Pro-File: Marilyn Todd

Critical acclaim for Marilyn Todd includes: 

• “one of the best mystery short story writers of her generation,” Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine
• “delectably enjoyable” Daily Mail
• “the Roman detail is deft, the pace as fast as a champion gladiator” Sunday Express
• “never boring” Kirkus
• “terrific read, thoroughly entertaining” The Bookseller
• “delightful plot machinations, deliciously drawn characters” Library Journal
• “wry and entertaining”, Mystery Scene Magazine
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  1.Tell us about your current book.
  "Swords, Sandals & Sirens" - a collection of murder mysteries featuring everyone from Cleopatra to superbitch Claudia Seferius via the Delphic Oracle. Even little Echo saves the day on Mount Olympus. (Published by Crippen & Landru).
  
  2. Can you give a sense of what you're working on now?
  My 17th novel, a stand-alone set in the world of champagne during the Belle Epoque. A baby is kidnapped. Eight years later, his father is murdered. The crimes are connected, but can anyone prove it?
  
  
  3. What is the greatest pleasure of a writing career?
  Freedom!
  
  
  4. What is the greatest DISpleasure?
  Researching locations in hot Mediterranean climates. Drinking champagne to be able to write authoritatively on the subject. Visiting ghost towns in America that win me awards for my writing. This life is hell.
  
  
  5. If you have one piece of advice for the publishing world, what is it?
  Take me, I'm yours..........
  
  
   6. Are there two or three forgotten mystery writers you'd like to see in print again?
  Damon Runyon. Damon Runyon. Damon Runyon.
  
  
  7. Tell us about selling your first novel. Most writers never forget that moment. 
  I'd sent an agent a novel about … pirates in the Caribbean on a ship called the Black Pearl. She was very complimentary about my writing style, but said it wasn’t what she was looking for. So I rang her, asked ‘What are you looking for, then?’ She said "Ancient Rome, murder, pro-active female protagonist.’ Six months later, Macmillan gave me a contract for "I, Claudia" and eighty publishing contracts later, I've never looked back.