with Tony Lee Moral
We are delighted to welcome author Tony Lee Moral to Omnimystery News today.
Tony is the author of several biographies on Alfred Hitchcock, but has recently written his first mystery, Playing Mrs. Kingston (Porfirio Press; December 2014 trade paperback and ebook formats).
We recently had the chance to catch up with him and talk more about his new book.
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Omnimystery News: Introduce us to the lead character of Playing Mrs. Kingston. What is it about her that appeals to you as a writer?
Photo provided courtesy of
Tony Lee Moral
Tony Lee Moral: Catriona is my favorite character and the protagonist of Playing Mrs. Kingston. She is very determined to succeed against all the odds, even if it means putting her life at risk. She really has a flair for drama, and not just because she's an actress. I admire her positive attitude, especially as she is plunged into the deepest and darkest pits of despair and the most dangerous circumstances. My fondness for her remained consistent when I finished the novel, and when I re-read the chapters, I'm always smiling because I think the characters are fun and the situations outrageous, even the murder scenes. There's a dark humor to the novel, which was the essence of Hitchcock in films like The Trouble with Harry and Psycho. Catriona resembles many a Hitchcock heroine; she is alluring, mysterious, duplicitous and blonde. She's inventive and is a role player. I'm intrigued with the idea of chance meetings, like when Miles asks Catriona to play his wife. This is reminiscent of Strangers on a Train, two strangers meeting randomly on a train and agree to swap murders, or when James Stewart is pulled into a deceptive masquerade by a diabolical college friend in Vertigo.
OMN: Why did you choose a female character as the lead of your first mystery?
TLM: I chose a female character because the plot called for a woman pretending to be someone she is not, and I've long been fascinated by dual characters such as Kim Novak in Vertigo or the compulsive heroine of Winston's Graham's novel Marnie. Many of Hitchcock's films have duplicitous women at the centre, such as Ingrid Bergman in Notorious, and he himself was fascinated with images of the double. Catriona in my novel, has to use all her acting skills to succeed, stay one step ahead of the police and her blackmailer, as she finds herself the target of the murderer.
OMN: Into which fiction genre would you place the book?
TLM: Definitely a Suspense Thriller, and also a Murder Mystery, with a large dose of Crime.
OMN: Tell us something about the book that isn't mentioned in the synopsis.
TLM: The book is very much inspired by the works of Alfred Hitchcock and Patricia Highsmith. In particular, Highsmith's books have a dark, cruel streak to them, especially Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley, whereas Winston Graham's work is told through the first person of a thief. I became fascinated with characters pretending to be someone they are not, to get ahead socially and professionally. My novel Playing Mrs. Kingston is full of such people, all putting on a masquerade for various reasons, and we all do this to some extent in our lives. A large part of me is in this book. I'm very dichotomous, I love socialising, going to parties and meeting new people, while at the same time, I'm very dedicated to my writing. The idea for the novel came to me in 2000, and I first wrote it as a screenplay when I was living in California. I was writing my first of my three books on Alfred Hitchcock, on the making of Marnie, and I was fascinated by having a strong female central character at the heart of the story.
OMN: How much of your own personal or professional experience have you included in the book?
TLM: I've spent a great deal of time in New York where the novel is set, and I know about modern art, particularly American Abstract Expressionism which forms the backdrop for the story. My favourite artists are Mark Rothko and Franz Kline. The red, crimsons and maroons of Rothko's expansive multiforms represent the blood and murders that take place throughout the novel, and the slashing black strokes of Kline's brushwork form the bridges and architecture of New York City. The swirling masses of Jackson Pollack reflect the maelstrom into which Catriona descends. Many of the most important scenes in the book are set in art galleries and museums like the Whitney, Guggenheim and the Kingston collection.
OMN: How true are you to the setting of Playing Mrs. Kingston?
TLM: I did a fair amount of research into 1950s New York, particularly the fashions, the restaurants and the styles. Geographically Manhattan hasn't changed that much in the last 50 years, but fashions do evolve, and the city's hot spots like the Stork Club, 21 restaurant and the Algonquin hotel were very much representative of the time. Capturing the period was very important to me. It's a very particular era in American history, after the Second World War and before Vietnam and the permissiveness of the 1960s. JFK was about to run for President and America was on the brink of change.
OMN: Tell us a little more about your writing process.
TLM: I write detailed plot outines, and my background as a screenwriter, necessitates that I start with a three act synopsis, where I'll chart the highs and lows of the story. I then turn these acts into chapters. Writing is rewriting.
I love film and cinema, and my day job is as a television producer and screenwriter, so I am very cinematic in the way I write scenes. I'm hoping that the story will be turned into a feature film.
OMN: Well, since you mentioned it, suppose Playing Mrs. Kingston were to be adapted for television or film. Who do you see playing the key roles?
TLM: Catriona would be played by a strong heroine like Cate Blanchett or Emily Blunt. Freddie would be played by Jude Law, Mario by Raoul Bova, and Miles by Daniel Craig or Kevin Spacey. What a dream cast that would be!
OMN: What are your favorite types of movies?
TLM: Suspense thrillers are my preferred films, especially by Alfred Hitchcock, David Fincher and Christopher Nolan. My favourite films are Vertigo, Marnie, North by Northwest, Contact, 2001, Pulp Fiction and Tokyo Story.
OMN: What is the best advice you've received as an author?
TLM: Look for great stories, find your own voice, finish what you've started, enjoy your writing, learn how to market yourself. This book took me fourteen years to get published. Good stories will be told.
OMN: What's next for you?
TLM: Another biography on Alfred Hitchcock, a novel about a girl who falls in love with a ghost, a story about an alien boy who is stranded in New York City. And if the readers like this novel, a sequel to Playing Mrs. Kingston, set in the La Dolce Vita years of Italy.
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Tony Lee Moral is an author and television screenwriter. He has written three biographies on Alfred Hitchcock, with Playing Mrs. Kingston his first murder mystery novel.
For more information about the author, please visit his website at TonyLeeMoral.com, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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Playing Mrs. Kingston
Tony Lee Moral
A Novel of Suspense
It's the '50s in New York City, and Catriona Benedict has big dreams, but when her first promising gig as an actress is a flop, she has to figure out some other way to make a living in the big city.
Enter Miles Kingston, a rich and influential playboy who, for reasons of his own, asks Catriona to take on the biggest role of her life … as his wife. Despite her boyfriend's misgivings about the arrangement, Catriona knows that this could easily be the most lucrative acting job she's ever had. All she has to do is keep up the act for a few weeks, and she'll walk away with thousands.
When tragedy strikes, the whole arrangement threatens to strangle Catriona. She quickly realizes that living with the Kingston family is a much more delicate and dangerous affair than she ever could have guessed.
And if she isn't convincing in the role of Mrs. Kingston, much more than just her acting career will be at stake.
