PROLIFIC Pembrokeshire author Thorne Moore has just published Bethulia, her 10th novel in as many years and already entered for Wales Book of the Year award. Often set in West Wales and usually involving a crime, Thorne sees her books as psychological mysteries rather than police procedurals. For the first time in Bethulia, Thorne has included a police detective, DC Rosanna Quillan, as a principal character.
‘What fascinates me about crime is the emotional turmoil of the characters’ said Thorne :- ‘The puzzle that needs to be solved is secondary. I’ve gone for the best of both worlds in Bethulia, with DC Quillan becoming invested in the case despite her determination to remain detached and analytical, because it mirrors a trauma in her own history.’
Bethulia follows the story of several women, but they all revolve around one man, Simon Delaney. It’s not a serious spoiler to know he’s the bad guy.
‘Villains are often alluring in fiction, drawing the reader in far better than the hero’ says Thorne:- ‘In real life as well as fiction, women are sometimes drawn to bad guys.’
Most of the action takes place in Oxfordshire, but it also includes Thorne’s home territory of the Teifi estuary.
’The converted boathouse, Bethulia, is entirely fictional’ says Thorne ‘but the area is real enough with its blue saltwater at high tide and mud creeks at low.’
There’s also a reference to the Teifi Otter, the statue that guards the old bridge across the river in Cardigan. What part does he play?
‘Well there aren’t many statues to otters’ comments Thorne ‘and that’s handy to know.’
Thorne writes full time from her farm cottage home, near Eglwyswrw.
