David Weir is the author of debut crime novel, The Honourable Member for Murder, which is partially set in Cromer and South Norfolk. Here, David explains how working in Westminster for more than 30 years has provided ample material
Who are you and what do you do?
My name is David Weir, and I’ve just published my first crime novel. It’s The Honourable Member for Murder and features two parliamentary researchers who solve crimes for their slightly hapless MP boss. Until recently, I worked in the House of Commons as a clerk, advising MPs on procedure and policy, including managing the teams that produce reports for the Treasury, Home Affairs and Justice Committees.
What are your connections to Norfolk and what makes the county ripe for writing about?
I moved to Norfolk way back in the 1980s when I was a young newspaper reporter and worked for the Eastern Daily Press and the Evening News for five years, among other things as the paper’s film critic for a fair while. I lived in Cromer, King’s Lynn and Norwich over those years, and working as a reporter meant learning a lot about the county and meeting loads of its people. Lifelong friendships started there and remain in place and it’s always good to be back up from London.
When I was developing the idea for my book the phrase and image ‘alive and well and walking down Cromer Pier’ popped into my head to describe a man who was supposed to be dead, and then it just seemed a great idea to use, lightly fictionalised, parts of the county for some backdrops to the investigations Max and Diana, my two main characters, would be doing.
When did you first have the idea for The Westminster Mysteries? Would it be fair to say you know Westminster inside and out?
I wrote myself a little sketch about four or five years ago about a hopeless MP just for fun and then read it to my local writing group who were kind enough to laugh. The idea of taking him into a murder mystery came soon after, and then the idea that he’d need brilliant staff to do the actual investigation led to Max and Diana, his two researchers.
I worked at Westminster for more than 30 years, so, yes, I do know that amazing, brilliant and sometimes frustrating place inside out. It’s much maligned (and by writing a comedic book about it I may not be helping with that), but it’s an amazing place to work and it was a real privilege to be able to do that for so long. Happily, most MPs are nothing like my Eliot Oakcroft, being conscientious hard-working people doing a difficult job as well as they can. But there are a few!
How would describe The Honourable Member for Murder?
It’s a comic murder mystery with a Westminster backdrop. When a young woman comes to Eliot Oakcroft MP to try to get her mother out of prison because the father she’s supposed to have murdered has been seen alive and well on Cromer Pier, our investigative team go into action.
How does Norfolk feature? Have any Norfolk MPs provided inspiration?!
There are key scenes in Cromer and a fictionalised south Norfolk where the family of the apparent murder victim live. My MP isn’t based on anyone in particular; his traits, to be honest, could apply to pretty much any over-promoted manager anyone has ever had in jobs way beyond politics and Westminster.
How is the series going to develop?
The second book in The Westminster Mysteries series will be published in February next year and is A Motion for Murder. No Norfolk this time, I’m afraid, as Eliot will be taking the team to investigate goings on in his own (fictional) constituency of Middlebury-Mid, and I’m nearly finished a third book and have plots for another two or three, and hopefully more, stories in the series.
Where can people find out more/get hold of a copy?
Both books are published by Allison and Busby and the books on sale through major bookshops such as Waterstones or on Amazon in paperback and Kindle form. The audiobook, read by James Groom, will be published on 1 October and available from Audible.
What is next for you, beyond this trilogy?
I’m hoping this’ll keep me busy for the next two or three years and there are ideas for other characters and stories bubbling away in the notebook. Obviously, telly and Hollywood and a tenth of the sales of the incredible Richard Osman would be fabulous, but right now, as a brand-new published author, I’m counting my blessings and enjoying the thrill.
The Honourable Member for Murder, by David Weir, is published by Allison & Busby.
Featured image of David Weir – supplied
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