Twisted Wing reviewed in the Spectator

The online review of Twisted Wing has appeared on the Spectator's website today; think the print issue is due out imminently. Have just noticed that it appears to have been written by Nigel Lawson - blimey! It's exciting enough to be reviewed at all, let alone by someone as well known as Nigel Lawson!

Hopefully they won't mind me reprinting the review in full:

A crime story of a more serious kind is Twisted Wing, by Ruth Newman, which is set in Cambridge. The novel begins at the fictitious Ariel College, where a third female student in two years has been gruesomely murdered. Sitting next to the butchered corpse, bruised and insensible with shock, is Olivia Corscadden, another student. Matthew Denisoan, the psychologist attached to the case, is convinced that Olivia saw what happened, but for weeks she is in a state of terror-induced catatonia to the point where she has to be tube-fed. When her condition improves, Denison interviews her and a shocking picture begins slowly to emerge, as Denison and his colleagues in the police try to capture a serial killer.

In structure, this is classic crime fiction, with a ring of suspects, false leads and deftly laid twists — the very stuff of Morse and Marple. In content, however, it is less homely. By comparison with Twisted Wing, an episode of Taggart seems positively dainty: this novel explores deep psychosis and child abuse, among other horrors, and presents murders of extraordinary bloodthirstiness, so that one is alternately impressed by the technique and chilled by the effect.

There are just a few teething problems in this strong debut. It could have done with better proofing, to excise errors such as ‘she was sat’ and to rework the odd infelicity of style. The ending also, while gripping, left some small areas of the plotting looking questionable. But Newman is a good new writer, and Twisted Wing is a well-paced, rigorously researched and captivating crime novel which would lend itself to a screen adaptation.

Think I might have to insist the next edition of the book has "Makes Taggart look dainty" plastered across the cover - love it!

See the review on the Spectator's website »

Twisted Wing Book Launch at Heffers

Cripes, it's been a while since an update, eh? Think I might have to start doing posts wittering about nothing in particular, rather than waiting till I have book-related news!

Last month the launch party for Twisted Wing took place in Heffers Bookshop, Cambridge. Loads of lovely friends and family turned up, coming from London, Oxford, Shrewsbury, Reading and also just down the road! Had a very pleasant surprise when two old school friends, Adina and Mey Yee, turned up unexpectedly, and we followed the party by going to the local tapas bar and getting sozzled on cava sangria. Those of you that have read the book may recognise Adina's name; she's a barrister, and helped me out with some of the legal aspects of the book. Naming a character/street/shop after someone is a little shoutout of thanks! Tracey Webb, a character in the book who discovers the first body, is named after my friend Tracey who happens to run the website where I work. I've promised her she can play the role in the movie, as long as she's prepared to do a Mrs Overall impression (Tracey Webb is a cleaner), but she seems strangely unimpressed by this offer.

In other news Simon & Schuster, who will be publishing the mass market paperback edition of Twisted Wing next Spring, have just bought my second novel (which currently has a working title of All the Old Familiar Places), which should be out in the Summer of 2010. I met them for the first time recently and they're a lovely bunch, so I'm looking forward to working with them again. Next to deliver draft v2 by the end of May!

Twisted Wing out in France on 22 Jan 2009

And next on the whistlestop tour of lovely European countries is France, where Twisted Wing is called Les Visages du Mal ("The Faces of Evil"). Love that cover, what a clever idea to have the gargoyle high above the Cambridge skyline. I'm looking forward to getting my free copies of the Polish and French translations so they can go on my dedicated bookshelf of gloatiness.

The Christmas FrightFest went as planned - "The Mist" was my Mum's favourite, but boy was it bleak. "Death Line" was a load of pants, don't bother. Also don't bother with "The Breed", a Michelle Rodriguez film about very intelligent but violent dogs - I nearly wet myself during one particularly silly scary scene involving a seaplane. If the director had been playing it for laughs it would've been edited in exactly the same way. There were lots of shots throughout of dogs gathering on the horizon which were obviously meant to be very ominous, but just made you go: "aw, look at that cute little doggie, look how fluffy he is!" And the dogs practically wagged their tails during the attack scenes they were having so much fun. (Note: this mocking tone would not have applied had the film makers decided to go with spider baddies rather than canine baddies. Although can spiders chew through your mooring rope so your only method of escape begins to float away then wait for you casually on the wings of said seaplane, looking for all the world like they're chillaxing till their wrangler waves a doggie biscuit behind the camera? No.)

All The Old Familiar Places (working title for book no.2) is nearly done - took a red pen at it over the weekend and rewrote a couple of key scenes. Having said that, a very honest mate who's currently reading it told me a couple of days ago: "that doesn't work, that should be in the third person, that bit is too smug". So when he's finished and has given me all his feedback I'll need to a) do another draft, b) find some way of dismembering and disposing of his bloody corpse so no one will ever find it again...