Volume 4, Issue 1 – February, 2001

Rhys Bowen: A Little Slice of Evan

Evan Can Wait, but Rhys Bowen’s many fans can’t — at least not very patiently — for the next book in her slyly engaging mystery series about the travails of Welsh constable Evan Evans.

Bowen, the bestselling author of Ten Boy Summer and other young adult novels, summered in Wales as a child. Originally, she viewed her tales of “Evans-the-Law” as a way of preserving the quirky charm of the Welsh village life she remembered. Then her characters took over. Shortly before the release of her fifth Llanfair mystery, Bowen talked to Crescent Blues about where the series and her other projects are heading.

Crescent Blues: How many Evans are there in Llanfair? How much does this reflect the reality of Welsh village life? (In other words, are the local naming customs really like that?) 

Rhys Bowen: Apart from Constable Evan Evans (also known as Evans-the-Law), there is Evans-the-Meat (butcher) Evans-the-Milk (diaryman) Evans-the-Post (mailman). This nicknaming by profession was very common until recently.

There are very few Welsh surnames (most of which simply mean son of — i.e., Evans is son of Evan). So every town had many people with the same name — hence the colorful nicknames. Today it’s not done so much, or it’s moving more toward first names, as in my bulldozer operator, called Barry-the-Bucket, who really does exist.

Today Welsh villages are in the process of change. The young people are moving away as there are few jobs in the countryside and new people are moving in to open bed-and-breakfasts or restaurants, so a lot of these colorful old customs are dying out. That’s one of the reasons I like writing these books — so that readers outside of Wales can see what it was like to be truly Welsh.

Was Llanfair modeled on a real place (or a number of them)?

Llanfair is a combination of several villages around Mt. Snowdon. However, I had to put it in a real physical spot, as I needed to use real routes up the mountain in my first book, Evans Above. The irony is that now the locals know where the village is, even though it doesn’t exist. One woman wanted to know why I didn’t send Evan to the youth hostel for help in a particular situation. I had to tell her that the youth hostel didn’t exist in my world.

Llanfair is very typical of all the villages in that region — two lines of cottages straggling up the mountain pass, fields of sheep behind it, a couple of little shops, a gas pump and several chapels. Apart from young people moving away, and the chapels closing for lack of attendance, not much has changed. Most people now have satellite TV and do their weekly shopping at the big supermarkets on the coast, but the villages retain their charm and identity, which is why I love going to visit every year.

Although your mother’s family came from Wales, you grew up in England. How did this affect your perspective on Welsh life?

I spent many childhood summers with relatives in Wales and heard my family talk about Wales and things Welsh from the time I was born, so I always had a sense of what being Welsh means. However, to a certain extent, I was always seeing things as an outsider. This might have been an advantage as I saw the humor in situations the local villagers took for granted.

Living in the States for so many years has been a big disadvantage. I always run the risk of making mistakes, as things can change — and readers will always tell me when I get something wrong! I try to go back as often as I can — at least once per book, and I have several helpful email correspondents on the spot to whom I can turn when I don’t know something. During the course of a book so many little questions arise — are fire trucks still red? What is a good name for a female sheep dog? These kind folk get me the answer by the next morning.

Did you ever worry that the setting of Constable Evans’ investigations might seem too strange or foreign for a non-British audience?

To be honest, I never thought about my potential readers when I decided to write this series. I had been telling a friend about my childhood summers in Wales. She had been laughing at my tales of Evans-the-Post reading all the mail and the two ministers being constantly at war. Then she asked, “Have you ever put this in one of your books?” And I knew what I had to write next.

I think the area’s uniqueness is what makes it attractive. Mystery readers like to take a mini-vacation at the same time as reading a good story. Tony Hillerman’s Southwest desert is unfamiliar territory to most of us, but it’s part of the charm of reading his books. I think the vicarious travel aspect is one of the reasons readers like my books. Wales isn’t just another county tacked on to England. It is a foreign land with its own unique flavor in food, speech, customs, even its own language. This is what I want to convey to readers in my books.

