The story behind the story: Jacqueline Harrett
Every story has its starting point and theme. Sometimes the theme isn’t obvious to the writer until the book is finished. At other times there may be a deliberate attempt to incorporate a topic within the story. With ‘Death by Intent’ I had decided, before I started writing, what the themes were going to be. The main one is bullying. I believe, despite what we are led to believe, bullying is still rife in many professions. Sometimes it is obvious but at other times it is through unspoken expectations and disapproval of those personnel who do not toe the line. Long hours culture is one example of corporate intimidation, and we can see from world events that oppression of the vulnerable is still prevalent.
The second, less obvious theme, is loneliness. News stories told of people who died alone and whose bodies were not found for days or weeks – even years in some cases. This made me think about people living alone and neglected. With migration, families no longer live in close proximity to each other and loneliness across all age groups seems to be a growing problem.
In Death by Intent, I introduce The Church of the Forgotten Souls. There are many forgotten souls in our communities, so I wanted to bring this topic into the story. Even though the priest is rather dubious the concept behind the church is to help the lonely. Does it help Barbara Vixen? It certainly plays a significant part in the story.
Back to the bullying and the story behind Barbara Vixen and her toxic behaviour. Have you ever been bullied? I suspect there are many like her out there making people’s lives miserable. The character of Barbara Vixen is largely based on a real person. I’ve taken writer’s revenge and given her a horrible death in this story.
Here are a few snippets from the first chapter.
Death by Intent
CHAPTER ONE
Barbara Vixen was dead long before the fireworks announcing the New Year exploded across the Cardiff sky. It was the second of January before her putrefying body was found. The call had come from a postal worker. Receiving no reply he had peered through the window and spotted the body. Not the best start to the New Year.
Sub-zero temperatures left a sugar frosting of ice everywhere and the beginning of the year had started with a whimper as far as DI Mandy Wilde was concerned. The team was being shadowed for a month by her former fiancé, DCI Lucas Manning. It was a cause of constant irritation. She longed to get out of the office and away from scrutiny.
* * *
The house where the body was found was in Llandaff, not far from the village, with limited parking nearby. Grey skies loomed above them, the cold snap giving way to more stormy conditions, as promised by the weather forecast. The frost was melting, and the small front garden was a muddy morass after many boots had trampled over it.
The pathologist, Rishi Mallik, was already there with his team.
* * *
As they got to the door of the cottage, Rishi emerged. He pulled his face mask down and took a deep breath.
“You will require more than a spot of Vick under your nose for this one, DI Wilde. She is not fresh.” His eyes flicked to the tall figure behind her. “DCI Manning, I presume. We have an interesting one for you this morning.” Formal and correct, as usual.
Mandy could see speculation on Rishi’s face before he replaced the mask and re-entered the house. Josh turned a shade of avocado. Her stomach turned as well. It must be bad if Rishi needed to warn them. Donning overalls and masks they entered. The body was towards the back of the room. The remains of a woman; face down on the floor. She was dressed in trousers and thick sweater, in a shade of navy. Her feet were encased in sheepskin slippers, one of which had slipped showing the sole of a thick sock, also blue. A stream of dried vomit lay beside the body and a small side table had been overturned. Mandy spied an opened packet of painkillers, Tramadol, a glass and spectacles. Despite the masks, the smell of death was overwhelming. Rishi seemed unperturbed.
“So, what have we got, Rishi?”
“Female. In her sixties, at a guess. Well-nourished before the flies got at her. Tall, about five foot seven inches. Her clothing is of decent quality, and she is generally well-groomed from what I can make out. As you can see, she had vomited,” he indicated the marks on the floor. “She has a mark on her forehead.” He pointed to an area darker than the rest of the discoloured skin.
“An attack?”
Rishi shrugged. “There are no other signs and no indication of anyone breaking in. Everything else looks as one should expect.”
“So, she could have knocked over the table herself.” Mandy surveyed the scene. A patio door leading to the garden was locked, the key on the inside. No signs of forced entry. “Maybe she hit her head when she fell.”
Rishi made no comment.
Despite the season there wasn’t much in the way of Christmas decorations around the house. A wilting poinsettia sat on the floor. Two cards. Mandy bagged them after glancing inside. One said Charlie and family. It had a snow scene on the front. The second was religious themed with the stable scene. Inside the letter M. No other identification.
“How long has she been dead?” asked Mandy.
“Several days. At a guess, she died sometime around Christmas. I can be more accurate after the postmortem.”
“And do we have an identity?”
Rishi pointed to the pile of post someone had stacked on a chair. Mandy checked the envelopes. B. Vixen. They would need to check but it seemed unlikely to be anyone else.
As if reading her mind, Rishi said, “We can confirm identity with dental records, of course.”
She nodded and turned around to speak to Josh, but he was nowhere to be seen. Lucas was right behind her with the answer to Josh’s whereabouts.
“He’s gone outside. Afraid to make an exhibition of himself, I reckon.” Mandy could hear the smile in Lucas’s voice.
“Is it too early for cause of death? Any hunches, Rishi?”
Kind brown eyes met hers. “DI Wilde, I prefer to give an opinion when I am apprised of all the facts.” He hesitated. “We will know more after I examine the body and the stomach contents.”
* * *
If you want to know how Barbara Vixen died and the events leading up to her death, you’ll have to read the novel. I hope readers can relate to the themes and maybe even sympathise with the killer.
Death by Intent was published by Diamond Crime on 17th March. It is available from the publishers, independent bookshops and Amazon.
Crime Cymru 