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Meet the Author

Meet the Author: Mick Finlay

Image of Mick Finlay

Mick Finlay is the author of the Arrowood series of Victorian crime novels. His latest book is Arrowood and the Thames corpses. You can find Mick's books on the library catalogue.

  1. Who were your literary heroes as you were growing up and when did you first realise that you wanted to write?

I lived in Scotland and North America as a child, and this influenced the reading I was drawn to. When I was a young teenager, I started to read my dad’s books. They were mostly thrillers and crime novels.

The two that made the most impression on me were Serpico (Peter Maas) and The Blue Knight (Joseph Wambaugh), both of which focus on individual cops in American cities.

After that, I began to read historical sagas by James A Michener (Centennial and Chesapeake), which I loved. Here I was influenced by my mum, who loved Nigel Tranter’s Scottish historical novels. In my late teens, I liked J.M. Coetzee and Raymond Chandler. I discovered Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell when I was 16, and they’ve been heroes ever since.

At that age I started writing songs, and continued doing that in various bands until I was about 30. I don’t think they were much good. I started writing fiction when my son was born in my early 30’s.

  1. How was the character of William Arrowood created and will he ever meet Sherlock Holmes?

I was reading a Sherlock Holmes story one day, and I wondered what other private detectives in London would have thought of him if he’d really existed. I assumed they’d be annoyed about his claims of genius and that he was the only consulting detective in the world.

Straight away, I could see the outlines of a character: a man who was jealous of Holmes’s success and fame, and who enjoyed pointing out faults in his cases. I decided he had to be just as good at solving crimes, but have the opposite qualities to Holmes – unhealthy, warm, emotional, caring, with a focus on psychology rather than forensic physical evidence.

So far, they’ve exchanged telegrams, Arrowood has visited his house, and they’ve worked on the same case, but they haven’t actually met. I’m not sure I’d want to intrude on Conan Doyle’s turf by having Holmes in a scene, but it is possible it’ll happen in a future book. I really don’t know!

  1. Your last book was Arrowood and the Thames corpses. Can you give us a flavour of that?

The story is set among the people making their living on the Thames in 1896. Captain Moon and his daughter come to Arrowood because someone’s been vandalising their boat, a pleasure steamer taking people on day trips to Gravesend. The story takes a shocking turn when three corpses are found tied to the boat one night. Within days, Arrowood’s assistant, Barnett, is arrested. Solving the crime takes Arrowood deep into London’s ratting pubs, wharves and slums, where he discovers a past that Captain Moon has hidden from everyone, including his daughter.

  1. Is there anything you can share with us about your latest project?

I’ve just completed the copy-edits for the fourth book in the series, Arrowood and the Meeting House Murders. It’s inspired by the true story of four Zulus who were arrested and taken to court for refusing to perform for a famous showman in an ‘ethnic exhibition’. The story is set among the freak shows and ‘human zoos’ of the late Victorian era.

  1. Your books are set in Victorian London which must require a lot of research. At what point do you swap research for writing and how do you know when that point is reached?

Once I’ve decided on the setting or the theme of the book, then I’ll start reading the history, writing copious notes and ideas for characters and plot lines. At some point in this, perhaps after a month or two, I’ll start writing the novel, but will keep reading history books and other sources all the way through. This later research often changes and develops my ideas and is always essential for the little details of Victorian life.

My current book involved reading about Zulu history, freak shows, the empire, and a South African gang called the Regiment of the Hills, which were active at the time. I spent a lot of time looking at old newspapers in the British Library as well.

  1. What is the best book you have read in 2020? Best music? Best TV/film?

My favourite two books in 2020 were Mr Bowling Buys a Newspaper by Donald Henderson (a crime novel written in the late 1940s) and Homesick for Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh (short stories about outsiders that gave me some comfort in the lockdown). I’ve enjoyed lots of music over the year. One new artist for me is Israel Nash. I loved the Swedish film Border.

  1. Has a book ever changed your life or made you think differently?

The Social Construction of Reality (Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann). It made me realize how much I took to be naturally true was a human invention.

  1. Can you tell us one thing about yourself that your readers may not know?

I love fish pie, but I don’t like smoked fish, so I get really annoyed when fish pie is made with smoked haddock.