According to (wildly enthusiastic) advance notices, your fifth Constable Evans mystery, Evan Can Wait, breaks new ground for you as a mystery writer. What makes this book so special?

I’m very excited about Evan Can Wait. It did break new ground for me, and I hope it will give me more credibility as a mystery writer. So-called cozy writers get little respect. My books have been called “charming and delightful,” which is better than “bloody awful.” But I would like to be taken seriously as a mystery writer.

Evan Can Wait is a darker and meatier book, with the story on a broader canvas than the previous ones. The plot begins with the raising of a German World War II bomber from a lake and a documentary on Wales in WWII. At the same time a parallel story is being told in the memoirs of old Trefor Thomas, who worked in a slate mine during the war. As the two stories progress, they reveal tragic similarities — lost dreams, lost loves and maybe the same tragic ending.

I hadn’t intended for the memoirs to be such a large feature of the book — I let the old man tell his story and he just took over. Now I’m glad he did.

The book also shows more emotional depth in the relationship of Evan and Bronwen. But I’ve tried to keep alive the series’ trademark humor that my readers have come to expect. Laura Lippman summed up very well what I was trying to achieve. She said, “Few writers are capable of this deft combination of dark and light. This is a pitch-perfect book which will charm you in one sentence, chill you in the next.” I hope the book lives up to that extraordinary compliment!

Constable Evans enjoys the attentions of two Llanfair ladies, Bronwen and Betsy, who compete for his attentions and conspire to keep him from the attentions of anyone else. What’s the inspiration for this unusual triangle?

When I started the first book, I had no idea how any of the relationships would go. Bronwen and Betsy really represented the two sides of what Evan wanted in a woman. Brownen was a little too serious, Betsy a little too light and flippant. Now the characters have developed, and Evan has moved into a real relationship with Bronwen. However, Betsy is still there, lurking, tempting him and reminding him what he might be missing.

In the next book, Evans to Betsy, she will play a major part in the story.

For those accustomed to the police officers of American fiction, Constable Evans seems remarkably well grounded for a policeman. Is this a reflection of the British mystery tradition, or did the character arise from some other source?

I can’t really take credit for having created him. He just walked into my head one day. He’s young and has been maturing during the first books. He’s the sort of bloke you’d like to date, or your daughter to bring home. (Several readers have told me they are in love with him and jealous of Bronwen.) He’s likeable and likes to please others (a trait which he probably gets from me), but he’s not in any way a lightweight.

Like many British men, he keeps his emotions tightly locked away. Before the first book began he had witnessed his father being shot and then gone through something close to a breakdown. Coming to Llanfair and seeing if life in the small town made more sense was an act of desperation for him.

As the books have progressed, we see him struggling with ambition versus contentment. He likes the small town life, the fresh air, the freedom of being his own man, but increasingly he feels that he should be moving up the ladder, getting credit for his detective work and moving into a career suitable for a married man. Essentially he is growing and evolving the way we all do. I can’t say where he’ll end up.

I would find it much harder to write if I didn’t like my main character. I can truly emphasize with what he goes through. He is never officially assigned to solve murders. He gets little credit when he does. But when he finds himself caught up in the investigation, he is driven to get to the truth, even if it means risking his career. I’d like to see this really come to a head in a future book — maybe really having to defy some top brass to get to the truth.

How important is formula to the traditional mystery?

Not important at all to me! Formula dictates that a body be found in the first fifty pages. My bodies usually don’t appear until halfway through the book. I like to introduce all the characters, watch them interacting before one of them meets his maker. That way the reader has a basis for working out motive. I just want to tell a darned good story. If I can come up with some clever plot twists and a true surprise ending, then that is great. However it is the characters who are truly important to me.

I have to confess that I don’t really know where the story is going when I start to write. I know who will be murdered. I’m pretty sure whodunit (although not always sure), but after that I just have to let things progress and be prepared to go off at unsuspected tangents sometimes. I find if I try to plot too far ahead, it comes out as stilted and wooden.

