Ask the Author: David Kidd-Hewitt
Answered Questions (2)
David Kidd-Hewitt
A long time ago (twenty plus years!) I was in the Guildhall reference library in London reading what I still regard as one of the most beautifully crafted books about London, called London Alleys, Byways and Courts, (1924) written and illustrated by Alan Stapleton. In this book was Alan’s pencil sketch of a place in London called Snatcher’s Island. It looked amazing – a jumble of tumbled-down hovels supposedly linked to a kind of Fagin's thieves’ den situated around Great Wild Street and Great Queen Street by London’s Drury Lane. I wanted to write a book with the title Snatcher’s Island and penned the first few lines based on Stapleton’s drawing, right there and then, ie:
“A thin shaft of speckled light peered through the crumbling slats propped across the cracked window pane. It flickered as the shredded curtains moved in the early morning breeze as if to block its passage into such an insalubrious dwelling. It was not welcomed by the slumbering body on the stained mattress as its sharp beam settled on a blood-shot, wearied eye. Snorts and grunts fought back against the invasion but it was a battle in vain.”
Those lines stayed in my desk drawer for a long time while I worked on commissioned books about real crimes, murders and ghosts. During that time, I stumbled across one of England’s first detectives working in London as part of the famous Bow Street Runners. He was George Thomas Ruthven (1792-1844) See: http://www.thecatoconundrum.com/home/...
He was a great detective, there was no doubt about that – I read case after case of his investigations and successes and felt I had got to know him and wanted to write about him. One particular plot he was involved in solving, was led by a radical activist called Arthur Thistlewood. This was a plot to lead a gang of revolutionary conspirators to behead the Prime Minister Lord Liverpool and all his ministers while they dined at Lord Harrowby’s house in Grosvenor Square, London during the evening of 23rd February 1820. However fantastic this sounds – it was a true plot (Google search, The Cato Street Conspiracy)
My book, The Cato Conundrum, http://www.thecatoconundrum.com/
came about because I became fascinated by the sheer scale and brutality of what had been planned and even more fascinated by the meticulous and dedicated detective work of George Ruthven, for it was he who was responsible for capturing the ring-leaders after a bloody confrontation in a hayloft in Cato Street, Edgware, London. During this fight in the loft, a colleague of George’s, Richard Smithers, had been killed by Thistlewood’s sword.
So, I began wondering, what if George was still of the view that this conspiracy was not yet over, and although the law had taken its course and Thistlewood + gang had been executed for treason, was there more to come? I also wondered about his private thoughts and anguish at losing his colleague, Richard Smithers that night, and wondered whether he had feelings of guilt that he should have done more. So based on the idea that two years later (February 1822) I wanted George to discover that the Cato Conspiracy was still alive and even that night of bloody confrontation might have been part of it – I started to research clues as if I were George. To my surprise there were many and so, with the freedom historical fiction afforded me, I wrote The Cato Conundrum;
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01MTYIXZ6
Snatcher’s Island, where I began, just had to feature and so I created a character called Billy Lilly, (he was the body on the stained mattress although I did not know that at the time) who lives in Snatcher’s Island and despite the all of the odds, becomes inextricably linked in with George’s adventures to solve the Cato Conundrum, wherein a series of quite remarkable and explosive historical secrets are finally revealed in an exciting climax with a twist or two that I hope you’ll love.
Also because of my initial flirtation with Snatcher’s Island, I was able to make aspects of this story bawdy, witty and scary with a guarantee that you will meet a range of characters that will provide you with an adventure, the like of which, I hope, you have never experienced before – (My own favourite is Mr. Loftie). The locations are real, and many of the events recounted, did actually happen and most of the characters really existed – so you can track, trace and even visit all the places of intrigue and excitement if the fancy takes you and you are lucky enough to visit the City of London.
I look forward to answering this question again when I take George and Billy to Oxford to reveal some damming secrets that certain prestigious Oxford colleges would prefer to remain hidden.
You are welcome to email any supplementary questions to catoconundrum@gmail.com
Best wishes
David
“A thin shaft of speckled light peered through the crumbling slats propped across the cracked window pane. It flickered as the shredded curtains moved in the early morning breeze as if to block its passage into such an insalubrious dwelling. It was not welcomed by the slumbering body on the stained mattress as its sharp beam settled on a blood-shot, wearied eye. Snorts and grunts fought back against the invasion but it was a battle in vain.”
Those lines stayed in my desk drawer for a long time while I worked on commissioned books about real crimes, murders and ghosts. During that time, I stumbled across one of England’s first detectives working in London as part of the famous Bow Street Runners. He was George Thomas Ruthven (1792-1844) See: http://www.thecatoconundrum.com/home/...
