M.H. Eccleston is the next author to join us at The Cozy 52! New(ish) to the cozy community scene, Eccleston’s debut book, The Trust, was just released earlier this month and features art restorer Astrid Swift, old buildings and a charming Dorset setting. You can read my review of The Trust here, but in the meantime, let’s get to know the author!
Who or What is The Cozy 52? Each week I will be sharing an interview with someone involved with Cozy Mysteries – an author, blogger, Facebook Group host, podcaster, cover designer – so that we can showcase this amazing community! I hope you’ll discover some new authors, plus learn more about what goes on behind the scenes with the people who write, publish and promote cozy mysteries!
Introducing M.H. Eccleston
NAME: M.H. Eccleston
LIST ALL YOUR COZY MYSTERY SERIES: The Astrid Swift mysteries. Book 1 is The Trust. Book 2 is Death on the Isle. Book 3 hasn’t got a title yet.
HOW ARE YOUR COZY MYSTERIES PUBLISHED? Traditionally published by Head of Zeus
The Q&A
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF
I live in Ealing, West London, with my partner, three teenage kids and our new French bulldog. Writing novels is the latest career. There have been a few others. Radio DJ, BBC journalist, TV presenter, film critic… other stuff, now so long ago, I wonder if it ever happened.
LIST THREE FUN FACTS ABOUT YOURSELF THAT WE WOULDN’T READ IN YOUR ‘OFFICIAL’ BIO.
- I played ping pong with Jason Donovan and lost.
- Once had a job selling ice cream from the dungeon of a castle and was sacked on the first day.
- Represented Northumberland at pole vaulting at the age of 14.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO WRITE COZY MYSTERIES?
During the recent lockdowns I spent a lot of time day-dreaming about leaving London and moving to the countryside with the family. In the day-dream the countryside was perfect. Cozy pubs, stately homes… the sun is always out. Too good to be true, really – that’s why it’s a dream. So I took all that, and ran a murder plotline through it.
WHAT SUBGENRE(S) OR THEMES OF COZY MYSTERIES DO YOU WRITE?
I’m interested in fine art and the fraud and fakery that comes along with priceless masterpieces. I’d studied if for a year, before it dawned on me that an art conservator would have all the knowledge and forensic gadgets to sort out not just a fine art crime but murders. That’s when The Trust‘s protagonist Astrid Swift swam into focus.
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR COZY MYSTERY SERIES. WHAT INSPIRES YOUR SERIES?
Astrid Swift leaves her perfect life in London to claim an inherited country house in Dorset, in the South West of England. But things go wrong, quickly, and she finds herself stuck in a small-town backwater surrounded by eccentric locals that irritate her. At the start, she’s uptight and snobbish. But slowly the kindness of strangers mellows her and she re-evaluates what really matters.
I like these two themes – the fish out of water, and the cold loner who discovers the warmth of a community. People who change for the better is inspiring. In the next book, Death on the Isle, Astrid sails to the Isle of Wight to solve a crime during the Cowes sailing festival. Then, for the third book, it’s off to Spain where a small expat British town is stirred up by a poison pen campaign – someone seems to know everyone’s dark secret. The reason they can’t go home.
WHY DO YOU THINK PEOPLE LOVE TO READ COZY MYSTERIES?
There’s inbuilt question with who-dunnits that keeps you reading. Basically, yes, who has done it? Whatever deadly deed ‘it’ is. Then with cozy crime you have so much more. An idealized setting where things never get too grisly, friends can be relied on and the hero always works it out in the end. Cozy crime provides some reassuring certainty in uncertain times.
ASIDE FROM BEING AN AUTHOR, ARE YOU INVOLVED IN THE COZY COMMUNITY IN ANY OTHER WAY?
This is my first book, so it’s all new to me. I’m keen to get involved. So if there’s any way I can connect with writers, readers, reviewers then sign me up.
WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE WRITERS?
Ooo… that’s a tough one. Changes all the time. Some of the writers who I’ve always loved include Lee Child, Hemingway, Laurie Lee, Anthony Burgess and Stephen King. influences. (I’m deliberately not naming current writers because I don’t want to leave anyone off the list!)
IF YOU WERE MAROONED ON A DESERTED ISLAND, WHAT 3 BOOKS WOULD YOU WANT WITH YOU?
- Hemingway’s, Old Man of the Sea
- Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
- Cry Beloved Country by Alan Paton
DO YOU HAVE ANY NEW OR UPCOMING WRITING PROJECTS THAT YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH US?
I’m currently researching book three in the Astrid Swift series, which needs to wrapped up as a first draft by this summer. There’s also a TV crime family drama that’s in development. It just need a few tweaks then it goes out to find funding, or not.
The Quickie 5
- FAVOURITE FOOD: grilled halloumi cheese
- BEVERAGE OF CHOICE: decaf coffee
- MOST PRIZED POSSESSION: an Abel Super 8 fishing reel with a union jack custom finish
- SUMMER OR WINTER? summer, of course (are you kidding?)
- FAVOURITE VACATION SPOT? Dorset
To keep up to date with M.H. Eccleston online, follow him on TWITTER.
