I am delighted to be on the #blogtour for Victoria Selman’s new book Blood for Blood and she very kindly popped over to Compulsive Readers for a Quickie:
Tell me about your latest book and why we should read it?
Blood For Blood was shortlisted for the Debut Dagger and is the first in a crime series featuring Ziba MacKenzie- an ex Special Forces profiler. Her job is hunting killers, her talent is thinking like them.
Inspired by real life events, the book opens with a train crash in which a dying woman passes on a cryptic message and a serial killer, dormant for 25 years, embarks on a new spree.
Ziba scrambles to profile the killer in the hope of predicting his next move. But time is running out. And the closer she gets to uncovering his identity, the closer he gets to destroying hers.
I have been awed by the number of lovely reviews I’ve received, especially from authors I’ve long admired. I really hope you like it too!
If someone was to write your life story what would the title be?
WTF!
What’s the strangest fan question or request you’ve received?
Someone asked whether I believed in fate then proceeded to tell me he believed we were destined to marry (despite the fact I’ve already got a husband). Creepy…
If you could co-write with anyone in the world (alive or dead) who would it be?
Niki Mackay and Elle Croft, my brilliant co-hosts on Crime Girl Gang, a podcast where we discuss cold cases and then solve them from a fictional perspective. (Think Serial meets Castle with a friends on the sofa feel and plenty of lols).
Not only do we share a dark side and make each other laugh, but we always seem to feed off each other’s stories and make them ten times better than they’d be if we told them on our own.
Tell me something nobody else knows about you (yet!).
My husband thinks Ziba’s love interest is based on him. He’s not.
Finally please recommend 3 books that you have recently read and tell me why you’ve chosen these.
Hannibal by Thomas Harris. I read this over the summer. It was gruesome and intriguing in equal measures. Harris is a genius with an amazing understanding of the human psyche. No-one does bad guys like him!
Lullaby by Leïla Slimani. From the very beginning you know what happens but if anything that only enhances the suspense. Not a whodunnit but rather a whydunnit. Utterly compelling and beautifully written.
Little Deaths by Emma Flint. Another novel based on a real-life case. Stunning prose, great characterisation. I couldn’t put it down!
