We are delighted to welcome authors Len Maynard and Mick Sims, who write as Maynard Sims, to Omnimystery News today.
They start a new series of crime novels with No Evil (Joffe Books; February 2016 ebook format) and we asked them to tell us a little more about it.
— ♦ —
Omnimystery News: Introduce us to Jack Callum, your new series lead.
Photo provided courtesy of
Maynard Sims
Maynard Sims: We didn't want another dysfunctional detective. You know the kind — drink issues, marital/relationship issues, maverick cop. All great for characterization, and we have used them ourselves (Falling Apart at the Edges being one example). We wanted Jack to be "normal" whatever that is.
We deliberately set the series in the England of the 1950s. There was a UK TV programme called Dixon of Dock Green which was very popular at the time and which is often referred to when people lament the "good old days", especially when policing was done differently to nowadays. What would it be like if an ordinary police detective was faced with crimes normally associated with Hannibal Lector or the movie Se7en?
There was a recent UK TV programme called Endeavour, which took Inspector Morse back to when he first joined the police force. The senior detective in that was a character called Fred Thursday played by the actor Roger Allam. His manner, his voice, his style, was an influence on Jack.
OMN: So what does it mean to be "normal"?
MS: He is married, loves his wife and family. Behind that façade though there is a darker side. He has three children, although initially we only see two at home. There is a secret that comes to light.
He is an excellent detective and gets results but he likes to do it his way and he doesn't suffer fools gladly. He had a healthy relationship with his superiors but he isn't above getting into arguments with them if they stand in his way.
He has layers that are gradually revealed as the first book, and the gruesome crimes, play out. As the series develops there will be more tests of his character and resolve.
As we say about him, DCI Jack Callum is an ordinary detective, the crimes he investigates are far from ordinary.
It's fair to say that actually, in reality, Jack is far from ordinary himself. A war veteran, a compassionate but firm father, a fair but robust detective where criminals are concerned. He sets stores by his team and he treats them well.
OMN: Why set the series in the 1950s?
MS: It's the decade we were both born in. It was a difficult one for the country that was still coming to terms with the end of the War and the rationing and hardships that had come with the conflict. Times were changing fast and the police were as confused as most people about the way the nation was progressing.
Crimes still existed, and killers still existed, and the way the police had to stop them was in many ways, especially to modern eyes, quite antiquated. It is interesting for us seeing the characters — such as Jack — trying to bring ruthless killers to justice without the modern day armory at the police disposal. No DNA, hanging still a practice, no computers, no cell phones, nothing that the modern day world takes for granted.
It allows us to make the character s as much a part of the story as the crimes. The book — and the series to follow — is as much about the people as it is about the crimes.
OMN: Tell us more about your writing process.
MS: It was a painful process to get to the fluent process we have now. Those early stories were all a learning curve of course. What we didn't realise at the time was that we were both not only learning to write — and all writers develop at different speeds — but we were also learning to write with another person. Those two things combined certainly made for a combustible mix.
One way it would work was one would start a story, stop for a variety of reasons, hand it over to the other for them to finish. We then had a jointly written story. We decided very early on that each story should have one author voice — by which we mean more than just a style, although a cohesive style was important. Another way we did it was for one of us to completely write a story and then hand it to the other to edit, revise, as needed. That was when a lot of rows began. How dare he suggest changes to my precious story? We had a meeting place by the river, near the pub, and after a row, sometimes hours after, we would meet up there as if by pre-arrangement and come to an agreement about the story. Pregnant pauses were our speciality, with silence as a weapon.
Over the years we have smoothed it all out. We are open and honest with each other, and no offence is taken when change is suggested. Taking it right up to the present day, when we write more novels than stories, we each write the complete book/story and then hand it over to the other for revision which includes proofing, copy editing, as well as revising if we feel it needs it. With each book we spend days at the end reading it together, page by page, for grammar, continuity, repetition and other flaws we find.
With the novels, each has been different. We find it is important that a book has a single voice — an author point of view, a narrative drive the reader can connect with. Luckily our styles have developed over the years into a single M&S style so there is never a case of anyone being able to see the joins. Although one reviewer did say they could — on a book one of had written alone! No wonder they couldn't reply when we asked them where the joins were! We also got a review along the lines of — did it really take two of them to write this pile of **** — which was one reason behind the change of name to Maynard Sims.
OMN: What's next for you?
MS: We have three completed novels in a series of thrillers set in the Bahamas that we want to get published. We have a romance out being read. Capital Crimes is out so we want that to do well as 2016 may well see another anthology. Our tenth story collection — Death's Sweet Echo — has just come out so we want to promote that and see some great reviews. No Evil is out in this month so we want that to be a huge success. We have Department 18 book 6 out at the moment, so we hope that will be published in 2016.
Current work in progress is Jack Callum book 2, a standalone crime thriller, a supernatural novella, and after that who knows? We are also editing a fellow author's novel for them.
— ♦ —
Len Maynard and Mick Sims write together as Maynard Sims. Both born in London, and friends for 50 years, they began with short stories and have nine collections, five novellas and numerous magazine and anthology credits. They ran a small press where they edited several acclaimed titles under the Enigmatic brand, before being asked to edit several Darkness Rising anthologies.
2006 saw their first novel published and since then they have haven't stopped since. These include the Department 18 series, and the Bahamas series. They have won awards for screenplays, have written children's stories, romances and mainstream stories.
They write full time, having held day jobs for the entire time they have been writing together. Each currently lives in Hertfordshire, with two children between them and two grandchildren, one each. They do like symmetry.
For more information about the author, please visit their website at Maynard-Sims.com and their author page on Goodreads, or find their on Facebook and Twitter.
— ♦ —
No Evil by Maynard Sims
A Jack Callum Mystery
Publisher: Joffe Books
A girl's body is found. Her eyes, ears, and mouth have been sewn shut …
DCI Jack Callum leads the investigation into this gruesome crime which shatters the peace of a sleepy 1950s English town. Images of three monkeys are sent to the police to taunt them: see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
Something very nasty is going on and more victims come to light. Who is doing this and why? DCI Callum looks like he's closing in on the culprits, but then a team of detectives from London is brought in to take over the case.
In a breathtaking finale, Callum must race against time, and break his own rules, to save someone very close to him.
— No Evil by Maynard Sims. Click here to take a LookInside the book.
