In Too Deep: Samantha Hayes ~Blog Tour

I had just posted on Facebook that I was not doing anymore blog tours…I am inundated with reviews, my full time job and other bookish committments.  But then I get an email from the lovely Millie Seaward, a Press Officer at Penguin Random House UK.  Millie asks if I want to be on Samantha Hayes’ Blog Tour…apparently Samantha loves my blog….EEEEEEEEEK!!!!!!

Guess what #Bookjunkies….even if Samantha Hayes had no clue about CrimeBookJunkie, the answer would have been HELL YEAH…it is Samantha Hayes!!!   How in the world could I say “No”!?!

So I hope you enjoy Samantha’s Guest Author post…I love it!!   And thanks to Millie & Samantha for asking me to be a part of the In Too Deep Blog tour!!!

Why I Chose a Hotel Setting – IN TOO DEEP Blog Tour day#3

My new novel In Too Deep is about a woman whose husband goes out to buy a newspaper one Saturday morning. He never comes home. Frantic with worry as the hours pass, Gina knows that Rick doesn’t have his phone, keys or wallet with him – just the few coins he took to buy a paper.

Later that day, Gina calls the police and they soon open an investigation. The hours turn into days, the days into weeks and, finally, the weeks turn into several months, which is where the book opens. Gina has settled into some kind of holding pattern, getting herself through the days however she can. The police have no leads and the investigation is scaled back, leaving Gina feeling alone and scared. It was only a few years ago that she and Rick were grieving their son’s death when he was killed in a hit and run accident.

Four months after Rick’s disappearance, Gina gets a phone call. The woman, Susan, tells her about a luxury break that Rick booked at her hotel before he went missing. Intrigued, Gina learns that her husband had paid for the trip as an anniversary surprise – a surprise he was never to take part in. Determined to delve deeper into her husband’s state of mind, Gina decides to go on the break anyway, taking along her teenage daughter, Hannah, who has recently returned from university.

Together, the two women set off to the Cotswolds – their relationship scarred and strained, both mother and daughter hurting and feeling scared – yet we gradually learn for very different reasons.

So why did I choose a country hotel in the Cotswolds as the setting for In Too Deep?

I think when considering the many elements that go into constructing a novel, the setting is up there in terms of importance. I always think long and hard about where to ‘place’ my story. In this case, there were a number of factors – everything from ‘write what you know’ (though I don’t actually subscribe to this notion much!) to wondering how best to put my characters on the edge of unknown danger.

When I was little, my grandparents owned a hotel. It was a strange place – part Fawlty Towers, part Crossroads (though think lovely old Georgian building). Some of my earliest memories are running free around the place, marvelling at how big it was (it wasn’t), and trying my hardest to get into mischief (I didn’t. Not on purpose, anyway.)

The network of endless corridors, staircases that reached to the skies, the bar, the restaurant, the reception area… it was the perfect playground for a little girl. And it was filled with weary travellers, families on their way somewhere, annoyed businessmen, and even the ‘Colonel’ who always came in for his evening tipple. Everyone had a story, it seemed. And everyone liked to make a fuss of me.

My grandparents and my dad worked hard to run that place but eventually it was sold off and they moved on to different things. But I still have the memories of being allowed ‘backstage’ in the kitchen, getting secret snacks off the waitresses, playing in the attic rooms hoping no one would find me, and eating for free in the restaurant. The place was filled with mystery and intrigue, almost as if I was looking for something bad to happen. To me now, that’s still kind of what hotels represent – somewhere slightly dangerous, somewhere that’s ‘not quite home’, somewhere to push the limits and explore. That’s how five year-old me saw things.

I’m sure this had an unconscious bearing on the setting for In Too Deep. Transport her out of her comfort zone and Gina would be able to discover, push boundaries, perhaps get inside her husband’s mind… she’s keen to find out more about him, after all, and is desperate for insight. Why did Rick book the hotel break? Why at this particular Cotswold place? And how come Susan, the owner, seems so interested in her and her daughter?

Which leads me on to vulnerability. Poor Gina already has a lot on her plate – but I like to ramp things up as much as I can for my characters, so by choosing a setting away from the familiar, I gave her lots more to deal with. By opening herself up to the unknown – even if it is a seemingly tranquil and beautiful place in the Cotswolds filled with respectable couples on weekend breaks – I’m instantly drenching her in paranoia (remember her already-fragile state of mind) and she’s wondering if her near-death experience in the sauna was really accidental… or if the pen she saw Susan holding reminded her of something…someone? And, as time goes on, she even begins to wonder if her husband made the booking in the first place.

With alcohol getting her through the days, pressure from her boss, and her daughter’s dark mood, Gina’s grip on reality slowly begins to slip. The things that happen to her, while they could be easily explained – was she imagining the car she saw in Susan’s garage? – eventually drive her to the brink. It reminds me of the feeling of panic I felt when lost on the top floor of my grandparents’ hotel – which staircase took me down? Would I ever see my parents again? For just a moment, it felt like a nightmare.

And when Hannah has a terrible accident at the hotel in my book, Gina is forced to cope with the trauma in unfamiliar surroundings to save her daughter. Tapping into all her resources, what she deals with and discovers ultimately leads to a conclusion that tests her strength to the limits. And you’d think that after everything she’s been through, I’d end the book with a peaceful homecoming.

Wouldn’t you?

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