‘VICTORIAN MURDERS STILL AFFECT BRITISH FAMILIES TODAY’
A crime novel is the ultimate puzzle,” says prolific author Alison Bruce. “The plot eventually reveals who has done it and how, but it is always the question of ‘why’ that fascinates me.”
Born in Croydon, South London, Alison has been fascinated with literature since her teens, when she enjoyed classic English crime fiction and its hard-boiled US counterpart. Her own books are both popular and critically acclaimed. She has been shortlisted twice for the Crime Writers’ Association ‘Dagger in the Library’ award, and now lives in Fordham, a village near Cambridge. Every one of her nine modern crime novels is based in the city, which provides a great deal of inspiration.
I spent a lot of time studying Victorian murders at The National Archives
Historic real-life crime is another of Alison’s interests, and one of her first published works was (The History Press, 2009). This centres on the life of James Billington (1847–1901), who held the
