Melting Cats, a Heatwave, and the Secret Weapon of Every Great Thriller

We're currently experiencing an unprecedented heatwave in the UK.

All week temperatures have been pushing 40C / 104F

That's insane for June, especially as we don't typically have air con in our homes.

Come on, it's Britain. We never thought we'd need it.

It's too hot to sleep. Too hot to write. The cats are melting. And the house is filled with the constant hum of fans running.

But the one consolation is that we found a brilliant drama on the BBC that has us hooked.

Two Weeks in August is about a group of university friends who think it's a good idea to go on holiday to a Greek island together.

You know right from the start something terrible is going to happen.

If I'd written it, one of them would have gone missing. Or a body would have turned up in the sea. Or one of them would be plotting to kill another.

But the big destabilising incident is nothing like that.

It's just a kiss.

A kiss between two of the friends who shouldn't be kissing, of course.

And that's it.

But wow – is it compelling.

The tension. The drama. The consequences and fall out had us on the edge of the sofa chewing our nails.

You see, it was Zoe's husband kissing another woman - and she witnessed it all.

The tension comes entirely from what she does with that knowledge.

Confront her husband and risk a scene? Confront the other woman? Confront the other woman's partner?

All of those choices have consequences.

And it got me thinking – do we really read thrillers for the big events – the moment the child goes missing or the body turns up?

Or do we read them for the moments between? The knowledge? Who has it and who doesn't?

Because in all good drama, knowledge is the real weapon.

That's what readers are addicted to. Not the blood. But the unbearable weight between secret and revelation.

What do you think? Do you agree?

Writing News

I've started work on my new psychological thriller – hurray!

It's early stages yet – but it's going to knock your socks off.

Stay tuned as I drip feed more information…

Hoping to have it out by the end of the summer.

In the meantime, I've had some encouraging conversations with a German translator about translating a few of my books.

Plus my audiobook producer has hinted they may be interested in taking a couple of my back catalogue books that are currently missing audio versions.

In other exciting news, it looks like Amanda and I will be appearing at the Maidstone LitFest again this year.

We held a small event last year and as a result, we've been invited back, specifically to run a workshop on self-publishing.

So less about us – and much more about the process.

Happy reading,

Adrian