If you suspected your best friend, the person you were closest to in the whole world, was a murderer, what would you do? Would you confront her? Would you help keep her secret? Or would you begin to feel afraid? Most importantly, why don’t you feel safe now that she’s dead? From the author of The French Girl comes a novel full of secrets, suspense, and deadly twists.
We chat with author Lexie Elliott about her third published novel, How To Kill Your Best Friend, along with writing, book recommendations, and more!
Hi, Lexie! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hello! I’m Lexie Elliott, and I originally hail from Scotland, though I now live in London, with my husband and two sons. I left Scotland to study at Oxford University, ultimately gaining a PhD in theoretical physics, after which I took a job in London in investment banking, and I’ve been here ever since. Since my first novel, The French Girl, was published in 2018, I’ve been combining writing with a part-time role in finance. How To Kill Your Best Friend is my third novel.
I’ve been a keen swimmer all my life, and in 2007 I swam the English Channel solo; it’s very far and very cold and I won’t be doing that again! I’m also a keen runner, and in 2015 I ran 100km to raise money for Alzheimer Scotland; I won’t be doing that again either! But the odd triathlon or marathon isn’t out of the question.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
I remember working through those learn-to-read books that had Peter and Jane in them. But the first books I remember actively choosing to read myself were Enid Blyton’s Famous Five series.
There wasn’t one book that made me want to become a writer. As soon as I understood that books were written by authors, that was what I wanted to do. When I was older (i.e. in my teens) Margaret Atwood’s Wilderness Tips had a strong impact on me; I don’t think I truly appreciated the short story as a literary form until then.
I often think about my favourite ever novel, which is Grass by Sheri S Tepper. It’s such a rich novel, both in terms of world-building and character development. Every few years, I read it again.
When did you first discover your love for writing?
I’ve always written, right from the time I first learnt how to use a pencil, but I began to focus on it more seriously after I lost my banking job in 2009 due to the Global Financial Crisis. After some success in short story competitions, I gained enough confidence to begin planning a novel. With two kids and a (new) job, it took some time for that novel to make it to the page, but the result was The French Girl, which came out in 2018.
Your latest novel, How to Kill Your Best Friend, is out August 17th 2021! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
A complex, intriguing, suspense-laden page-turner!
What can readers expect?
Mystery, suspense and a complex character-driven plot! How To Kill Your Best Friend is a psychological thriller, told through the eyes of Georgie and Bronwyn, who, together with Lissa, have been inseparable since dominating their college swim team. But Lissa, the strongest swimmer of them all, has somehow drowned off the coast of the fabulous island resort she owned with her husband. Brought together at the resort with Lissa’s closest friends for her funeral, the two women find themselves questioning the circumstances around her death, and as the weather turns ominous, trapping them on the island, nobody knows who they can trust…
Where did the inspiration for How to Kill Your Best Friend come from?
I had finished all of the work on my second novel, The Missing Years, and was beginning to explore potential ideas for my next book when the title occurred to me. We happened to be on holiday at the time (this was back in the pre-covid era), on a remote island in Southeast Asia. Naturally I wondered why on earth anyone would even consider killing their best friend, and then the story began to unfold for me; clearly the location I was in had a great deal of bearing on the story that emerged!
Can you tell us about any challenges you faced while writing and how you were able to overcome them?
How To Kill Your Best Friend isn’t really a covid novel, as the bulk of it was finished before the pandemic hit, but several rounds of editing took place during various lockdowns. I had always written out of the house, usually in coffee shops, but I suddenly had to learn how to work in my own home, whilst holding down my three-day-a-week city job and dealing with the demands of online schooling for two kids. I’m much better now at being productive at home—the trick seems to be to grab the quiet moments, whenever they happen to be. I’d much rather put in a big chunk of work between 8am and 1pm, but if in fact both kids are more likely to be winding down and chilling between 4pm and 7pm, then that’s when I have to write.
Were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
The “Method” sections were a great deal of fun to write. My children got fairly involved with those, too—for a while, the after-school conversation was frequently focussed on highly creative ways to commit murder! In terms of characters, I’ve never employed a dual narrative before, so that was interesting to me as a process (both Bronwyn and Georgie narrate the story). I had worried at the start that I might start to like and empathise with one more than the other, but that didn’t happen; they both have my affection and empathy.
This is your third published novel! What are some of the biggest things you’ve learned as a writer since The French Girl published in 2018?
Probably the biggest thing I’ve learnt is how to write to a deadline. The first novel can take as long as it takes, but after that, you need to learn how to deliver on time. It’s never easy, but with each book I get more confident that I will get there in the end (though there’s always an element of mad scramble involved!). Conversely, I’ve also learnt that the paranoia, self-doubt and general neurosis that sets in for me at around the 20,000 word mark doesn’t improve with each additional novel. Given that I’m now working on book four, I’m guessing it never will.
What’s the best and the worst writing advice you have received?
Probably the worst writing advice I’ve received is one that you hear a lot: you have to write every day. It’s nonsense—you have to write frequently, but not every single day. I’ve written my novels whilst holding down a three-day a week job in finance, and I can assure you, I wasn’t fiendishly typing away once I got home from an eleven hour day at the office! You need to write often enough to keep up the momentum, but sometimes a little space is good too—it gives your brain a chance to consider where the story might go next.
I’m not sure if I ever received this piece of writing advice, but it’s one that I always give if asked: be professional. Writing is a job and you have to treat it as such. You wouldn’t tell your boss that you haven’t started your daily tasks because you don’t feel like it, or skip off for a coffee in the middle of a meeting. You have to set yourself targets and meet deadlines, just as you would in any other line of work.
What’s next for you?
I’m working on my fourth novel right now, for which the first draft is due toward the end of the year. I’m well past 20,000 words, so of course I’m feeling highly insecure and neurotic about it…
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
I recently read Piranesi by Susanna Clarke and completely adored it; it’s a charming and utterly unique novel. Right now I’m trying to finish off Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light, which is a real tour de force. It’s also a whopper at over nine hundred pages—I’m loving it, but it’s taking me forever!
