Case One (27 page)

Why do you think crime fiction is so enduringly popular?

I think it's partly because crime fiction is infinitely renewable – give three different writers the same basic crime and they will all tackle it differently. Their characters will react differently and they will each have different motivations.

As well as that, though, we're all touched by crime, directly or indirectly – maybe it's just seeing reports on the TV, or knowing someone who's been mugged or burgled. The trouble is, we rarely get to see the whole picture: once the police leave the scene we don't know what they do next or how they do it, so crime novels can give us an insight into what's normally hidden. I think we all like the idea that we've managed to sneak a look behind the scenes.

You've written extensively for television. Does that influence the way you write the
Street Duty
novels and what are the differences between the two forms of writing?

I'm sure Street Duty's style is quite heavily influenced by my screenwriting, particularly the pace and the dialogue. Most of the chapters in the book are individual scenes and I did that on purpose. I wanted the book to unfold like a movie or TV drama, so the reader had almost the same experience as they would watching it on screen. The biggest difference between writing scripts and novels is that when you're writing a novel, you have the chance to be more subtle, especially with characterisation. You can go deeper into what a character is thinking and feeling and explore why they do what they do.

Which do you prefer; writing scripts or novels?

Definitely novels. With most TV series you have to write to a brief or storyline supplied by the programme and you only have a limited number of options. With a novel you're much more your own boss: you have to come up with the characters, the plot, the whole thing. Sometimes that makes it harder to get right, but if it's not working you can change it without asking someone else's permission!

As teenagers, how to do you feel the characters of Holly and Sam differ from fictional adult detectives?

The majority of adult detectives in fiction seem to be battered, cynical, world-weary, divorced, alcoholic and bitter, and that's just the upbeat ones! The great difference between these older characters and Holly and Sam is that the TPOs are exactly the opposite. As teenagers they haven't yet seen enough to have had the enthusiasm knocked out of them. They're still willing to take people at face value (even if they later find out they shouldn't have) and above all they want to be coppers more than anything else in the world. Naturally they have doubts and problems like all teenagers, but their optimism and enthusiasm for the job – whatever it throws their way – is what I love about them.

You portray the Cadogan Estate so vividly in the book, it's like another character. Is it based on a particular place?

The Cadogan Estate is an amalgam of different places, impressions and locations I've come across over the years. I tried to capture elements that were common to a lot of real places. I lived in a pretty rough part of London's East End for several years and although Street Duty isn't set in London, a lot of the Cadogan Estate probably comes from that.

And finally, what's next for Holly, Sam, Ryan and Drew?

To answer that would spoil the surprise! The next book moves them all forward in different ways and Holly in particular has some hard choices to make. Longer term, I think it would be interesting to follow the TPOs through to becoming fully qualified police officers, but that's a long way in the future. There's a lot that can happen to them before they get there.

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For Rachel – at last, and without whom…

First published in the UK in 2012 by Usborne Publishing Ltd., Usborne House, 83-85 Saffron Hill, London EC1N 8RT, England.
www.usborne.com

Copyright © Chris Ould, 2011

The right of Chris Ould to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

Cover photography: Hooded teenage girl © Justin Paget/Corbis, Background photography © George Logan/Corbis

The name Usborne and the devices
are Trade Marks of Usborne Publishing Ltd.

All rights reserved. This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or used in any way except as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or loaned or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author's and publisher's rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Epub ISBN 9781409547297

Batch no. 00055-05