The Harvest Man by Alex Grecian has Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad detectives pursuing a violent serial killer. The main plot has the detectives targeting The Harvest Man, while a secondary plot has detective Walter Day trying to find Jack the Ripper. These series of books includes a mystery, some historical facts, and explores the new techniques of evidence gathering.
Elise Cooper: Since these are a series of books how can you get new readers up to speed without boring the older readers?
Alex Grecian: It is a tight ropewalk with every book. I don’t spell everything out, but try to put in refreshers, especially since there is a year between books. It is like watching a TV show where in the first minute they recap what went on and then start the new show.
EC: Why do you put the poems in your books?
AG: There is a theme to every book. The poems underscore the theme and keep me on track. It is a little introduction for the reader about the chapter’s context, basically setting the stage. The Harvest Man has about a dozen R. L. Stevenson poems because I have always felt the poems to be creepy. In the next book I have Claire writing a children’s prose book so there will be excerpts from her book.
EC: Because you write such graphic novels do you put yourself in a frame of mind?
AG: I tend to listen to a lot of moody music while writing those scenes. I listen to Nick Cave and Javier Navarrete.
EC: Would you ever kill off a main character?
AG: Yes. In my next novel, Lost and Gone Forever, I wrap up the cliffhanger. I will also give a heads up that at least one of the main character’s lives will be ended. By the way, those that had the intriguing theory that Walter Day was Jack are wrong. Regarding Jack there will be a resolution, but done in my fictional universe, not the real world theories.
EC: So none of the characters are safe?
AG: The only character safe in this series is Claire. Partly because I am stubborn and want those who told me to kill her off to know that is not going to happen. They will have to put up with her. I made her a writer so she could be my stand-in with the story. She writes about things I want people to pay attention to, in essence guiding the reader. She is a children’s fantasy author similar to L. Frank Baum who wrote the Oz books.
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