But if by formula you mean the conventions of the traditional mystery — then I guess I adhere to certain conventions — no grizzly violence onstage for one thing, good clues to lead readers to whodunit.

How closely do the police procedures described in your Constable Evans mysteries reflect Welsh procedure?

If my mysteries reflected true police procedure, they’d be even funnier! When I was researching Evans Above, I went to Wales and asked at police HQ at Colwyn Bay how they would procede if they found a body on top of Mt. Snowdon. I was told that Mt. Snowdon as in the National Park and therefore handled by their station in Caernarfon. I went to Caernarfon and asked the same question. After a long pause the officer said “Well, Colwyn Bay is bigger than we are. We’d let them handle it.”

So in real life that poor body would still be lying there!

I have visited all the police departments and spoken with local police. I also have a local contact whose brother-in-law is with the North Wales police, so I can ask questions. I know the basic hierarchy. I get Welsh newspapers with reporting of local crimes so everything is fairly accurate.

Of course, in a village the size of Llanfair, there is probably one murder every twenty years. In the whole of North Wales probably one murder a year. I try to make my murders believable ones for the region, even though there are too many of them.

When you wrote Evan Above, did you know you were writing the first in a series? If you were to do it all over again, is there anything you would do differently in the series?

Yes, I had a three-book contract, so I knew it would be a series, but I didn’t think beyond the first book, apart from introducing ongoing characters and the triangle of Betsy and Bronwen. I can’t say there is much I’d do differently, except from making sure I got everything right. There were several small things I got wrong in the first book, including the current wording for the “right to remain silent” clause. I hate getting anything wrong.

On the promotion side, I’d have done a lot more for the first book. I’ve only learned about promoting my own books as I’ve gone along.

What is the one thing your readers would be most surprised to learn about Constable Evans?

I don’t think he has any deep dark secrets. He’s a very open sort of chap. He doesn’t wear women’s panties or watch porno movies. Goodness, he sounds boring, doesn’t he?

In Evan Can Wait we learn that he is capable of very strong emotions and thoughts of violence, but they would be only natural, given the circumstances.

I think the first time reader might underestimate his intelligence. Just because he hasn’t been to college doesn’t mean that he’s either slow or stupid.

You had several writing careers before turning your hand to mystery. Could you tell our readers something about them and what prompted the switch?

My first career, right after college, was in the drama department of the BBC. I was a studio manager and while I was there I started writing my own plays. I would probably still be there today except that the weather was so bloody awful.

I went to work for Australian Broadcasting in Sydney, met my future husband and wound up in San Francisco. There was no broadcasting job for me so I started writing children’s books. My first book, Peter Penny’s Dance, and written under my married name of Janet Quin-Harkin, was illustrated by Anita Lobel and won lots of awards. Several picture books followed and then my agent asked me if I could write a teenage novel in a hurry. I wasn’t sure if I could, but I sent her the sample chapters. They were accepted. I finished the book and then learned that it was one of the books with which Bantam was going to launch the Sweet Dreams series.

This was the first really popular teenage series and sold oodles of books. Going through a printing of 100,000 in a week was not unusual. Suddenly I was very much in demand. I wrote a book called Ten Boy Summer that rose to number one on B. Dalton’s list and sold half a million copies. I found myself writing book after book, as many as ten a year! (All written under the name of Janet Quin-Harkin. Check me out on Amazon!)

The good side of this was that it put four children through college and paid off a mortgage. The bad side was that I was trapped on a teenage treadmill, with no time or energy to write other things. Finally the kids were through college, and I could write what I wanted to write.

My reading preference has always been mysteries. I was raised on the “Famous Five,” the Agatha Christie, etc. So I decided it was time to write what I liked to read. I came up with the idea for the Constable Evans series. My agent felt I should use a pseudonym, as this was so different from the rest of my work. She also felt that I might be prejudged and not given a fair chance — you know, “Oh, she writes for kiddies.”