He was a great detective, there was no doubt about that – I read case after case of his investigations and successes and felt I had got to know him and wanted to write about him. One particular plot he was involved in solving, was led by a radical activist called Arthur Thistlewood. This was a plot to lead a gang of revolutionary conspirators to behead the Prime Minister Lord Liverpool and all his ministers while they dined at Lord Harrowby’s house in Grosvenor Square, London during the evening of 23rd February 1820. However fantastic this sounds – it was a true plot (Google search, The Cato Street Conspiracy)
My book, The Cato Conundrum, http://www.thecatoconundrum.com/
came about because I became fascinated by the sheer scale and brutality of what had been planned and even more fascinated by the meticulous and dedicated detective work of George Ruthven, for it was he who was responsible for capturing the ring-leaders after a bloody confrontation in a hayloft in Cato Street, Edgware, London. During this fight in the loft, a colleague of George’s, Richard Smithers, had been killed by Thistlewood’s sword.
So, I began wondering, what if George was still of the view that this conspiracy was not yet over, and although the law had taken its course and Thistlewood + gang had been executed for treason, was there more to come? I also wondered about his private thoughts and anguish at losing his colleague, Richard Smithers that night, and wondered whether he had feelings of guilt that he should have done more. So based on the idea that two years later (February 1822) I wanted George to discover that the Cato Conspiracy was still alive and even that night of bloody confrontation might have been part of it – I started to research clues as if I were George. To my surprise there were many and so, with the freedom historical fiction afforded me, I wrote The Cato Conundrum;
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01MTYIXZ6
Snatcher’s Island, where I began, just had to feature and so I created a character called Billy Lilly, (he was the body on the stained mattress although I did not know that at the time) who lives in Snatcher’s Island and despite the all of the odds, becomes inextricably linked in with George’s adventures to solve the Cato Conundrum, wherein a series of quite remarkable and explosive historical secrets are finally revealed in an exciting climax with a twist or two that I hope you’ll love.
Also because of my initial flirtation with Snatcher’s Island, I was able to make aspects of this story bawdy, witty and scary with a guarantee that you will meet a range of characters that will provide you with an adventure, the like of which, I hope, you have never experienced before – (My own favourite is Mr. Loftie). The locations are real, and many of the events recounted, did actually happen and most of the characters really existed – so you can track, trace and even visit all the places of intrigue and excitement if the fancy takes you and you are lucky enough to visit the City of London.
I look forward to answering this question again when I take George and Billy to Oxford to reveal some damming secrets that certain prestigious Oxford colleges would prefer to remain hidden.
You are welcome to email any supplementary questions to catoconundrum@gmail.com
Best wishes
David
David Kidd-Hewitt
The short answer is, nineteenth century newspapers, ie: http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co... and/or criminal trials at the London's Old Bailey in England, ie: (https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/
The latter is great, ie: The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913.
Try looking up your own name or names of friends and find someone of the same name involved in a criminal trial way back in time - this really leads on to random discoveries of all kinds whether people, artifacts, events etc.
I love history, so do this anyway, but changing the context of your 'blocked' thought process to real events several hundred years ago, or so, can jump-start the imaginative process. This is particularly informative for noting what was important to society as a serious offence, such as the sentence of death for tragic nine year old Charles Elliot who had stolen six silk handkerchiefs from a shop in London's famous Oxford Street. (http://www.planetslade.com/broadside-...)
This kind of 'unblocking' research was invaluable to me in my latest historical fiction book, The Cato Conundrum, (Dec. 2016 ) as I needed authentic events, language patterns, dress, attitudes, etc. relating to the 1820's and this case was in February 1820. One leads to another and so on so eventually you can get the opposite of so-called 'writer's block' This condition is wonderfully summed up with my favorite line of all time taken from a Moliere play ("L'Etourdi") by the English Dramatist, John Dryden;
"....a thousand things are hammering in this head; 'tis a fruitful noddle, though I say it." (spoken by Sir Martin Marr-All, in the play of the same name - (circa 1883) - hope this helps
Best wishes
David
The latter is great, ie: The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913.
Try looking up your own name or names of friends and find someone of the same name involved in a criminal trial way back in time - this really leads on to random discoveries of all kinds whether people, artifacts, events etc.
I love history, so do this anyway, but changing the context of your 'blocked' thought process to real events several hundred years ago, or so, can jump-start the imaginative process. This is particularly informative for noting what was important to society as a serious offence, such as the sentence of death for tragic nine year old Charles Elliot who had stolen six silk handkerchiefs from a shop in London's famous Oxford Street. (http://www.planetslade.com/broadside-...)
This kind of 'unblocking' research was invaluable to me in my latest historical fiction book, The Cato Conundrum, (Dec. 2016 ) as I needed authentic events, language patterns, dress, attitudes, etc. relating to the 1820's and this case was in February 1820. One leads to another and so on so eventually you can get the opposite of so-called 'writer's block' This condition is wonderfully summed up with my favorite line of all time taken from a Moliere play ("L'Etourdi") by the English Dramatist, John Dryden;
"....a thousand things are hammering in this head; 'tis a fruitful noddle, though I say it." (spoken by Sir Martin Marr-All, in the play of the same name - (circa 1883) - hope this helps
Best wishes
David
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more