody Hot Summer is a murder mystery of the crime fiction genre, with certain historical events of the British Empire and its colonies, which serve as the background for the whole novel. Therefore, I guess the sub-genre would be historical fiction and also suspense.
Like my debut novel, A Bloody Hot Summer is geared towards young adults and adults. So, basically anyone 13 or 14 years and older can read the book. I think anyone who loves murder mysteries can read my novel regardless of age.
The major themes of the novel are greed and treachery. So, anyone who reads the novel will see what consequences greed and treachery can bring about and how it affects innocent people too even after several decades.
The story mostly takes place in the summer of 1927 during a heat wave, in a quaint little village called Meadowford Village (a name I invented), located a few miles away from London.
My book begins in 1903 with a baby dropped by a mysterious man and a woman at a Scottish castle to be brought up by the housekeeper. Then fast forward to summer of 1927 where Lady Fitzhugh celebrates her 80th birthday at Fitzhugh Manor. The next morning, she is found bound to her bed with her throat slit, by her maid Alice who goes to wake her up with a cup of tea and some toast.
We then meet the young detective from London, Dermot Lucian Carlyle who was vacationing/holidaying in Meadowford Village at the time of the murder. Since Inspector Lester Enderby of Meadowford Village has no idea how to investigate a murder, Dermot’s superior in London telephones him and asks him to help the inspector solve this case. Of course, Dermot is upset and reluctantly agrees to investigate the murder. This is his first solo case and he’s very nervous.
While investigating, he uncovers many secrets of the Fitzhugh family right from the time when the family escaped from India during the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 and also during the Second Anglo Boer War in South Africa. He also has a strange hunch that the death of one of the family members during the First World War is tied with the murder of Lady Fitzhugh. While he investigates, other murders take place and he has to race against time, to find who the killer/killers are and their motive.
Well, some reviewers have compared my book to Agatha Christie’s novels and others to the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes novels. I guess, it has elements of both writers since their books gave me the inspiration to write this novel. So, it was an honor to have my book compared to two prominent mystery writers of their time.
Tell us about some of your characters.
The protagonist is Dermot Lucian Carlyle. He is a young detective who is asked by his superior from the Metropolitan Police in London to solve the murder of Lady Fitzhugh. He grew up in Meadowford Village and was holidaying there for two weeks when unfortunately for him this murder took place. He reluctantly takes the case just because he has to obey his superior. He has to rely on his experiences gained while shadowing his superior on cases in London. This is the first time he has to solve a gruesome murder by himself, which of course during the course of the investigation, more murders are committed and secrets are uncovered.
There are many secondary characters like: Pippa, her much older boyfriend Richard, Cora and Hector (Pippa’s mother and younger brother) the two elderly sisters of Lady Fitzhugh, the staff at the manor house, and of course Inspector Lester Enderby. There is also the solicitor Bertram Kerr who is not a nice person and one of the characters later attributes Kerr’s unpleasantness to his short stature.
I won’t mention who the antagonists are and I will let the readers find that out for themselves. But the antagonists were very good at deceiving and played their part to perfection. Their main motivation was to right wrongs which had been done to them many decades before.
Where did the idea for this book come from?
As mentioned above, I grew up reading a lot of novels written by Dame Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and others. Being a person who loves history, especially British colonial history, I wanted to write a murder mystery and link it to certain historical events that occurred in the British colonies. I purposely set it in the 1920s because according to me, from the 1900s to the early 1940s probably were the hey days for murder mysteries with an English setting. A lot of popular murder mystery movies are set during that time period. I chose 1927 as the year for the story to take place, as there would be people alive who lived through the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny in India and also the Second Anglo Boer War in 1890s South Africa. So, it would be a blend of historical events from the Victorian Era and the early part of the 20th century. Of course, the murder had to take place in a manor house in a quaint little English Village called Meadowford Village to give it that authentic British setting. So, a lot of thought went into deciding the year, the setting and also what historical events I could portray in my novel. I felt the summer heat would add another dimension to the novel and decided that the whole story would take place during an unusual heat wave.
Is there a message behind your book? What is it?
Yes, my book has several messages. Just like my debut novel Fateful Decisions, a person’s decision can have devastating consequences for not only himself, but also for his family and strangers alike. In this case, it was the evil (mostly motivated by greed) done by one of the family members that made other family members and non-family members pay dearly with their lives. Also, secrets have a way of being exposed and cannot be kept hidden. Although, in some cases they do. Even at the end of the novel, two characters discuss the human flaws that started the bloody events, which resulted in a lot of deaths. In addition to that, the behavior of some of the murdered victims also serve as a lesson how fate shouldn’t be tempted.
