Bestselling author Sam Holland on the inspiration behind her utterly compelling, gritty and atmospheric detective thriller, Sleeping Beauties . . .
It’s two o’clock in the morning. You’re tired, and it’s raining. You’d do anything to get home, and the shortest route is across the muddy dark common. Now imagine that you listened to the news this morning, gripped, as they reported yet another death. A killer, murdering women in the dead of night in your neighbourhood. What would you do?
This was the scenario I wrote about in the prologue of my new Audible Original, Sleeping Beauties. In my book, Rachel takes the risk and walks down that water-logged path, to her detriment, and I wanted to evoke the fear and the uncertainty, how she doubts herself when her imagination conjures a killer behind every moving branch. It’s eerie and unsettling, and that’s how our story begins.
Sleeping Beauties
When I first discussed the idea for Sleeping Beauties, this was one of the scenes I had in mind. I saw Rachel clearly after that attack – in hospital, in a coma, vulnerable, while a nameless, faceless killer drugs women in her hometown. Meanwhile, the police investigation flounders. Enter DS Theo Wilde. He’s the epitome of all my favourite male characters – on his last chance, haunted by the events that led to his suspension five months previously. How I love a dark, damaged detective! It may be a trope but it’s popular for a reason: the devastatingly attractive – but flawed – hero on the path to redemption.
The whole book plays out over twenty-four hours, while Theo guards Rachel in hospital. I love a fast-paced plot, and there’s just something about hospitals I find intrinsically creepy. The darkened corridors, strange equipment; whispered conversations in the dead of night. Theo has to keep Rachel alive at any cost, but nothing about this assignment is easy.
Local Inspiration
Aspects of my life have provided inspiration for the book, too. I am a visual writer, so I base the majority of my books in the Southampton area, where I live. And when I needed Theo to suffer a debilitating injury, I based it on my own wrecked knee (luckily since healed, something else Theo and I have in common.)
Growing up, I loved Stephen King and James Herbert, reading their books alongside non-fiction offerings about poisons and forensic pathology. When I was old enough, I moved to more adult fiction like American Psycho, Silence of the Lambs, and Clockwork Orange.
Since then, I have read books by John Douglas and Robert Ressler, detailing their investigations into forensic psychology and the beginnings of the behavioural analysis team at the FBI. Numerous serial killer biographies graced my bookshelves. And I’ve loved every single one.
Writing Crime
These books were my gateway drug to writing crime, and particularly dark serial killer thrillers. I’m drawn to the most aberrant of human behaviour – the men and women that kill, and what drives them to do it. Through crime fiction we can explore their motivations and their thoughts: what makes someone get up in the morning and commit murder? And what are the consequences for the people left behind?
I don’t have any experience in policing but I’m lucky that I have friends and relatives who form an enthusiastic collective of experts I can speak to. I’m fascinated by the evidence collected and how that can point towards the killer; by the forensic pathology of a dead body, not to mention police procedure, and how officers tackle a case. When we read about detectives investigating serial murder, we’re watching them on the worst days of their careers. How do they react to the stress and pressure, maybe even guilt, as bodies drop around them?
The Shift to Audio
Making the shift from traditional book to audio has been brilliant – I couldn’t have asked for better narrators. Holliday Grainger and Billy Howle are the epitome of British acting talent and listening to my words spoken by such recognisable voices has been such a thrill.
We have plans for Theo and Hannah to return. While writing Sleeping Beauties I deliberately included aspects of their lives that I’d love to explore in future books. Why did Theo’s mum leave when he was seven? Where did she go? How will Hannah’s shitty boyfriend, Neil, react when she tries to leave him? What happened to twelve-year-old Sophie after Theo saved her?
And then there are the serial killers – it seems there is no end to my imagination when it comes to killing people in strange and nasty ways…
There is a lot to explore. No end of avenues for the curious. I love my job; I love that I get to make up these worlds and characters. I just hope that you enjoy the book.
(c) Sam Holland
https://www.samhollandbooks.com
About Sleeping Beauties:
One survivor. Two detectives. Twenty-four hours to catch a killer.
Detective Sergeant Theo Wilde is out of second chances. After a five-month suspension that nearly ended his career, he’s been given one last assignment: to guard Rachel Raines, the sole survivor and witness to a terrifying serial killer.
Dubbed the ‘sleeping beauty’ by the press, Rachel lies in a coma in hospital, fighting for her life. But as Theo obeys his orders to watch over her, another victim is strangled in broad daylight.
With the body count rising, Theo partners with his former colleague, DC Hannah Colby, and together they begin to identify a pattern in the past – a portrait of a malicious killer, with Rachel lying at the centre of it.
Theo can feel the pressure mounting, but there’s no escape. He must dive headfirst into a deadly game of cat and mouse, where even the thickest of hospital walls can’t keep the killer away.
Perfect for fans of Dept Q and Happy Valley, Sleeping Beauties is a heart-pounding new detective series narrated by Holliday Grainger (The Capture) and Billy Howle (On Chesil Beach).
Sleeping Beauties by Sam Holland is out in audio now. Available here: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Sleeping-Beauties-Audiobook/B0H8PG6ZCX?source_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp
And read more Meet the Authors of Crime Fiction on Writing.ie here.
