Author interview: An expert in crime on the page, writer Jane is ‘clueless’ in real life

London-based Irish novelist Casey has released the 16th book in the Maeve Kerrigan detective series but modestly tells Marjorie Brennan that she has none of her main character’s skills in sleuthing

Jane Casey’s standalone novel ‘The Killing Kind’ was adapted for television, while her latest in the Maeve Kerrigan series is ‘The Secret Room’.

Writer Jane Casey is a details person. Her addictive series of police procedurals, featuring Maeve Kerrigan, a London-Irish police detective, has attracted an admiring legion of fans, and her hit novel The Killing Kind, about a young female barrister being stalked, was adapted by Paramount Plus.

On the page, Casey knows her way around a crime scene, interview room, or courtroom, but in real life she is clueless.

“I can confidently say I would be appalling as a detective or a lawyer,” Casey says. 

“My husband says I have no situational awareness whatsoever. I will walk past people in the street and be completely oblivious to what’s going on with them. I’m in my own head a lot of the time.” 

Her husband is a barrister, which is useful when it comes to certain details in her tautly plotted thrillers, and also in pointing out her possible limitations in any courtroom scenario.

“He told me if I ever see a crime, to close my eyes and turn my back, because I’d be the worst witness,” Casey says. 

“He does not want to see me go to court and give evidence against anyone, because it would be a disaster. I’m very cheerful about it, I know I can write about the kind of person who can do it, but that’s not me.”

The Dublin native, now based in London, will return home to discuss her work at the upcoming Murder One crime-writing festival in the capital, at an event entitled ‘The Devil is in the Detail’. 

It’s a subject in which she’s well-versed, given that she greatly enjoys the research element of her writing.

“I’m very willing to reach out to people and ask questions, because, number one, I’m nosy and, number two, I think people are always really keen to tell you stuff.”

People want to tell you what they do. They find it interesting and they want you to find it interesting.

Casey’s most recent Maeve Kerrigan book, The Secret Room, was released earlier this year. 

A gripping locked-room mystery, it marked a new chapter in the ongoing ‘will they/won’t they’ relationship between Maeve and her colleague, DI Josh Derwent, with a hugely satisfying surprise ending that Casey, in a postscript, urged readers not to reveal. 

That she managed to keep it under wraps is an astonishing achievement and a testament to the loyalty of her fans.

“They were so disciplined — I thought it might buy me a couple of months, but, actually, it did work,” Casey says.

“Everybody was just very restrained in how they talked about it. Was it the best way to sell the book? I don’t know, but I really felt for readers who had been there all the way through.

“I wanted everyone to get that surprise at the end; that was a big thing.”

Casey has expertly navigated the sexual tension between Maeve and Josh and is well aware that any suggestions of a happy ending for the couple might be the kiss of death for the books.

You can’t do it for ever, so you have to make a decision about which way you’re going to go with it.

“I’ve had readers come up to me and say, ‘Please don’t write anymore’, because they don’t want anything bad to happen to the characters, as they’re so invested in them.”

But she assures me that her readers don’t need to worry about Maeve and Josh sailing off in to the sunset.

“I fully intend to write more. It’s a good technical challenge for me, not to do that thing where it loses the energy that it once had. It feels nice after 12 books to still feel like it’s a challenge.”

Casey is as devoted to her audience as they are to her, and is still in correspondence with readers who have been on board since her first book.

“I like meeting people, and if somebody writes to me to say they’ve read my book, I want to respond to that. I don’t want to just go ‘thank you’, click reply, and leave it at that.

“There are people who, every time a new book comes out, will tell me what they think about it. It feels like a real relationship to me, as well as to them.”

Casey’s next ‘Maeve’ is due in 2027

Casey’s next book is a standalone novel that will be out next summer — the next ‘Maeve’ is due in 2027. She knows some readers will not appreciate the wait, but she is conscious of resisting the pressure to write to order.

“You have to write in pure mind — you can’t think about how people are going to feel about what you do, so shutting that kind of noise out is really important, and not doing necessarily what people want you to do. It’s hard, because I’m a people-pleaser. I want them to be happy.”

The new book is a departure from Maeve in more ways than one — called Everything She Didn’t Say, it is her first one set in Ireland.

“It feels like a real watershed. I’ve wanted to write it for years, and it’s probably the right time to do it,” she says.

“I find [the standalone books] so much harder. There’s some nice constraints with writing a series, where you’re always reaching back and looking forward.

“With the standalone, there’s great freedom, because you can do whatever you want, but, at the same time, you’ve no guidelines, so I have nothing to keep me in one place, apart from my editor, who keeps me on the straight and narrow.”

Explosion in Irish crime fiction

It is 15 years since Casey’s first book was published and she is delighted to have seen an explosion in Irish crime fiction in that period, with female writers at the forefront.

“When I started, I was heavily influenced by people like John Connolly and Tana French, in terms of seeing them succeed in writing their own version of Irish crime.

“Then, I got published, and I know there are people writing now who have read my books, and those of other Irish writers, who are inspired by us in the same way that I was inspired by John and Tana.

“It feels like there’s a real momentum about it. What I really love about it is that no two writers are writing the same book; there are so many voices that are suddenly being heard.”

Casey cites Cork’s Catherine Ryan Howard as one of her favourite Irish writers. 

“The only thing about her is that she downplays her talent; she’s a fantastic, world-class writer. There’s something in the water down there; every third person in Cork seems to be a crime writer,” she laughs. 

“People like Catherine Kirwan, her latest book [ The Seventh Body] was terrific; Amy Jordan, Andrea Mara, there’s so much talent.”

She believes a lot of the success of Ireland’s crime-writing community is down to its supportive nature.

“It is based on friendship, first and foremost. There is a great warmth and shared knowledge, which is really helpful to draw on.

“Our great advantage over, maybe, literary fiction is that we’re not competing, because people who love crime will read a lot of crime, so there is room for everyone.

“It’s nice for me to be able to say, ‘This book is fantastic or this person is amazing’, and just celebrate it.”

• The Devil’s in the Detail: Jane Casey, Andrea Carter, and Anna Sharpe with Steve Cavanagh, dlr Lexicon Library, 12pm, October 19, as part of the Murder One festival
• www.murderone.ie