Tell me about your latest book and why we should read it?
The Reunion is about a little girl, Lenni, who went missing from a beach twenty-one years ago. Set in Cornwall, Claire – now grown up and with a family of her own – organises a week-long reunion of all the friends and family who were present when her little sister went missing. It’s meant to be a happy event, of course, but when another girl goes missing from their group on the same beach, everyone becomes a suspect. Which one of your friends would you trust?
If you love a really twisty book filled with larger than life characters who each have their own ‘baggage’, plus a bit of simmering romance to boot (yes, I put in some actual ‘love’!), then this is the book for you.
If someone was to write your life story what would the title be?
Unfinished Business
What’s the strangest fan question or request you’ve received?
At a writing event, a ‘fan’ once asked me if he could have a photo. ‘Of course,’ I said, feeling flattered whilst quickly fluffing up my hair. Then he handed me his phone and stood by a very famous author and told me to make sure I got lots of pictures!
If you could co-write with anyone in the world (alive or dead) who would it be?
I would love to write (and have a brainstorming session) with Charlie Brooker. I have a secret hankering to write for TV and would love to do a Hayes/Brooker Black Mirror type thing.
Tell me something nobody else knows about you (yet!).
I can wiggle my ears really well. Which is useful, obviously.
Finally please recommend 3 books that you have recently read and tell me why you’ve chosen these.
He Said She Said by Erin Kelly. You’re always guaranteed quality writing with Erin’s books and I just love the brewing, foreboding suspense set against the backdrop of an eclipse – which only adds to the tension!
Don’t Make a Sound by David Jackson (out 3rd May) currently reading this one but as ever with Dave’s books, the characters pop from the page, the pace is fast from the very start, and the story truly gripping.
I read it a little while ago but The One by John Marrs has stuck with me. Such a brilliant concept, great fast-paced writing, and frankly I’m waiting for this to become a real thing so I can sign up!
Who is Samantha Hayes? Samantha Hayes grew up in Warwickshire, left school at sixteen, avoided university and took jobs ranging from private detective to barmaid to fruit picker and factory worker. She lived on a kibbutz, and spent time living in Australia and the USA, before finally becoming a crime-writer.
Her writing career began when she won a short story competition in 2003 and her ninth novel, THE REUNION, will be published February 2018. You can pre-order now! Her novels are family-based psychological thrillers, with the emphasis being on ‘real life fiction’. She focuses on current issues and sets out to make her readers ask, ‘What if this happened to me or my family?’
