Today I’m pleased to welcome Elle Croft to the blog. Elle’s debut novel, The Guilty Wife was published by Orion on 25 January 2018.

Elle kindly answered a few of my questions.

1. Tell us a little about The Guilty Wife.

When Calum Bradley is found stabbed to death, photographer Bethany Reston is relieved that their affair was an obsessively-kept secret. Not even her husband knows what she was really up to with her famous client. But someone does.

She thinks she’s doing a good job of hiding her grief, but when an anonymous threat is hand-delivered to her home, Bethany’s secrets are no longer hers for the keeping.

With an ever-growing pile of evidence pointing to her as the murderer, the only way she can protect her secrets is to prove her innocence. And that means tracking down a killer.

2. What inspired the book?

I can’t really say what inspired it without giving too much of the storyline away, but what I can say is that I was fascinated by the idea of secrets, and the lengths some people will go to in order to keep them. I’m also constantly inspired by London: its creepy corners and the (often false) sense of anonymity you can find in such an enormous city.

3. Are you a plan, plan, plan writer or do you sit down and see where the words take you?

I began writing The Guilty Wife without much of a plan, but I quickly realised that it didn’t work for me. It ended up being quite a complicated process because I hadn’t sat down and plotted from the very beginning, so for my second novel I’m being much more meticulous from the start!

4. Having been through the publishing process is there anything about the process of creating a novel that still surprises you?

The Guilty Wife is my debut, so everything about it has been a total surprise. I have no previous experience with the publishing industry so it’s all new: everything from cover design to Netgalley to writing festivals. It’s been an exciting and challenging learning curve for me, and I’ve loved every moment of it.

5. What do you do when you aren’t writing? What do you do to relax and get away from it all?

When I’m not writing fiction, I’m either writing for my travel and lifestyle blog, reading, or (mostly in the summer months) running. I love to travel – it’s my way of literally getting away from it all – but I’m happiest when I have good food in front of me, and my favourite people around me to share it with.

6. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life which book would it be?

Can I cheat and pick a series? It’d be Harry Potter – but please don’t make me choose just one!

7. I like to end my Q&As with the same question so here we go. During all the Q&As and interviews you’ve done what question have you not been asked that you wish had been asked – and what’s the answer?

It’s not so much a question I want to be asked as one I’d love to know other authors’ answers to, but I’ll start!

Q: What music do you listen to while you write?

A: The Gone Girl soundtrack…it’s so incredibly creepy that it really sets the tone for writing suspense!

About the book

I’m guilty of many things.

Bethany Reston is happily married. But she’s also having an affair with a famous client.

And no one can ever know.

But I’m innocent of murder.

When Bethany’s lover is brutally murdered, she has to hide her grief from everyone.

But someone knows her secret. And then one day the threats begin.

With an ever-growing pile of evidence pointing to her as the murderer, the only way she can protect her secrets is to prove her innocence. And that means tracking down a killer.

About the author

Elle Croft was born in South Africa, grew up in Australia and moved to the UK in 2010 after travelling around the world with her husband. She works as a freelance social media specialist and also blogs about travel, food and life in London.