'MY MOTHER ONCE asked me why I didn't write a book about a 'nice little murder', like someone putting a cushion over an old woman's head,' says crime writer Minette Walters with a laugh. 'That would be too easy for me.'
Walters doesn't do 'nice little murders'. Nor does she do easy ones. Along with P.D. James and Ruth Rendall, she's considered one of the queens of crime fiction. But her gritty, contemporary mysteries couldn't be further removed from the cosy, tea-in-the-vicarage murders often associated with female crime writers. Walters has her finger on the pulse of modern Britain, tackling such topical issues as paedophilia, domestic violence, racial prejudice, the Iraq war and homelessness. Yet her 12 novels - almost one a year since 1992 - retain the flavour of good old-fashioned whodunits.
Walters' new book, The Devil's Feather, is her first in an international setting. Connie Burns is a Reuter's correspondent in Sierra Leone, where five women are raped and murdered against the backdrop of genocide. Connie suspects a Scottish mercenary who uses the mayhem of war as camouflage for his own sadistic fantasies. She encounters him again in war-torn Baghdad, and a cat-and-mouse game ensues. The term 'devil's feather' is a Turkish expression for a woman who unwittingly stirs up a man's interest.
Walters was inspired to write the novel while visiting Sierra Leone with French charity Medecin San Frontieres. 'I was appalled by the chaos, even two years after the war ended. I thought, 'What a wonderful cover for a man who took pleasure in killing'.' Revelations about the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners of war in the Abu Ghraib prison camp shocked her. 'The western coalition was so morally certain that it was doing the right thing,' she says. 'Of course, when the events of Abu Ghraib rocked the world, we realised there was sadism and cruelty on both sides.'
Unusually for crime writers, Walters' books are all one-offs with no series character - which doesn't seem to have deterred readers. Her first three - The Ice House, The Sculptress and The Scold's Bridle - all won major awards and put her on best-seller lists. Five of her novels have been adapted for television (two are showing on BBC Prime), starring the likes of Clive Owen, Daniel Craig and Miranda Richardson.
Walters says she's the envy of her crime writing peers. 'Not having a series character gives me so much more freedom,' she says. 'I can tackle whatever I want, and not be shackled to a particular place, time or person. I'd find it tedious to remain in a comfortable formula and to use the same detective every time. Besides, I didn't want to end up like Agatha Christie, who apparently hated [her fictional creation] Hercule Poirot.'