PAUL CLEAVE chats to Paul Burke about his new psychological thriller THE QUIET PEOPLE, social media, elements of horror, Cameron and Lisa Murdoch, real life crime, and the Expanse.
THE QUIET PEOPLE: Cameron and Lisa Murdoch are successful New Zealand crime writers, happily married and topping bestseller lists worldwide. They have been on the promotional circuit for years, joking that no one knows how to get away with crime like they do. After all, they write about it for a living.
So when their challenging seven-year-old son Zach disappears, the police and the public naturally wonder if they have finally decided to prove what they have been saying all this time…
Are they trying to show how they can commit the perfect crime?
Electrifying, taut and immaculately plotted, The Quiet People is a chilling, tantalisingly twisted thriller that will keep you gripped and guessing to the last explosive page.
PAUL CLEAVE is Christchurch born and raised. Paul wanted to write horror but realised that crime – real life crime – is horror. He turned to writing dark crime fiction, writing first The Killing Hour, and then The Cleaner, in his mid-twenties. From that point on he's written dark tales set in his home city, introducing Joe Middleton – the Christchurch Carver, and Melissa, and Theodore Tate, and Schroder, and Jerry Gray, among others to the world.
Recommendations
Books
Michael Holding Why We Kneel, How We Rise
The Hate U Give Angie Thomas
Also discussed
Flowers for Algernon Daniel Keyes
Brave New World Aldous Huxley
TV
The Expanse
Billions
Mindhunter
Produced by Junkyard Dog
Music courtesy of Southgate & Leigh
Crime Time
Paul Burke writes for NB magazine, Crime Fiction Lover, Crime Time and the European Literature Network. He also edits and presents the Crime Time FM podcast and is a book collector and lover of crime fiction.
Produced by Junkyard Dog
Crime Time
Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,