We chat with author S.J. Bennett about A Death In Diamonds, which sees two murders in Chelsea plague amateur detective Queen Elizabeth II in the fourth book in the charming series.
Hi, S.J.! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I’m a crime writer from London, who got my lucky break by winning a competition in a national newspaper, run by Barry Cunningham – the man who discovered Harry Potter.
My father was in the British army, so I grew up travelling around the world with my family, including Hong Kong and Berlin (where the Wall went round the edge of our garden). My parents always had vast piles of books on the go, so I got my love of reading from them. Nowadays, I write adult mysteries full time in a shed at the bottom of my garden, and in the London Library, which sits between Fortnum & Mason and Buckingham Palace. Very appropriate for my current series featuring Queen Elizabeth II.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I’ve told myself stories for as long as I can remember. When I was seven, we moved from England to Hong Kong and I devoured books to assuage my initial loneliness. I developed the dream then of writing stories that other people could lose themselves in, the way I did. My role models became Jo in Little Women and the mother in The Railway Children, who wrote stories to provide for her children. I never lost the dream, but I procrastinated a lot, had a different career, and a family, and then I went through the years of rejection that most novelists do. My first book was published when I was 42.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Charlotte’s Webb, but I also remember my father reading Treasure Island to me and falling asleep in the middle of each chapter. He would light a candle decorated with wax shells before he started, and I would watch the light through the shells until he woke up again. It was all very reassuring. I didn’t mind!
- The one that made you want to become an author: The Railway Children
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Golden Hill, by Francis Spufford
Your latest novel, A Death In Diamonds, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Mystery, royalty, sisterhood, history, humour
What can readers expect?
To understand one of the most famous, but unknowable, women of the twentieth century a little bit better.
Because Elizabeth II didn’t give interviews, we can never be certain what she was thinking, and yet we feel we know her so well. This book imagines her as a woman of 30, feted around the world but feeling a little bit vulnerable in her monarchy and her marriage – and faced with various mysteries that only she can solve. These range from a nearby double murder to the strange disappearance of one of her speeches, and the sabotage of her face cream. She can’t solve them alone, but luckily she encounters a typist at Buckingham Palace who turns out to be an ex-codebreaker from Bletchley Park. Together, they focus on the details that the police and MI5 miss, and secretly uncover a series of crimes.
Where did the inspiration for A Death In Diamonds come from?
I had already written about Elizabeth II as an elderly lady when she was alive and well (often described as Miss Marple meets The Crown). After her death, I wanted to go back to earlier in her long reign. 1957 was the year of her first visit to Paris, the US and Canada as Queen, and of her first live, televised speech. It was also a dark and difficult time for the UK, a bit like the time I was writing in. Two murders of wartime heroines in 1950s London gave me some of the background, as well as the life of Catherine Dior, who was a Resistance fighter, sent to the camps, who later returned to resume her role as the resilient muse for her brother, Christian. There’s couture and courage in the book, too.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring further?
One of the joys of researching the Queen’s life is discovering so many surprising connections and friendships that she had. In this case, her relationship with Daphne du Maurier was one (Daphne helped write her Christmas message that year), and her encounter with Duke Ellington was another. He wrote one of his most beautiful pieces as a private gift to the Queen. It was only published after his death, and I listened to it quite a bit while I was writing.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
My editor always likes to put the first chapter of the next book in the back of the last one, so readers know what’s coming. I love this marketing technique, but it means I often have to start a book without being entirely sure of all the moving parts. For A Death in Diamonds, I found myself writing about one set of problems (the mystery of the missing speech), when the murder was entirely different. It took a long time to get the two intertwined stories to come together, and when they did, it was very satisfying. By then, my house was full of little notes to myself, suggesting ways to make it work.
What’s next for you?
I’ve just handed in the next book in the series, titled The Queen Who Came in From the Cold, which will be out later this year. It’s set in 1961, at the heart of the Cold War, and I can’t wait to share it. First, though, it needs to be edited, so that’s what’s next. I’m also working on a new, contemporary series with a totally new detective.
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up in 2025?
I’m about to read Butter, by Asako Yuzuki. I’m intrigued to see how gourmet cooking and serial killing mix. I also like the look of Atmosphere, by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I really enjoyed The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I like the subjects and settings she picks, and the contemporary spin she gives them.
