Years and years ago (or 2011, if you want to be picky), I started off this blog with reviews and interviews. I had no intention of writing myself and was merely interested in talking about books I liked (or in rare instances didn’t like). Fast forward a few months and I was writing short stories galore and starting a novel.

I have zero self-control.

The first book I reviewed was Deadfolk by Charlie Williams – a conversation with him led to me writing my first short story as a joke (Jeff the Uninspired Vampire FTW).

The second book I reviewed was Black Flowers by Steve Mosby – a writer whose work made me realise what it was I actually wanted to write vs what I felt expected to write (more on which later).

A few weeks after those reviews, I decided to start a short lived series called ‘Friday Classics’, in which I would talk about past books I considered favourites. The first classic was my (still) favourite book The Stand. The second was The 50/50 Killer by Steve Mosby.

My second favourite book. Of all time.

It’s difficult to quantify in words what it is about that book which resonated so much with me. Whether it was the storyline, the characters, the writing… there’s just something about 50/50 which seemed almost like the perfect crime novel for my taste. As if it was written for me alone, catering to my taste specifically.

Since those halcyon days of 2011, I began my own writing journey, becoming friends with Steve himself, to the point where he read my own effort and said nice things about it. I separate the two facets of him however – there’s writer Steve and there’s friend Steve. As a writer, I’m a total fanboy. As a friend, I get to read his books long before release (probably because he wants to keep me quiet and to stop badgering him!).

I read 50/50 around five years ago, and since then, I’ve been gently pressuring him to write something containing those characters again. The book ended on a bit of cliffhanger regarding the fate of a character, with many theories espoused over years as to their fate.

Finally, he did it. For the first time, he brought characters back (although constant readers of Mosby will have spotted a mention of  a certain character in the previous novel The Nightmare Place).

Still, on first opening that first page, I had a moment of worry. I’d pulled for a follow up for so long, what if it disappointed? Would it change how I felt about a book which I’d treasured so much until that day? Will I be able to read it with a clear head?

I shouldn’t have worried.

I Know Who Did It is ostensibly another standalone novel, which just happen to contain the same characters as 50/50. However, there are threads which run across the two books, which give a much fuller experience. Saying that, you could read IKWDI first and still have the same experience I did.

Wonder.

I now know how difficult pulling a plot together is. I now know how difficult it is to introduce a character and make a reader feel empathy or hatred for them within a paragraph or sentence. I now know how difficult it is to create a setting which can place a reader in a certain place and make them feel it is real.

I know all these things now – aspects of writing I didn’t appreciate when reading 50/50 for the first time – and I still sit in awe of how certain writers do it to such a degree as to make it look almost effortless. Mosby is one of those very few writers.

The plot is explained enough in the blurb…

The hardest crimes to acknowledge are your own…

Charlie Matheson died two years ago in a car accident. So how is a woman bearing a startling resemblance to her claiming to be back from the dead? Detective Mark Nelson is called in to investigate and hear her terrifying account of what she’s been through in the afterlife.

Every year Detective David Groves receives a birthday card for his son…even though he buried him years ago. His son’s murder took everything from him, apart from his belief in the law, even though the killers were never found. This year, though, the card bears a different message: I know who did it.

Uncovering the facts will lead them all on a dark journey, where they must face their own wrongs as well as those done to those they love. It will take them to a place where justice is a game, and punishments are severe. Nelson and Groves know the answers lie with the kind of people you want to turn and run from. But if they’re to get to the truth, first they’ll have to go through hell…

And even that doesn’t do it justice. Reading it is an experience. An immersive, awe-inspiring display of writing. Forgive some alliteration, but as a (now) fellow writer, it’s annoyingly awesome.

IKWDI is a magnificent novel, full of suspense, intrigue, heartstopping moments of dread and horror, emotion, and perfect plotting. It contains one of the most heartbreaking lines I’ve read a character say in a book. It also contains some brutal, hard-hitting scenes, which are tough to read. Overall, it’s a novel which deserves a ton of readers, a ton of attention, and a shit-ton of awards.

Buy it. Revel in it. Thank me for pointing you in its direction and attempt to steal the title of Grand Fanboy of the Great Mosby from me.

Now, back to the fact 50/50 Killer made me realise what I wanted to write…

Back in the dying embers of 2011, I started writing a novel. It was about a scouse gangster called Shooter (a moniker I’d stolen from Grandad’s own nickname). It was dire, full of cliche and ridiculous. I was trying to write what I thought was expected of me, rather than what I wanted to actually write. It was only because at that time I was on yet another re-read of 50/50 that it finally made sense to me.

This was the sort of book I wanted to write. The creeping horror, the gentle unravelling of plot, the characters based in reality with foibles and mistakes.

I scrapped the 25,000 words I’d written to that point and started again. Dead Gone was born and so was a series. Now, 50/50 was the inspiration, but of course, there are differences. That’s how it should be. However, if it wasn’t for reading that book again, I would never have been given the drive to create what eventually has become the Murphy & Rossi series. Whereas there are other writers who first got me back into reading crime in my early twenties, 50/50 actually started a career. I’ll never be able to thank Steve enough for that.

Now, obviously, it’s difficult to take a recommendation for a book from someone has already stated that the author is a friend. But… I was a fan first, and remain a fan to this day.

Of his writing. As a man and friend… I could tell you some stories. I wouldn’t leave him alone with a dead pig, put it that way.

(This is a joke – I’m sure dead pigs are totally safe around him. Chickens on the other hand… another joke!)

As a writer, Steve Mosby is my favourite UK writer and is only slightly edged by absolute favourite in Stephen King (and that’s a historical and sequential thing – King arrived in my life first). He is an incredible writer, who is respected more by his peers than I’ve known anyone else to be. A ridiculous talent, who is deserving of the praise he receives.

I Know Who Did It is out today. Go buy it and all the rest of his books.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/I-Know-Who-Did-It/dp/1409157490/ref=tmm_pap_title_0