The Bridal Party by J G Murray #Review #Author Interview #TheBridalParty

I am delighted to take part in the blog tour to celebrate the publication of The Bridal Party on March 7th. J G Murray's debut novel is a psychological thriller which won the Deviant Minds Crime Thriller Prize 2018. I also have an interview with J G Murray but before we get to that, here is a little about the book:

Sometimes friendship can be murder... 

It's the weekend of Clarisse's bridal party, a trip the girls have all been looking forward to. Then, on the day of their flight, Tamsyn, the maid of honour, suddenly backs out. Upset and confused, they try to make the most of the stunning, isolated seaside house they find themselves in. 

But, there is a surprise in store - Tamsyn has organised a murder mystery, a sinister game in which they must discover a killer in their midst. As tensions quickly boil over, it becomes clear to them all that there are some secrets that won't stay buried...

Welcome Julian to Books, Life and Everything! 

Would you like to start by telling us a little about yourself and how you started as a writer?

I was one of those writers who decided to become an author when they were about 5 years old. But it took me a long time to get there! I grew up in Brussels and spent my teenage years writing fantasy and adventure stories. I came to the UK to study Creative Writing in Warwick, and came out deciding to write a novel. So far, so good: everything was going to plan. I was definitely on the route to stardom…

Only, of course, my novel wasn’t good enough. None of the agents I queried paid any attention to my manuscript whatsoever. It was pretty deflating: being ignored over a long period of time isn’t good for the old ego. I needed to come up with a Plan B.

I decided apply myself to short stories. I made a deal with myself: once I managed to get eight short stories published, I reckoned, I would be ready to try a novel again. So over the next few years I became a teacher and wrote short stories in my spare time. I managed to get a handful published.

Last year 24 Stories came out, an anthology raising money for people suffering from trauma in the Grenfell community. The book had some really high profile authors, and I was over the moon about being a part of it.

I’d hit my eight story mark, and I now had the confidence to try a longer piece, which lead me to The Bridal Party. It won the Deviant Minds Thriller Prize last year, and that got me a deal with Corvus Books.

What is it about the psychological thriller genre which attracts you?

The crime genre has always been about examining the world around us, and seeing what is strange or broken about it.

Psychological thrillers do that with relationships. At its best, the genre treads a line between the familiar and the unknown. It takes aspects of the reader’s life and then heightens them just enough to make the blood spill.

It’s what makes the genre so potent, so readable. Nothing gets read faster than a good psychological thriller.

Which aspects of your writing do you find easiest and most difficult?

Almost everything about writing is difficult for me, unfortunately! Ideas, however, come to me very easily. I come up with a book idea a day. Even when I’m trying to think about something else, an idea for a book will pop into my mind and completely break my concentration!

In terms of difficulty, it’s probably characterisation which poses the biggest challenge. Sometimes, when I’m writing, I get stuck in my own head and the characters start to all sound a bit like me.

What are your writing routines and where do you do most of your writing?

If I’m doing a writing day, then I’ll sit at home procrastinating until I go mad or realise that I’m getting nothing done. I’ll then head to a local café. By the time I’ve gone through that process, I know exactly what is going to happen, and by the time I open my laptop the words are ready to flow and I get so focussed that my tea goes cold.

Without spoiling the plot, please could you tell us a bit about The Bridal Party?

The Bridal Party is a mix between Agatha Christie, Ruth Ware and folk-horror, with a group of friends turning on each other in a remote location.

It’s the story of a Hen Do. A group of women have all headed to a house in the country to celebrate Clarisse’s wedding and to participate in a Murder Mystery Party.

The only problem is that the Maid of Honour has disappeared, and someone has gone through their luggage. All their clothes for the Murder Mystery party have been swapped for medieval costumes linked to a secret in their past.

The murder mystery was supposed to be a bit of fun, but now someone is using the game to reveal something that was meant to stay buried…

If you could choose to be a character from The Bridal Party, who would you be and why?

Without giving anything away, in the book the characters begin to suspect that someone behind the scenes is manipulating them, using creepy medieval and folkloric imagery to push everyone to the brink. Now, that’s obviously a stand in for me, the writer. Although I promise I’m not as sadistic as that sounds!

The truth is that I came up with the idea of this book doing Murder Mysteries with my friends, and even writing my own. This book is an extension of that process, where I take a set of characters and see how I can make them turn on each other.

Can you give any hints about any upcoming books you have planned?

I’ll have to see what happens: I don’t want to jinx anything! But I love thrillers which focus on one location and evoke a sense of being trapped. So I will probably continue to write in that vein for the next project.

The other thing I’ll say is this: with The Bridal Party, I took inspiration from what I enjoyed. I love murder mystery parties, and I love folklore. For my next project, however, I’m starting with something a little different. Instead of basing the story on what I love, I’m basing the story on what I fear. Whatever the next thriller will be- you can bet that I will put my protagonist in my absolute nightmare scenario.

Being a debut author is amazing, and I’ve had the time of my life so far. But it’s also terrifying. There’s lots of sleepless nights: everything is new, and suddenly there’s a lot about you which is exposed. So I think some of that is feeding into my writing…

Thanks for dropping by and telling us about your writing. Good luck with your next thriller. 

My Thoughts

 The Bridal Party occurs over one day when a set of friends embark on a Hen Do. As events unwind you get to find out more about past events but as the story unfolds, there are plenty of twists in store. I particularly liked the opening Prologue which was so arresting and you do not get to discover what it is all about for quite a time. Isolated in a country house, there is a touch of Agatha Christie about the story as the friends are all assembled there, so I was instantly hooked.

    The group of friends all have their own little quirks and it is fun trying to work out who might be behind some of the events, if anyone. There is plenty of suspense and as the quick paced story works through, it becomes a real pageturner. This is a tightly written and involving book which is a geat debut for the author. I am looking forward to the second one.

In short: Mystery surrounds a weekend in the country.

    

About the Author

J G Murray grew up in Cornwall and, after a spell selling chocolates in Brussels, qualified as an English teacher. Murray now lives, teaches and writes in London.

You can follow J G Murray here: Twitter 

  |   Goodreads   |  Amazon Author Page

Book link: Amazon UK 

Thanks to J G Murray, Corvus Books and Anne Cater of Random Things Tours  for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.   

Check out the rest of the tour!