Reviews

‘My favourite type of mystery, suspenseful, and where everyone is not what they appear . . . Christine is great at creating atmosphere . . . she evokes the magic of the stage, and her characters [have] a past to be uncovered before the mystery is solved.’ [Stage Fright]

- Lizzie Hayes, MYSTERY WOMEN

Where it began . . .

When I was invited to submit a short story for an anthology of crime stories based on songs by Joni Mitchell, I was intrigued by the idea. I chose: ‘The Gallery’ on Clouds (1969). This was a song that I used to listen to endlessly as a teenager. I wanted to catch some of the flavour of what it was like to be young at the time when this album came out, so I decided to set the story partly in the past – when a young girl goes missing – and partly forty years later, when her friend discovers the truth of what happened.

The song fascinates the two girls just as it fascinated me (and still does). The girls discuss it. ‘Was it a kind of Bluebeard story about a man who collected and destroyed women? The refrain “Lady, please love me now I am dead . . .” was deliciously creepy . . . One thing seemed clear. The woman in the song was trapped. She had become just another picture on the wall like all the other women in the man’s life . . .’

There is no friendship quite like the friendship of teenage girls and I drew on my memories of that and of the clothes we worn and the things we did, lolling around with face packs, trying to read our fortunes with Tarot cards, reading and rereading copies of Jackie magazine. The chocolate brown mini-dress with a gold zip and a mandarin collar and the burgundy corduroy trouser suit in the story are what I was wearing as a sixteen year old and I can see them in my mind’s eye as I write this.

Like the girls in the story, I grew up in the north-east and the holiday in North Wales where Yvonne goes missing is like the one I went on with the Methodist youth club. Of course the actual events of the story are all made up, but this was the fertile ground from which they sprang.

I am still very much in touch with my dear friend Pauline from those days and she is a great fan of my writing. I hope she’ll enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

The Beat of Black Wings: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Joni Mitchell, edited by Josh Pachter, is published on 7th April by Untreed Reads in ebook, paperback and hardback. Great cover and great title!

4 Comments

  1. Margot Kinberg
    March 13, 2020

    What an interesting background to the story, Christine! Music has always had a real impact on me, too, so I can see how you drew on that song. And the story sounds irresistible. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

    Reply
    • Christine Poulson
      March 13, 2020

      Thanks, Margot. Those are years when one is so impressionable, aren’t they, and memories remain vivid? I should have mentioned that there is a stellar line-up of other contributors in there – lots of Edgar and Derringer winners.

      Reply
  2. Helen Hardie
    March 14, 2020

    I love reading your posts … and this is such a lovely account of how to hold long ago memories together… my distant girlhood is so often in my mind, and I would love to confirm it in writing the way you can. I am looking forward to reading Yvonne’s story

    Reply
    • Christine Poulson
      March 14, 2020

      How lovely of you to say so! It is surprising how vivid my memories of those days are, sometimes more than more recent events. But I think that is a common thing as we get older.

      Reply

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