We chat with author Sarah Pearse about The Wilds, which follows Detective Elin Warner who unravels the mystery behind the chilling disappearance of a young woman.
Hi, Sarah! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I’m Sarah Pearse, and I write mystery and thriller novels. I live by the sea in Devon, in the UK, with my husband and two daughters. My debut novel, THE SANATORIUM was a Reese’s Club Pick and a New York Times Bestseller and was set in the Swiss Alps in a minimalist hotel converted from an old, abandoned sanatorium. Detective Elin Warner investigates the disappearance of her brother’s fiancé. My second novel, THE RETREAT, is set in a luxury wellness on a remote island off the UK coast, and Elin is investigating the death of a woman who has fallen from a yoga pavilion. My latest thriller, THE WILDS is set in a national park in Northern Portugal and follows Elin as she tries to find an artist who has gone missing in the wilds of the park. I love writing novels that really lean into their setting and explore personal relationships whilst hopefully also being a pageturning read.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
As a child I was obsessed with reading and went to the library every week after school, coming away with a towering pile of books. With two older sisters, I was surrounded by books that they had already read and which then became mine! I have so many memories of reading before and after school, when travelling to and from school in the car, at home, at the beach and through the school holidays. I can’t pinpoint a moment when I decided I wanted to write but I knew very early on that I would love to do what my favourite authors did – conjure a world for other people from the stories inside my head.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Dogger by Shirley Hughes.
- The one that made you want to become an author: All of the Agatha Christie’s novels.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: The Siege by Helen Dunmore.
The Wilds is the third installment in your Detective Elin Warner series and it’s out July 16th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Atmospheric. Surprising. Adventurous. Page-turning. Unnerving.
What can readers expect?
Whilst I’m proud of all of my work, I think The Wilds is the one I am most proud of and the one I’ve most enjoyed writing. The Wilds is pacy crime thriller which will take readers into the heart of the Portuguese National park, off the beaten track as Detective Elin Warner hunts for a missing artist called Kier Templer who has left no trace behind bar a disturbing map that Elin finds. The Wilds has all of the twists and turns of my previous novels, but also touches on some key themes which I wanted to address – why place is so important to people and why it such an emotional hold on all of our hearts, and also the topic of coercive control and emotional abuse. This is a theme I wanted to bring to life as part of a pageturning novel in the hope it encourages awareness and conversation.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring further?
I loved exploring how Detective Elin Warner’s character has developed and the process of concluding her journey. With Elin we see someone who is not perfect, who struggles as we all do, both personally and professionally, and she has been extremely rewarding to write. I also relished writing Kier Templer’s character – she came to me almost fully-formed, something that hasn’t happened before, and while some of her scenes were challenging and emotive to write, I enjoyed bringing her and the struggles she faces to life.
Did you face any challenges with The Wilds? How did you overcome them?
There’s always the challenge of hitting a deadline but with support from my family, I got there in the end! The other key challenge is that the Geres National Park in Portugal where I did my research is stunning, but not especially well known or written about, so research was harder than in the other novels. However, the people I met along the way were incredibly friendly which more than made up for it, and I managed to get some key research done on both trips to the park.
What led to your interest in writing within the mystery/thriller genre?
I love the page-turning nature of thrillers and I enjoy exploring what makes people tick and why they do what they do. Trying to understand what might make someone commit a crime, that ‘tipping point’ that makes them break the law is something that is endlessly fascinating to me, as is the idea that we might not know the people closest to us as well as we think we do.
What’s next for you?
I’m writing a standalone thriller next, something I’ve been really looking forward to doing, although it’s on the scary side and is already giving me nightmares…
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed so far this year and are there any that you can’t wait to get your hands on?
There are a few books I’ve read and loved this year: The Winner by Teddy Wayne, Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum, The New Couple in 5B by Lisa Unger and a debut called The Inheritance by Trisha Sakhleka.
