Murder detectives still need to find evidence and proof that ties them to an offence before securing a conviction, something Detective Superintendent Bright and I agree on.īeing a big fan of Val McDermid’s Tony Hill series it was interesting to see Hannah’s angle on psychological profiling. However, profiling is not an exact science. Profiling is never a hundred percent accurate, but it provides criminal behaviour indicators and these are especially helpful if the perpetrator has no form. I hope you spotted that.Īs far as my own opinion goes, anything that can cut down a list of suspects and narrow the focus of a murder investigation is good. No spoilers here for those who’ve not read the book! Bright is a softie underneath though. If you read on in the series, I think you’ll find his attitude softening towards Jo Soulsby – the criminal profiler forced upon him in THE MURDER WALL – although there is another reason why he continues to give her a hard time. What is your opinion of this?Īh, you met Detective Superintendent Philip Bright – I love this character even though he’s ‘old school’ and sceptical about the contribution of psychological profiling to what he sees as ‘real’ detective work. In the early part of The Murder Wall one of the characters shows disdain for psychological profiling.I’m sure that her many fans will be very interested to know that a new series will be coming out and I’m also confident that she won’t need to bite her fingernails. The changing of publisher can often give an author a chance to change in tone as they get new advice from a different angle. As I get closer to finishing my own novel I’ll soon be looking for a publisher to do this with, but I can imagine that it can take a long time to find one that will fit. When I read this on Hannah’s website, looking for questions to ask this made me realise the risk that an author may be undertaking in changing a publisher that had started their career off. I pressed SEND on the manuscript yesterday, so I’m biting my fingernails now waiting for their verdict.

I’m writing a new series for them, featuring DI David Stone and DS Frances (Frankie) Oliver, beginning with THE LOST which will be published on March 22, 2018. They have big plans and I’m very excited about this. Readers loved it so much, I wrote another: THE DEATH MESSENGER is due to be published on November 16.Ĭhanging publisher was a difficult decision for me but I’m moving to Orion Books who publish many authors I admire. They also published a standalone THE SILENT ROOM (featuring Special Branch Detective Sergeant Matthew Ryan) a conspiracy thriller. They took me on as a debut author and have published the Kate Daniels series, beginning with THE MURDER WALL. I’ve enjoyed many happy years with Pan Macmillan.

The Murder Wall by Mari Hannah