An author is set to take her readers back to the 1980s with her first self-published book
A Murderous Affair? follows the mistress of a man who is cheating on his Tory MP wife. The story flits between London and East Anglia and covers a period from the 1980s to the 2000s.
It is the brainchild of Stacey Whatling, from Harleston, who owns Orchard Frames in Chapel Street in Diss with her husband, Mark.
“In 2002, I stopped working as an insurance broker, having done so for 40 years,” she said.
“Once I had cleared my brain, a sentence came to me. I had the first and last lines – then I just needed to work on what went on in between.”
After working on the book for about 18 months, the debut author entered her work of fiction in The New Anglia Manuscript Prize competition in 2020.
“The book got longlisted, which I thought was brilliant. Then I met one of the judges, Emma Shercliff, at Laxfield Literary Festival last summer.
“Once I introduced myself, she said she knew my book and that I should stop messing about and get it published, so I have.”
Readers of the book, which is already available from some outlets, have given it positive reviews.
“I am stunned by how successful it has been and by people’s reaction to it,” she said. “I would like to thank everyone who has enjoyed it so far.
“I seemed to have tapped into a vein of memories from the ‘80s – and not just the hair dos and shoulder pads.
“It is not to say readers have had affairs, but they experienced things and related to things in the book.”
A Murderous Affair? is officially released on Friday and can be bought from Diss Publishing and Amazon.
