Island of the Mad is also set in two places-England and Venice-but it takes its flavor-notes from Venice. And when the case later follows Russell to home ground in Oxford, it still takes her a long time to see what is actually going on beneath the surface. The plot here is filled with layers, felt more than seen. Russell found India overwhelming, but she finds Japan baffling, and suspects that deeper meaning lies just outside her perception. Intricate subtlety is the hallmark here, and although its social order is also on the brink of vast changes triggered by a relationship with the West, in Japan the moves are tight and deliberate, as the streets are quiet, the colors subdued, and the flavors of foods elusive on the tongue. Dreaming Spies-the half that is set in Japan-was shaped around a hugely different society from India’s. Several books intervened before it came along, but the story begins just as Russell and Holmes are leaving India, bound for Japan. The climate and the food are hot the streets and the inhabitants are noisy and busy and bright the place is a sensory overload.
I’ve spent some time there, and I tried to make the book reflect the flavor of country: strong colors, vivid events, a historical pull between the Indian people and the British raj that, in the 1920s, was beginning to come to the fore. The Game started because I wanted to tell a story about India, where my husband had been born and raised. Take three of the books set in exotic climes. Only after it’s finished-sometimes long after-do I step back and notice links and themes, and how the books fit together in ways that (ahem) readers think I’ve done deliberately. Then during the editing ( Riviera Gold is currently in copyedit, no doubt receiving lots of small tweaks and queries) it’s again a matter of zeroing in on that story and making everything about it… more.
While I’m actually writing the things, I’m far too focused on the story-making the plot work and teasing the characters into life-to think much about the larger picture. I always find it interesting to look back at a book I’ve written and reflect on what it turned out to be about, and how it fits into the rest of the series. (Added note:for a few days, Dreaming Spies will be $2.99 on Nook and Kindle.
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