In Under the Blazing Sun, disgruntled literary author Hannah struggles to overcome writer’s block and write her crime sequel. In some ways, Hannah’s problem mirrored my own when writing my sequel about Hannah, except I didn’t suffer from lack of inspiration, nor did I find myself suddenly wrapped up in a murder mystery. I was simply too busy as a screenwriter and caught up in family life. But, in many ways, I used Hannah’s problems as inspiration for writing Under the Blazing Sun. I asked myself: What would be the most exciting way for her to get out of her deadlock? To go to an exotic place, of course, stumble upon another murder and meet a new love interest, while also being drawn by the old one.
The great thing about writing fiction is that you can send your main character on a far more interesting and dangerous journey than you could ever experience yourself. So, imagining Hannah traveling to Sicily, solving yet another murder mystery while trying to get her book done and also being tempted by other romantic interests was the fuel for my own writing of the ‘difficult second novel’. Also, I really wanted to go to Sicily to do research.
What I knew right from the outset was that I wanted Hannah to get even more personally involved in the murder case, even to become a suspect. I wanted to raise the stakes and let her come up against forces way stronger than her. Although ‘only’ an author, and not an official detective, Hannah has become more experienced as an investigator in Under the Blazing Sun. She still lacks the resources of the police, but she now knows more about how to solve a crime. She has also changed as a person since the first book.
In Under the Blazing Sun Hannah has become a bit softer around the edges, more human. However, she still has a low tolerance for amateurs and people with bad taste and she’s definitely not a pleaser. Hannah will continue to step on people’s toes to solve the crime and reach her goals. In that sense, she’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but her critical thinking and bluntness is also what makes her able to solve the mystery.
On a more general note, I think there are still some double standards for men and women – in fiction as well as in real life – when it comes to being ‘likeable’. I could easily mention ten examples of grumpy, middle-aged men in crime fiction that everyone loves exactly because they are grumpy old men. I would love if we could embrace female characters who are a bit rougher around the edges because, in the end, this is also how things are in the real world: We are all humans with good days and bad days, and, like Hannah, we all just want to be recognised and loved.
After writing my debut novel Thirty Days of Darkness, a lot of people asked me whether my own personality resembles Hannah’s. This question was often following comments like ‘Hannah is so annoying and unlikeable’, which just made me smile. Hopefully people around me don’t think I’m a horrible person, but I kind of like the fact that Hannah doesn’t really care what other people think of her. I hope that her skills as an amateur investigator, her curiousity as well as her snappy, direct tone will make her intriguing and fun for readers to be around. And I hope that you will all enjoy going on yet another murder-solving journey with Hannah, this time in Sicily.
Jenny Lund Madsen’s Under the Blazing Sun, translated from Danish by Paul Russell Garrett, is the sequel to Thirty Days of Darkness, and second in the Murder by the Book Series, published by Orenda Books on 21st May 2026.