Who or what are some of your biggest influences?
I would say that two writers who influenced me to write were Dame Agatha Christie and also Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Their books gave me a lot of inspiration to write this novel. I also read books by Sidney Sheldon, Jack Higgins, Jefferey Archer, M.M. Kaye, Ken Follett and others. So, reading a variety of books by various authors influenced me to take up writing as a hobby. I also grew up watching a lot of movies set in England during the early part of the twentieth century and the Victorian era. Of course, history always gives me ideas to write books and that is the biggest influence for me.
What are you currently reading?
Right now, I’m reading Peyton Place. The book is by Grace Metalious and it was made into a movie in the 1950s. It shocked the whole of America because it deals with issues, which were not discussed in polite society. I haven’t gotten very far into it, but it’s getting interesting now.
Are you working on another novel? Can you tell us anything about it?
Yes, I’ve started my third novel. All I can say is that it takes place in the 1960s. So, like Fateful Decisions, it will be a historical fiction novel. That 60s were a decade which changed not only America, but the whole of the western world. If any readers like books about hippies, the Vietnam War and counter culture movement of the late 60s, then I’m sure they will like this book.
What did you learn while writing this book?
I always learn a lot while researching my novels. When getting the novel edited, I learned a lot about Cockney and Scottish accents thanks to my British editor. Of course, to write a murder mystery, one has to research about poisons and the human anatomy. So, I learned a good deal regarding those topics. Since I incorporated certain historical events into the novel, which took place in the British colonies, I had to research those as well. I learned about British history in India and also about England in the 1920s, the expressions used during that period, historical facts about the Second Anglo Boer War in South Africa and First World War. I added a glossary at the end of the novel so that non-British English speakers can look up words or phrases they don’t know. So, you can probably say that my book will introduce a lot of people to British English and to British colonial history.
Any advice for other writers?
As a writer we all know that writing a book is not an easy task. There will be times when you are challenged and will want to quit due to life or due to writer’s block. It is normal to have those thoughts, but the secret is to never give up. Just persevere by researching and recording your thoughts. Also, if you’re writing a book based on historical events, please make sure that they are factually correct by researching each fact thoroughly. Editing is another step in the process, which has to be done. Go through what your editors have done because they too make mistakes. Afterall, editors too are human. Finally, it is always good to have a fresh pair of eyes to proofread your work. A fresh pair of eyes can spot mistakes you or your editor haven’t spotted. When suggestions are made, consider all suggestions and then make an informed decision whether to follow them or not. After the novel has been published, remember that you are not going to please everyone. So, read the bad reviews and decide if you can incorporate any suggestions into your next novel or when you revise your current novel at a later date. It is a learning process which never ends.
Any message for your readers?
Yes! I would like to tell not just people who read my books, but others too that while reading a novel, try and understand what the themes of the novel are, and why it is written a certain way. Most modern day readers just want everything to be exciting from the get-go, but life is not always like that. So, most authors try and make their story close to real life as possible, and that is why there could be some not so interesting parts in a novel. Also, try and figure out the message the author is trying to convey. Many lessons can be learned from the characters and also from various incidences mentioned in the novel.
Thanks for stopping by and chatting with me today, Trevor.
Thank you very much for interviewing me for my second novel. It was a pleasure. I would like to thank my audience and readers for reading my books and for the reviews. Remember, reviews tell the author how much the readers appreciate the book and encourages the author to write more books.
Author Bio
Trevor D’Silva has a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering; M.S. degrees in Engineering Management, and Environmental Engineering, and an Associate degree in Accounting. He has lectured in mechanical engineering and environmental science subjects at various colleges.
Fateful Decisions was his debut novel, encompassing history and fiction from WW I to the end of WW II. It got a 5 Star review from Readers’ Favorite and was also a finalist in the Wishing Shelf Awards competition in the historical fiction category for 2018 for which he got a medal.
His second novel, a murder mystery set in England and Scotland during the 1920s came out on November 14, 2019. Both novels have won the Silver Badge ‘Recommended Read’ award from Author Shout.
Even though he is an engineer, his passion for history has never waned. He uses his free time to expand his knowledge in history and reading crime, thrillers, and mystery novels. He has an avid love for nature and for animal rights. He also loves travelling, learning new languages, and experiencing various cultures and cuisines.
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