by M. B. Shaw
She smiled softly to herself as the train rattled on.
Acknowledgements
My heartfelt thanks are due to the entire team at Trapeze and Orion for their talent, dedication and hard work on this book. Especially my inspired editor, Sam Eades, without whom Murder at the Mill would never have been started, let alone finished; but also Debbie Holmes in design, Claire Keep in production, Jo Carpenter and the rest of the brilliant sales team, Claire Sivell in text design, Lauren Woosey in publicity, Jennifer Breslin in marketing, and the world’s most thorough and on-the-ball copyeditor, Laura Collins. Thank you all so much. Every novel is a team effort, but Murder at the Mill was something totally new for me as a writer, and I could not have done it without so much support and energy from all of you.
My thanks also to my fabulous agents, Hellie Ogden in London (who introduced me to Sam and inspired me to try something new) and the lovely Luke Janklow in New York. Also to my family for putting up with me, especially my husband Robin and our children, Sefi, Zac, Theo and Summer. I love you all more than words can say.
Murder at the Mill is dedicated to my friend Fred Kahane in Los Angeles, a kind and wise man who has listened to me moan about this and countless other books over the last fifteen years, and never fails to put things in perspective. Fred, thank you for everything. I hope you enjoy the book.
Author Q & A with M. B. Shaw
Why did you decide to feature a portrait painter as your main character?
About ten years ago both my parents had their portraits painted by a hugely talented artist who lives close to them in Sussex. I was blown away by how accurately this woman was able to capture them, or at least a certain side to both of their characters. A few years later she did another portrait, of my sister and daughter together, that is truly haunting. I love it, and have it hanging in the room where I write in the Cotswolds. But many members of my family find it hard to look at, because it focuses on a certain sadness and wariness in both the girls. More than anything it was this picture that started me wondering about the process of painting a portrait, the things that you choose to include and the things you choose to leave out. To me at least there is something fascinating, and quasi-magical, about that process. I create and describe characters for a living, with words, but I can’t draw or paint to save my life. So I loved the idea of a ‘detective’ figure who sees human emotion and motivation with an artist’s eye. There is an innate mystery to that that I wanted to explore, and that’s how Iris came to be.
How does the setting – the Mill and the surrounding Hampshire countryside – shape the story? What is your own relationship with that part of the world?
What I hope to do in the ‘Portrait of a Murder’ series is have Iris solve mysteries all over England, as her various commissions take her around the country. I live between Los Angeles and England (mostly in the Cotswolds) and am often hugely homesick whilst in America. So I enjoy writing about bucolic, rural England, partly as an outlet for my own longing. I also feel that the majority of detective series tend to be rooted in only one place or setting. I didn’t want to write another ‘gritty northern’ or ‘quaint Cotswold’ series, but rather to try something with a bigger canvas, celebrating the whole of our incredibly diverse and beautiful country. I chose Hampshire as the setting for this first book having recently visited Winchester, and the countryside around it, for the first time. I was blown away by the beauty of the landscape, and especially struck by some of the grand Georgian houses I saw there. As for the Mill itself, my cottage in Gloucestershire is about a hundred yards away from a working water mill that I have always found both beautiful and oddly melancholy. So lots of different factors came together with the setting of this novel.
What drew you to the crime genre? Did you find the writing experience different from your previous novels? Were there more rules to follow?
Well that’s a lot of questions! I have always loved reading crime, and recently re-read the Miss Marple short stories, which are so well plotted and brilliant, I suppose that might have been one of the triggers. In the last few years I have also started writing thrillers for Sidney Sheldon’s literary estate, so I do have some background in crime writing of a sort. These Iris Grey books are quite different though, in that they combine the very plot-driven elements of my Sheldon books with the much more character-driven novels I have written in my own name over the years. As for ‘rules to follow’, I am sure there are plenty and I have probably broken them all! The only real rule for me is to keep your readers guessing and gripped, and to try to keep your characters true to themselves. I hope I have managed both in Murder at the Mill, but that will be for the readers to decide.
Cosy crime remains popular with readers. Why are we drawn back to these Golden Age mysteries?
I think there are many different reasons this genre is making a comeback, the most compelling one being that the best of these books are just such cracking stories. There is a reason that Agatha Christie has remained consistently popular for almost a hundred years. Beyond that, clearly there is also a nostalgic element, a very British longing for a (probably imaginary) idyllic past. Downton Abbey obviously tapped into this, and in many ways television has led the charge with series like Foyle’s War or the adaptations of novels into series like Vera and Shetland. But this is clearly a growing trend amongst readers as well, looking for something escapist and bucolic, but also dark.
The book is filled with twists and turns. Did you know how the story was going to end? Or did it surprise you?
I knew! I am sure there are writers who can ‘wing’ this sort of novel, but for me getting the plotting right is a thoughtful and intricate process. I couldn’t do it without a plan.
You leave a few questions unanswered at the end of the novel. Will Iris return?
Oh yes, absolutely! She will return. She has discovered a new and exciting sense of purpose in Murder at the Mill, and she is just getting started. Watch this space …
About the Author
M. B. Shaw is the pen name of New York Times bestselling writer Tilly Bagshawe. A teenage single mother at seventeen, Tilly won a place at Cambridge University and took her baby daughter with her. As a journalist, Tilly contributed regularly to The Sunday Times, Daily Mail, and Evening Standard, before turning her hand to novels.
Tilly’s first book, Adored, was a smash hit on both sides of the Atlantic, becoming an instant New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller. She now divides her time between the United Kingdom and America, writing her own books and the new series of Sidney Sheldon novels. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Prologue
Part One
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Part Two
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Part Three
Chapter Twenty-six
<
br /> Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Acknowledgements
Author Q & A with M. B. Shaw
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
A THOMAS DUNNE BOOK FOR MINOTAUR BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Press.
MURDER AT THE MILL. Copyright © 2017 by M. B. Shaw. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.thomasdunnebooks.com
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover design and illustration by www.us-now.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Shaw, M. B., author.
Title: Murder at the mill: a mystery / M. B. Shaw.
Description: First U.S. edition. | New York: Minotaur Books, 2018.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018027004 | ISBN 9781250189295 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250189318 (ebook)
Subjects: | GSAFD: Mystery fiction.
Classification: LCC PR6102.A525 M87 2018 | DDC 823/.92—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018027004
eISBN 9781250189318
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].
First published in Great Britain by Trapeze, an imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd, an Hachette UK company
First U.S. Edition: December 2018
