By Parker McKenzie
The hills will soon be the setting of the murder mystery novel Death in the Dandenongs by Australian author Brigid George, the 7th book in the Dusty Kent Mystery series.
The Star Mail caught up with Ms George ahead of the novel being published in May to talk about why she chose the Dandenongs as the setting, her connection to the area and her advice for any aspiring writers.
Ms George said after writing the previous book in the series — Murder on a Melbourne Tram — she decided to venture further out east for the follow-up.
“It’s a beautiful setting because people in America particularly love to know Australia is lush, they have this stereotypical view of Australia overseas of it being like a red desert,” she said.
“I went up the Dandenongs a few weeks ago just after I finished the book, to make sure my memory wasn’t playing tricks on me in terms of the setting.”
The series has featured iconic Australian locations like Byron Bay, Darwin, Port Douglas, Broom and even a Melbourne tram.
Ms George said the series is inspired by Agatha Christie and is a “light murder mystery.”
“It’s beautiful escapism really, for people to wander into a world where they can forget their daily worries,” she said.
“The first book was located in the area where I grew up in East Gippsland, and then from there we went to different locations around Australia, which seemed to please the overseas readers quite a lot.”
Ms George added she used to travel to the Dandenongs regularly when her in-laws lived in Mooroolbark.
She said when developing the story of a novel, she has a story outline that keeps her on track.
“I know very well that the characters are going to change it and I’m open to that, I let that happen,” she said.
“I do have a skeleton of the plot which keeps me on track but it doesn’t usually eventuate exactly as I planned.”
The story takes Dusty Kent to well-known locations throughout the hills, including the Botanical Gardens, the Buddhist Temple and Miss Marple’s Tea Rooms.
Ms George said her advice for an aspiring writer is to “make sure you get a really good assessment editor.”
“Without that— perhaps not everybody will — but you can produce something a little mediocre,” she said.
“You need someone more objective and someone who knows about the genre to tell you where you’re going wrong.”
She said she already has plans for books 8 and 9 in the series, with the sequel already on the way.
“It’s going to be something a little bit different. Dustin, the main character, is going to try and solve a historical murder in Victoria that is over 100 years old,” Ms George said.
“It’s a real murder, three people were hanged but only one of them did it. It’ll be really intriguing.”
More information on the Dusty Kent murder mysteries and the author can be found at brigidgeorge.com
Brigid George is the pseudonym of JB Rowley.
