Suzy Aspley talks about her publishing journey and the inspiration for her gothic mystery, The Bone Mother
It’s hard to believe that it’s now more than two years since my debut gothic mystery, Crow Moon, was published. As a new author, you really know very little about publishing and what to expect.
Being a debut was a whirlwind, and being shortlisted for several major crime fiction prizes in 2024 and with a raft of events that have continued to this day, there wasn’t much time to catch my breath. It’s fabulous when your first book is well received, but when your thoughts turn to the second one, you wonder whether you can pull it off again. The ‘difficult second book’ and all that.
When I began writing Crow Moon in 2017, I had Martha by my side from the very start, when she walked fully formed into my head. I seemed to follow her, wherever she took the story. My writing process involves getting a seed of an idea and then starting to write – maybe with a few key scenes in my head, but no firm plan in terms of where I’m going, or how I’ll get there. As I write, the horizon emerges, and more ideas drop in. I spend a lot of time outside and often get ideas when I’m walking my dogs – a bit like Martha.
Book two, The Bone Mother, began in a similar way, before Crow Moon was even published. I was at my favourite writing retreat, Moniack Mhor, a creative writing centre in the Scottish Highlands, and it was just after the pandemic lockdowns. It was summer and only half the usual number of guests was allowed, due to distancing rules. It was a strange time, with long sunny days and evenings outside drinking wine and telling stories, sometimes ghost stories, absorbing birdsong and looking out over the mountains on long, solitary hikes.
I’d heard about the Cailleach Way, and the shrine in Glen Lyon, which is even more remote than Moniack. Other ideas dropped in – a news story about trains in Scotland and what was flushed out of their waste disposal systems onto miles of remote lines around the country. I wondered what might be disposed of in such a way that it might never be found. Or only by accident. This combined with memories of my time as a young reporter in the 1990s and a trip to Bosnia after the war, where I interviewed soldiers and scientists. In those days, they were using certain techniques to identify bodies with advanced forensics for the first time, and often through personal possessions found buried with disarticulated remains in mass graves.
All of these threads gradually came together in a story, and the ideas helped form new characters, as well as influencing those already in Martha’s world. And, of course, I had to wrap it up in legend and folklore.
When Crow Moon came out, someone said that despite Martha’s firm non-belief in other-worldly things, they nevertheless seemed to follow her around, and that’s absolutely true. She remains a determined sceptic, despite what has happened in her life.
With The Bone Mother, it seemed like some of those other worldly threads have started to follow me, too. I went for a hike up to the shrine on a freezing, but sparkling January day about three years ago. Some of what I discovered there is written in the opening chapter of the book and was penned just after I got back. The place is far from anywhere. On the day we went, the mountains were laced with snow and we had to find a place to cross the high waters of the river which guards the entrance to the Cailleach Glen.
On the way up, there was a turn in the track and a clearing where an old caravan might once have stood overlooking the waters of the loch. Heavily fleeced sheep studded the hillsides, hiding in hollows and amongst wind-blasted Hawthorns and Rowan trees. When we reached the shrine, it was peaceful. The small stone and turf-roofed dwelling was tucked off to the left of the track across boggy ground. The Cailleach stones were safe inside, hidden from the world, but atop the structure were flowers, animal skulls and other items. The atmosphere was truly magical and set me off to find out more about the stories surrounding Scotland’s goddess of winter.
Since then, I’ve met people with unexpected connections to the Glen and the Cailleach herself; I have had warnings about treating her tale with respect, and had several Tarot readings where a purple-robed queen with a definite resemblance to the goddess has appeared.
The beautiful lines from a poem quoted at the start of the book, by writer Sarah Coakley were another coincidence, which has led to us planning an event together in Dundee on 21st May. There have been other odd coincidences, too many to detail here, but it all added up to Martha setting off on another strange adventure. There are bones, missing girls, and an exploration of the contrast between ancient and modern worlds. I hope readers will enjoy being alongside Martha again as much as I have.
And this spring, I intend to return to the shrine to see the stones out, and will leave an appropriate offering for the Cailleach which I hope will please her.
Suzy Aspley is the author of The Bone Mother, book two in the Martha Strangeways Investigation series and the sequel to Crow Moon, both published by Orenda Books.
