Whenever I bring out a new book, I always want to give you some insight into what I was thinking as I was writing it, and any thoughts and reflections I have as I come to publish it. Warning: there may be spoilers ahead. Maybe come back and read this when you’ve finished the book. Not bought it yet? You can get your copy here.

1. First off, I am truly sorry about how long it took me to write this book. I’d got to the half way point about two years ago and for some reason I can’t explain, I just couldn’t carry on. It wasn’t writers’ block, it wasn’t a breakdown, it wasn’t because there was anything inherently wrong with the plot, I just needed to step away, put it in a drawer and work on some other projects. I honestly don’t know why it happened, but it did. I’m just so pleased I’ve been able to finish it now. Better late than never, eh?

2. My aim with this book was to find an environment where Ingrid would be vulnerable. As a farm girl from Minnesota who grew up about as far from an ocean as it’s possible to get on this planet, I thought setting something at sea would rob Ingrid of many of her usual defences. It turned out that only the finale takes place on the boat, but I always knew that was where she was headed.

3. Although each of the Skyberg books are standalone stories, there is a big arc about the murder of Ingrid’s school friend Megan. Knowing that I am now closer to the end of this series than the beginning, I wanted to set up how Ingrid will eventually solve Megan’s murder in a future book. In some senses, the entire plot of Open Water is a set up for that story when I eventually come to write it.

4. During the delay in writing, several stories came out about the horrific conduct of several Metropolitan Police officers. You can get a sense of how bad things have been by clicking here. Trust in the Met sank to an all time low. In this book, I wanted to address the toxic environment the decent, compassionate coppers in London have to put up with. I’ll accept that it’s a fairly standard trope in the Skyberg novels for the local cops to be less than brilliant (otherwise there’s no room for Ingrid to solve the case), but they are particularly boorish and self-centred in Open Water.

5. The book is dedicated to Eva’s mum, José, who died three years after Eva. We didn’t have the best of relationships, but it’s interesting how often I think about her. She was a particular fan of Nick Angelis, so I’m fairly confident his reappearance in Open Water would have met her approval. Incidentally, José always called him Nick ANgelis (emphasis on the first syllable). Eva always called him Nick AnGELis. How do you pronounce it in your head?

6. Talking of Nick, his evolution from an egomaniac dickhead to a softer, more measured human being is one of the character arcs I like best across the series. I always felt he and Ingrid had great chemistry, and it’s always nice to bring him back into the story. Another character I like writing for is Angela Tate. I’ll need to find a way for her to inveigle herself into something soon.

7. The epilogue came as a total surprise. As someone who plots out books meticulously before I start writing, it’s not often I enjoy discovering the plot as I write (and it really is a lot more fun than the discipline of plotting – I persist because I think you can always tell when a writer hasn’t done their homework).

8. The setting for the epilogue is a place in the Peloponnese in Greece where I scattered Eva’s ashes. It was surprisingly emotional to reunite Ingrid and Eva.

9. The idea for burying the torso in planters came from a gruesome real life story from Canada.

10. I was very wary of taking Ingrid back to the VCAC. I would never want to exploit or sensationalise crimes against children, and that would fly in the face of the tone of the Skyberg series. I don’t think either Eva or I have ever been too gruesome with the details. But given that the big theme of Open Water is how Ingrid has been let down by her coworkers her whole career, I needed this case to relate to her previous work in DC. I hope I got the balance right.

I really hope you enjoyed Open Water. And thanks so much for swinging by this blog post. Best wishes, Jo