PERHAPS it is the journalist in her that makes Fiona Barton come up with intriguing stories that all originate from questions running in her head.
Barton was a newspaper journalist for 30 years, covering crimes and trials. She would often wonder about the wives of those accused, whether they knew what their husbands were doing or they chose not to know.
It was this curiosity that led her to publish her debut novel, The Widow (2016), which turned out to be a huge success.
This gave her the confidence to write her second book, The Child (2017), which begins with the discovery of a newborn’s skeleton at a building site.
Though the story is only a little paragraph in an evening newspaper, three women are affected by it.
Both books are psychological thrillers, and while they can each stand on its own, they feature recurring character Kate Waters, a newspaper journalist.
Unlike over-the-top journalists of Hollywood films, Kate is a veteran in her 50s who still struggles to convince her boss that there is a story to pursue, and who is trying to land a major scoop.
When asked if Kate was based on her, Barton said: “We don’t share DNA but I know her very well.
“What I did was I looked at journalists I worked with over the years, and I made her an amalgam of the best and worst, I suppose.”
Kate also appears in Barton’s latest book, The Suspect.
This time, she is investigating the disappearance of two girls – Alex and Rosie, who were spending their gap year in Bangkok – and then realises that the main suspect is her own son, Jake.
Barton said: “When I was writing The Child, I wondered what it would be like if the journalist was the story. I could flip it or really turn the tables on her.
“That was what I wanted to do. I played with ideas.
“Then I thought it would be challenging for her if someone she loved was accused of murder.
“All the emotions of being a mother will come into play then.
“Poor Kate. I tortured her by having her family involved.”
She also felt it would be more interesting for the reader to have Jake accused of a murder, rather than a misdemeanour.
The book also provides an interesting ending.
Barton said she had two or three possible endings, but ultimately the story ran its own course.
“I wanted Kate to have a dilemma about what she should to. I want to make my books based on reality. I want to make them authentic.
“So that is why I have a journalist as a main character, because I know her and I know where she goes and what she faces, and that helps me make the stories authentic.”
The story is told from different viewpoints, including a part where we read two different accounts of Alex’s time in Bangkok.
Kate explains: “I am very interested in the role of social media and the way we live different lives on social media.
“We are more successful, happier and luckier on social media, when in real life, our life might be in threads. I was fascinated by that.
“These alternate lives or avatars we [present] on social media are not really us. So I wanted to explore that with Alex.
“She said she is having the time of her life with Rosie when, in fact, we know different.”
Alex, Rosie and Jake have parents who have high expectations of them. At one point, Kate fears she put too much pressure on her son to succeed.
“When she gets that phone call in the beginning of the book, she says: ‘Being a reporter, I know that bad things happen to people like us’. So that is always at the back of her mind.”
Barton said that parents do have expectations of their children, and that puts pressure on the children.
“My parents have expectations of me. Because you dream for your children, don’t you? It is pressure and it is something kids fight or rebel against.”
After The Suspect, Barton said she has decided to put Kate aside for a while and write a new story without this character.
She added: “I am halfway through [the new book]. Kate isn’t in it and I do miss her and her presence. But I wanted to try something different.
“It is still a psychological thriller, but I decided to give her some time off since she has been through a lot.
“I am sure she will return to me as I go on.”
