5 Questions With Liz Nugent
The author of Strange Sally Diamond talks criminal minds, her all time favourite book, and which of her characters she’d most like to meet in real life
Bestselling Irish crime writer, Liz Nugent has a knack for devilish characters. From cunning Oliver Ryan to twisted Sally Diamond, Liz’s protagonists are the basis for delightfully dark psychological thrillers.
All five of her books so far – Unravelling Oliver (2014) Lying in Wait (2016), Skin Deep (2018), Our Little Cruelties (2020) and Strange Sally Diamond (2023) – have topped the Irish bestsellers list and won multiple literary awards. Her latest, Strange Sally Diamond has also won ‘Crime Novel of the Year’ at the An Post Irish Book Awards and was named ‘Book of the Moment’ by WHSmith as well as ‘Thriller of the Month’ by Waterstones.
In this interview, I sit down with Liz to delve into her curiosity for the criminally inclined and find out the unexpected places she draws her inspiration from.
1. Your are renowned for your dark psychological thrillers. What is it that got you into psychology and the the way people think/behave?
I’ve always been fascinated by the psychology of the human mind. I’ve never studied it formally, but I think I’m generally a good judge of character. I follow murder cases in the newspaper and I like to know the background of the criminal and learn about their childhood and adolescence. I don’t think a single serial killer in history had a happy childhood.
2. Your characters are complex and layered. Where do you draw inspiration from for realistic characters?
I don’t think of them as characters when I’m writing. Because I always use a first person narrative, I inhabit the character. So I think like and “talk” like them as I’m telling their story, finding reasons to justify their actions, no matter how terrible they are. For Sally Diamond, I was inspired by the character of Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird, this reclusive character who only ever came out of the house after dark, who never spoke and yet was fond of the local children. But inspiration can come from anywhere really, old family lore, obituaries, small ads in newspapers, apocryphal tales and song lyrics.
3. Which of your characters would you most like to meet in real life and how would you spend the day?
I’d love to spend a day with Sally in her home, because I don’t think I’d be able to tempt her out. I would remind her of how lonely she was after her father died and I would tell her that nothing that happened was her fault and that there is nothing she can do to change it, and that’s ok. I’d reassure her that her friends are real, that they worry about her, and that while she owes some of them an apology, some owe her an apology too. I would encourage her to take up another musical instrument and teach herself via YouTube. She is a natural, so it wouldn’t take her too long to become proficient. And then in the future she could teach the local kids. They'd love her because she doesn’t talk down to them like everyone else. I’d like to be her friend and I’d like to listen to her, to hear her own unique perspective on the world.
4. What was the last most gripping book you read that you’d recommend? And do you have an all time favourite?
I really loved The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins. I’d recommend it to everyone. I think my all time favourite book is Perfume by Patrick Suskind. It is the story of a serial killer in pre-revolutionary France and his unique motive for killing beautiful young women. It is so well written and translated by John E Woods, and is by far the most unusual murder mystery I have ever read. Ask me tomorrow, and I will have another all-time favourite.
5. What is your bigger “author vision”?
I don’t think about that at all. Naturally, like all writers, I’d love to see my work on screen sometime but I am wearied by the the number of times my books have been optioned and then let go. I’d like to think that readers might still find and read my books after I die but I’ll be dead so I won’t know or care!
Want to hear more from Liz Nugent? She’ll be taking part in an incredible reader’s retreat in June this year on the stunning Greek island of Amorgos. You can get tickets to the retreat here to join Liz and other authors.