Help me, Mama... Detective Inspector Paolo Storey is determined to shut down the syndicate flooding Bradchester’s streets with young prostitutes.
When a child is murdered, Paolo becomes aware of a sinister network of abusers spread across Europe, and spanning all levels of society. But Joey, the shadowy leader of the gang, always seems to be one step ahead in the chase.
Has Paolo come up against a criminal he cannot defeat?
Someday Never Comes is the second in the gritty crime series featuring Detective Inspector Paolo Storey.
My review...
I thoroughly enjoyed Frances di Plino's first dark psychological thriller, Bad Moon Rising, and was equally impressed with this second in the D. I. Paolo Storey series: Someday Never Comes.
D. I. Paolo Storey is a flawed and empathetic character. Above all, he is a human, dealing with human problems and a man with whom we can readily identify. The villains too, are brilliantly-evoked and satisfyingly frightening.
This masterfully-plotted and engaging crime story, with numerous plot twists, page-turning levels of suspense, action and intrigue, gripped me from the start. Clues and red herrings are also expertly woven into the story, and kept me guessing right to the end.
Frances Di Plino is a powerful writer. Her prose seems to grab and mesmerize the reader, and I would highly recommend Someday Never Comes for lovers of dark crime fiction.
I don’t want to leave any spoilers here, but the last line is a knockout! So, for those readers who can’t help reading the last page first, please, try and resist!
Interview with Frances Di Plino...
My first, and probably most obvious, question is about Frances di Plino, your pen name. Can you tell us who is the woman behind Frances, and why she decided to use a pseudonym?
My real name is Lorraine Mace, but I needed a pen name to separate my children’s novels and other writing-related activities from my crime series. My great-grandfather was Italian. He arrived in the UK in the late 1890s without a word of English and a definite whiff of crime in his past, so I simply used the feminine form of his name.
The crime investigated in your novel is a very sensitive one: child sexual abuse. Did you find that disturbing to write about, and how did you cope with this sensitive subject?
I found it an extremely difficult topic, but child abuse is something that needs to be brought into the open. In preparation for writing Someday Never Comes, I did quite a lot of research into people smuggling, modern day slavery and the exploitation of women and girls for sexual abuse. The thing that kept me going while I was writing was the thought that I had no right to throw up my hands and say, oh this is too difficult, when there were people living through what I only had to endure writing about.
Did you receive any complaints about this subject from readers?
I haven’t so far! Most readers have commented on the subject matter being disturbing, but feel I have handled it well. It is a difficult subject, but it is something that is happening every day in towns and cities around the world. If we close our eyes and pretend it doesn’t exist, that obviously makes us feel better, but that doesn’t mean the crimes stop. Quite the opposite. Edmund Burke’s quote sums up how I feel about tackling such difficult subject matter. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
What are some of the difficulties in writing a series featuring the same main character?
I don’t know, because I haven’t encountered any yet. With each book I find that I know my characters better. I know how they will react in any given situation, who they will like and who they will detest, how they will dress, think, walk, talk and interact with others. I know I shouldn’t say this, but I am more than half in love with my central character, Paolo Storey, but don’t tell my husband.
You have numerous different writing jobs: tutor for The Writers Bureau, columnist for Writing Magazine, competition judge and provider of short story critiques for Writers’ Forum, writing agony aunt for Words with Jam Magazine, your writers’ critique service, as well as running three writing competitions (flash fiction, humour verse and novel opening) on this site. How do you juggle all these things?
I have the most amazing husband who sits down with me at the end of each month and asks what I have to do for the month ahead and what my deadlines are for the various jobs. I dump all the information in his lap and he comes back a couple of hours later with a complete day by day plan. Every day is separated into morning and afternoon sections, each containing notes on whatever it is I have to achieve. Without that sheet showing me what has to be done and when, I would simply collapse at the computer and sob.
I believe the third book in the D.I. Paolo Storey series is coming out soon. Can you give us a few hints please?
And lastly, are you working on any other novels besides book no. 3 in this series?
I have a literary novel I’ve been working on for so long now that I think I’ll be drawing my pension before it is finished. I only ever intended to write one Paolo Storey novel, but the success of the first led to the second, which has led to the third and so on. I have another couple of crime novels at the planning stage and my American publisher has asked for the next in my children’s series, so that literary novel might never see the light of day.
Thanks very much for answering my questions, Frances, and best of luck with your D.I Paolo Storey series!
About Frances ...
Frances di Plino is the pseudonym of columnist, editor, non-fiction author, short story writer, poet and writing tutor, Lorraine Mace. Writing as Frances di Plino gives her the opportunity to allow the dark side of her personality to surface and take control. Someday Never Comes, the second in the Detective Inspector Paolo Storey series, which follows on from highly acclaimed Bad Moon Rising, was released by Crooked Cat Publishing on 16 August. The third in the series, Call It Pretending, is due out on 18 December.
Contact Details ...
Lorraine Mace: www.lorrainemace.com
Blog: http://thewritersabcchecklist.blogspot.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lomace
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lorraine.mace.52
Frances di Plino: http://francesdiplino.lorrainemace.com/
Blog: http://francesdiplinoreviews.blogspot.com
Twitter : https://twitter.com/FrancesdiPlino
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frances.diplino.3
Books Available at ...
Amazon Frances di Plino: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Frances-Di-Plino/e/B007IEDS4Q/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Crooked Cat Books: http://www.crookedcatbooks.com/index.php?route=product/manufacturer/product&manufacturer_id=9
Amazon Lorraine Mace: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lorraine-Mace/e/B002VK4UV2/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1383015949&sr=1-2-ent Accent Press : http://www.accentpress.co.uk/Book/1259/2984/The-Writers-ABC-Checklist.html
Thanks so much for inviting me.
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