Elin Gregory

Today I’m more than delighted to welcome my very good friend guide and mentor, Charlie Cochrane, who is celebrating the release of her latest Cambridge Fellows story – Lessons in Loving Thy Murderous Neighbour – by sharing some thoughts about how the technological progress of the 20th century opened up all kinds of exciting possibilities for novelists.

There’s also a giveaway so read on:

People say the world is changing fast nowadays, but there have been periods in the past where the same would be true. One innovation happens—the steam engine, the internet, powered flight—and it opens the gates for a flood of inventions or changes to lifestyle that utilise that new technologies. Imagine when cavemen invented the wheel and all the possibilities that opened. (I wonder if the older generation of cave people shook their heads, tutted and said, “It’ll never catch on.”?)

The late 19th and early 20th century saw many changes to both technology and society, and even the University of Cambridge and its colleges had to move with the march of time. In St John’s college, for example:

This may seem small beer to us, but gas/electric lighting had huge implications in terms of how buildings could be constructed. No longer did the layout have to make the most of natural light and no longer did readers have to squint over their books, struggling by the illumination of a candle or gaslight. The arrival of the telephone not only gave instant communication (assuming the person you wanted to talk to also possessed a connection, naturally) but would have been a boon to my gentlemen sleuths. No more waiting for a reply to a telegram, and having to accept its stilted format. Being able to hear the voice of someone miles away, to read into their intonation and words the subtle information that no abbreviated telegram or letter could convey. Making appointments to see people with an ease not available a generation before.

Transport—the arrival of the internal combustion engine and man taking to the air—also changed life greatly, although maybe too late for the huge number of horses who were employed (and often died) in WWI. The horse drawn carriages of Jonty’s childhood have given way, at least on his driveway, to the automobile which doesn’t need stabling or grooming or feeding with hay. It also meant that he and Orlando had the freedom to go investigating at will locally, without relying on the train to get them there. And indulge in car chases, too, which adds excitement for their official biographer (me).

I’m no Luddite, so I’m all for innovations that make a difference to people’s lives. People sometimes yearn for “the good old days” but would we really want to live in a time before antibiotics, heart bypass surgery, washing machines, equal rights and all the other things which make modern life great? However, modern technology makes things difficult for the writer. I have much more of a challenge producing a believable storyline for my contemporary series (Lindenshaw Mysteries) than I do for the Cambridge Fellows because I continually have to get around problems like, “Why doesn’t he just use his mobile to ring for help?” It’s much easier in the days when there was no CCTV, DNA profiling or internet databases.
I wonder what Orlando would have made of those…

Giveaway:

Comment below for the chance to win an audio copy of Lessons in Love. One winner to be drawn from total comments from all blog tour stops.

Other stuff:

Biog: Because Charlie Cochrane couldn’t be trusted to do any of her jobs of choice—like managing a rugby team—she writes. Her mystery novels include the Edwardian era Cambridge Fellows series, and the contemporary Lindenshaw Mysteries. Multi-published, she has titles with Carina, Riptide, Lethe and Bold Strokes, among others.
A member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Mystery People and International Thriller Writers Inc, Charlie regularly appears at literary festivals and at reader and author conferences with The Deadly Dames.

Title: Lessons in Loving thy Murderous Neighbour (m/m mystery)

Blurb: Jonty Stewart and Orlando Coppersmith like nothing more than being given a mystery to solve. But what happens when you have to defend your greatest enemy on a charge of murder?

Buy links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Excerpt:

Cambridge 1922
“Owens? Owens?” Orlando Coppersmith’s voice sounded louder, and clearer, from his chair in the Senior Common Room at St Bride’s than it had ever sounded before. And with good cause.
“Steady on, old man. We’re in enough of a state of shock without you making sufficient noise to wake the dead.” Jonty Stewart smiled at his friend’s uncharacteristic outburst. Although friendship would hardly be the most accurate way to describe their relationship. Even the description “lovers, companions, colleagues and partners in solving crime” didn’t quite cover the depth of the bond they’d build up in nigh on twenty years. If their hair bore the odd silver thread, their ardour hadn’t cooled.
“Wake the dead or, harder still, wake some of the dons,” Dr. Panesar agreed, mischievously.
“Good point, Dr. P.” Jonty sniggered. “Some of them give the impression they’ve been asleep since 1913.”
A quick glance around the oak panelled room supported his assertion. St. Bride’s may have been one of the most forward looking of the Cambridge colleges, embracing the fact the year was 1922 rather than pretending it was still 1622, but some aspects of the university, including crusty old dons, seemed to be an immutable fixture.
“In which case,” Orlando pointed out, “we’d have ten years of history to explain to them, much of it unpleasant, let alone this latest scandal. St. Bride’s men being asked to defend Owens. What is the world coming to?”