Seasoned crime novelists David Whish-Wilson and Pol Koutsakis discuss their current and upcoming books, cross-cultural humour and sense of place in their stories for this week's Love to Read Local Radio with Fremantle Press

What do you get when you put two criminal masterminds together? David Whish-Wilson and Pol Koutsakis talking books! In this fascinating episode, the pair discuss the hero – or antihero – in Pol’s two books, Athenian Blues and Baby Blue. Stratos Gazis, an ‘ethical hitman’, has a moral code that controls his choices and leads to intrigue. David’s PI Frank Swann is in a similar boat, falling into the thick of criminal dealings when all he wants is a simple, happy life as a family man.

 

The authors discuss how the prevailing sense of place in their novels is an integral part of their writing – Athens during the financial crisis for Pol, and Perth, Western Australia, for David. Then they go international to discuss their experiences of working with European publishing houses. Pol shares the intricacies of translating his own work into English and David talks about the German translation of one of his books. They also provide a wonderful insight into the burgeoning Western Australian crime writing scene with recommendations that include Alan Carter, Dervla McTiernan, Sara Foster and many more.

 

Head to Fremantle Press for the full show notes.

 

Producer: Claire Miller

Mastered and edited by: Aidan d’Adhemar

Sponsor: This show was made possible with a grant from the Copyright Agency's Cultural Fund

 

Music: ‘Letter to a Daughter of St George’, from the Meat Lunch EP: Songs from Floaters. Written by Alan Fyfe. Performed by Trevor Bentley (guitar and vocals – @trevormb) and Chris Parkinson (harmonica). Produced by Blake Carnaby of Nuglife studios with impresario work by Benjamin P. Newton.