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On The Table Read, “the best book magazine in the UK,” former Detective Chief Superindendent, Russell Wate, talks about his new murder mystery book, Missing But Not Lost.
Written by JJ Barnes
I interviewed Russell Wate about his life and career as Detective Chief Superintendent for Cambridgershire, what inspired him to start writing, and the story of his latest release, Missing But Not Lost.
Tell me a bit about who you are.
Before retiring, I was the Detective Chief Superintendent for Cambridgeshire. In essence this role was the head of crime for Cambridgeshire, the person with responsibility and accountability for tackling crime. If we were in America, it would be called the Chief of Detectives. As well as being involved in for example tackling child abuse, domestic abuse, serious and organised crime, the part of the job I found most enjoyable was leading murder enquiries.
I did also have the national policing responsibility across the UK for the investigation of child death. Almost twenty years ago, I was part of the team that investigated the Soham murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. I would have to admit it was a case of such emotional impact not just to me, but all of those officers involved, let alone Holly and Jessica’s parents and siblings, that it is the case more than any other that will never leave me.
I have been working at various times in safeguarding work for over almost thirty years now. As soon as I got involved in this area, I realised that it was an aspect of policing that really did make a difference to the vulnerable victims you tried to help and support. This inspired me to continue safeguarding work almost fulltime when I retired from being a police officer, this was not only locally but nationally and internationally and is what I focus my time on doing now.Â
When did you first WANT to write a book?
‘Greed is a Powerful Motive’ was my first novel. It is part of a crime mystery series. A number of years ago when my father and I visited the British Library, we went to the India section, where we researched details of my great grandfather, Solomon Kyte. He was a very senior officer in the Baroda (now Vadodara) state police at the turn of the twentieth century.
Whilst doing this research, I came across a case from 1874 involving the attempted murder of Robert Phayre (the British resident), where Malhar Rao Gaekwad (member of the royal family) attempted to poison Robert Phayre by putting arsenic and diamond dust in his sherbet. Robert had twigged that Malhar Rao Gaekwad was emptying the Baroda state bank accounts.
I thought what an interesting case to put into the modern day and use modern day investigative techniques. This is what this story is about DCI McFarlane who works for the FCO goes to India to investigate the death of a British citizen
When did you take a step to start writing?
I should think it was almost fifteen years before I had an opportunity in terms of time to sit down and focus on writing this novel. This opportunity came during the first lockdown, and I actually wrote the first draft in eight weeks spending about two hours a day on it, as I still had my other safeguarding work to do, this was all of the time I had available. I did though in those fifteen years know pretty much what I want to write about in this story and also have some idea what subsequent stories in the series could cover.
In October 2019, my wife Debbie and I had a chance encounter in a remote hilltop village in the Atlas Mountains (Morocco) with a couple from Melbourne – Professor Anne Buist and her husband Graeme Simsion. They are both authors and were working on a romantic comedy novel together. Graeme wrote the bestselling novel ‘The Rosie Project’.
When I told him, I had a detective crime novel in mind, he proceeded to give me a fifteen-minute masterclass on how to write a novel. Coincidently, both Professor Buist and I were to be keynote speakers at a conference in Melbourne, relating to children who had been murdered by a parent, two weeks later. This chance meeting cemented my thoughts to write the novel I had been talking about for years and I used the plot technique he suggested.
Focusing on your latest release. What made you want to write Missing But Not Lost?
I always wanted to make my DCI McFarlane books a series, that has as a backdrop his personal and family life and to develop that. My latest book in the series is called ‘Missing but not Lost’.
In this book DCI McFarlane investigates the disappearance of Viscount Peveril’s grandson George. He visits various parts of the country investigating and goes out to Manitoba in Canada to find him and the two friends that have gone with him. At the same time a young police officer has been shot dead by suspected drug dealers in England. The two investigations collide and come into conflict with each other. The idea for this story came from a real life shooting of a police officer in the 1800s.
What were your biggest challenges with writing Missing But Not Lost?
Proving to myself more than anyone else that I wasn’t a one book writer. As it turned out the feedback book was that it was even stronger than the first book. People seem to really enjoy it, there are some powerful, emotional, and dramatic moments in the book. I was able to also introduce even more of my authentic detective experiences.
Did you get support with editing, and how much editing did Missing But Not Lost need?
Yes, firstly my wife Debbie did a lot of editing, and also my eldest son helped. This meant that my publisher, Cranthorpe Milner, although totally helping with editing, would have had a lot more to do. Even so I think we did at least three runs through the books together
What is the first piece of writing advice you would give to anyone inspired to write a story?
For me it is plot out your story. Know where you are going with it and how the book will finish. As you right it doesn’t always work out like that, but it helps you to actually complete a coherent story.
Can you give me a hint about any further books you are planning to write?
The third book in this series is well on its way and almost at final drafting stage. I am off to Bordeaux and Saint-Emilion where some of the story is set to complete my research. For ‘Missing but not Lost’ I actually this summer got to visit Winnipeg and two of the lakes in Manitoba which was great fun and was surprised by the amount of interest the Canadian public had in the books and this book in particular.
Pop all your book, website and social media links here so the readers can find you:
The books are available from Cranthorpe Millner https://www.cranthorpemillner.com/product/russell-wate-greed-is-a-powerful-motive-alexander-mcfarlane-series/
Amazon and all other online book retailers. https://amzn.to/3KhHGOz Also available in store Toppings Ely and Heffers in Cambridge.
‘Missing But not Lost’ from Cranthorpe Millner
Amazon and all other online book retailers. https://amzn.to/3QJBbGO
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