In Rendezvous With Evil, a woman who has survived multiple traumas and fights for justice for those who cannot defend themselves finds herself embroiled in a mystery. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

This story actually came from book 1 in the series, Out of the Shadows. It began as a subplot there and grew too big for the book. So it spilled over to book 2. I have re-titled it, A Dance with the Devil because the villain is a classic psychopath masquerading as a human. Socio/psychopaths lead everyone into a macabre dance with evil and Crispin is beautiful, as every respectable devil aspires to be. I have always been intrigued by socio/psychopaths since the first one I met when I was a psychiatric nurse. He was a very young man who was attractive, charming, extremely manipulative and totally without a conscience. What more could a writer want in a villain?

Who is your favorite character to write for and why?

Clearly Hannah but I adore Gloria. I love all my characters and why not? They tell the story, not me. But I really enjoyed Crispin, the villain this time. It’s not always possible to use one of these sorts of psychopaths. Often those portrayed are too extreme and one sided to be believable. But Crispin is a respected (?) barrister working in a respected (?) profession amongst respected people. He is literally, the psychopath next door, (see Martha Stout’s book, The Sociopath Next Door.)

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

My fascination with socio/psychopaths and their impact on society that is often hidden behind their manipulative charm is something I’ve had for a long time. These people, who lack the basic attributes that distinguish us from other animals, empathy and conscience, are found across all levels of society. Many are in jail, but many are not and they leave a trial of destruction, wreaking havoc in people’s lives, as Crispin does to his wife, Celia.

Dealing with them is very difficult as they have an uncanny skill of recognising people’s inner weaknesses which they ruthlessly use against them. For instance Crispin finds Hannah’s ambivalence about the violence in herself and turns it against her. The full fallout from this is explored in the next book, The Spider Waits.

Hannah’s usual hang-ups regarding Justice and intimacy are continued here as well.

Can readers look forward to more from you soon? Will they see Hannah in a second installment?

Rendezvous with Evil (A Dance with the Devil) is the second in the Hannah Tree Detective Series. Book three is already available and book four is with an editor as we speak. Notes already exist for book five.

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Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2024/03/28/the-psychopath-next-door/