Bernadette Calonego's Blog: Eventful - Posts Tagged "female-detective"

My latest author letter starts with this paragraph: " I remember a great short story that I read many years ago. This is a short summary: A murderer escapes a prison and the people in the entire region are in panic because of it. All of a sudden, there is a string of break-ins, and soon dead bodies are found. Victims of the murderer, it seems. There is no trace of the fugitive, however. He remains elusive. Winter comes and goes. As the snow melts, another dead person is found: It is the killer`s body. It turns out that the other murders were committed long after the escaped prisoner had frozen to death. The allegedly oh so innocent people in the area had exploited the situation in order to commit crimes that would be attributed to the murderer. A ingenious story."
Every month, I send out an author letter (for which you can sign up on the homepage of my website www.bernadettecalonego.com) with news that I normally don't share anywhere else. You get more than one glimpse of my life in a tiny fishing village on the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland.
The snow has disappeared now, but I haven't discovered any bodies like in the short story above. They are entirely on the pages of my mystery novels. But on the beaches, there are carcasses of seals that were crushed between the ice pans of the pack ice. Nature is not always benevolent. Nor are the humans.
In this rural, rugged existence of mine in an isolated, mostly COVID-free environment, everything is reduced to the essentials. With so few distractions and stimuli, I can concentrate on my writing - and publishing: My mystery thriller “Cries from the Cold” is almost ready to launch in the paperback version. Publication will be before the end of May. I’m so excited! You can also preorder the e-book that will be out June 25. It is the first case for detective sergeant Calista Gates. A German reader wrote to me: “I like Calista Gates, she is tenacious but very good at handling people and she also has a vulnerable side to her. I hope you keep her as a character in your next book.” I do, and now I have a Calista-Gates series! I hope to have the second book translated soon.
Four days ago, I discovered the first flowers under the snow-free bleached old grass. My life is complete!

Our house in northern Newfoundland is small and rather dark. Luckily my fisherman built a room just for me onto the back of the house. A retreat which is bright and airy. It has huge windows on all sides which is not so practical in the strong Newfoundland winds but beauty and comfort come first.
I live now with a roommate in our house. Her name is Calista Gates and she is the detective in my new mystery thriller series. I spend many hours with her, think about her, write about her, put her in place, let her move around, ask her what she wants to do. A very interesting roommate with strong views and a big heart. But she doesn’t always want to be the good cop. She is quite headstrong and wants room to develop new character traits. I’m very fond of her, and so are many readers. Which makes me happy.
I hesitated a long time to write a series with a female detective although I really wanted to. But I knew that my heroine had to be really captivating, likable, irresistible. Only if I was able to create a really convincing strong lead, my series could take off. I took the plunge, and Calista Gates was born. Will she win the hearts of my readers? Now that the series is a success in Germany and the first English translation has been published (title: "Cries from the Cold"), I am happy to see that she conquers the imagination of people.
I am not like Calista, in case you wondered. But we share one experience: culture shock.
I thought it would be interesting to send a big-city detective to a God-forsaken fishing village in Labrador in the middle of a bone-chilling winter. I can relate to the challenges she faces because of my own experiences in Newfoundland.
The dynamics in these insular settlements are very interesting. People live in each other's pockets, however a lot of things are swept under the carpet. They can resurface when it is least expected, and not always in a good way.
So whenever Calista Gates misses Vancouver and her family there, I take her into my bright, airy room at the back of the house and cuddle her. After some loving care, she is ready to take on a new murder case and a another fight for justice. Don`t we just love her?
CRIES FROM THE COLD