So I chose my Welsh grandfather’s name, Rhys Bowen. I’m really enjoying this second identity. I’m also still loving every moment of writing mysteries. In fact I’m adding a second series this year. I have finished the first book, about an Irish immigrant girl who comes to Ellis Island in 1900 and has to solve a murder there. It’s called Murphy’s Law and it will be out in time for Bouchercon.

What are the pluses and minuses to living in a state like California that boasts such a high number of good mystery writers?

I love the fact that so many mystery writers live in the Bay Area. So many of them have become true friends and meeting with them is a fantastic support group. I have found all mystery writers to be so generous and helpful. I belong to Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, both of which have regular local meetings. Since writing is such a lonely life, it’s great to feel connected in this way.

The only downside to so many published writers in the area is that it’s impossible to become a local celebrity. I live in a county full of stellar names, including George Lucas. Nobody is going to put out the red carpet for me, as they would in South Dakota.

Do you participate in a critique group?

I don’t actually belong to a critique group, but I have my own chain of editors who read my work before it goes out. The first is my daughter who has great feel for pace, timing etc. The second is my husband who is picky and annoying and tells me every time I’ve used a word twice on one page. My daughter Jane, plus son-in-law Tom are very much average readers. They tell me if they lose the plot, get bored, solve the crime too easily, etc.

I would only share my work with people I completely trust. It’s too easy to lose heart or go in the wrong direction on someone else’s suggestion.

How important do you consider independent bookstores to the development of a writer’s career? How does that influence vary by genre?

If anybody knows my name by now, it is because of the mystery bookstores. They are a wonderful resource for mystery writers. Let’s face it, if our books came out and sat on the shelves of Borders or Barnes and Noble, nobody would ever get to know us. Mystery bookstores hand sell and recommend new writers. I can’t say enough about them and how welcome they make us mystery writers feel.

I have visited most mystery bookstores in the country at this point, and I continue to visit as many as possible. Good general [independent bookstores] are also helpful, but they lack the passion of mystery bookstore owners.

How does your reading affect your writing?

I have always been an ardent mystery reader. I tend to like traditional mysteries — the sort of books I try to write. My favorite writers were Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers when I was young.

As an adult I discovered Tony Hillerman, Reginald Hill then Peter Robinson. (I guess they are all men. I hadn’t realized that before — I don’t particularly choose to read male writers.) But I also admire Deborah Crombie and Nevada Barr. When I want something lighter and a good laugh, I read Jill Churchill, Jerrilyn Farmer and Alan Beechey. I just wish he’d hurry up and write more books.

I don’t read much when I’m writing. I don’t have the time and I tend to pick up styles if I’m not careful. My modus operandi is to do research for several months and let the story develop in my head, then start writing and write for three months — pretty intense at this stage. I wake in the night with rewrites. I work all weekend.

I also enjoy good nonfiction, especially travel books, and I read a lot for research — especially history for my new series.

How has your writing changed over time?

I’ve gotten better at it! The more I work with words, the easier it is to make those words do what I want to with them. Now I can be pretty confident that the story that comes out on the page is the one that started in my head.

I started by writing scripts and this has influenced my writing every since. I tend to think of books in series of scenes. Dialogue is a very important element in my books. In fact, I love to reveal plot and character through dialogue.

Having written so many books to a very tight deadline has made me very disciplined. So many of my teenage books were humorous, which has sharpened by ability to write humor. And writing teenage books has meant that I have learned to weed out excessive verbage.

Are there things that still scare you as a writer?

What still scares me? When I begin every book I have an irrational fear that it will be too short, that I’ll say everything I want to in 100 pages. It never is but I can’t get over the fear.

What do you consider the most important element in your writing?

It’s hard to say if one element is more important than others. I think I have learned to tell a story well. I think I create real characters who speak in real dialogue and I think I create a good sense of place. The most important one thing to me is that I love doing it!

Anything you’d like to add?

I’d just like to mention what a great resource the Internet has become for us writers. All kinds of opportunities to introduce our work to new readers, wonderful research sites. It makes life so much easier!

Suzanne Frisbee and Jean Marie Ward