A detective, his boyfriend and their dog. That’s the Lindenshaw mysteries in a nutshell. Old Sins is the fourth instalment in the series, and not only does Robin have a murder to investigate, he and Adam have got the “little” matter of their nuptials to start planning. And, of course, Campbell the Newfoundland gets his cold wet nose into things, as usual.

But they don’t look like that…

I guess we all create mental images of characters and settings when we read a book. If the scene is set in a well known place – Trafalgar Square for example – then we’ll all have a similar picture in our heads, and the same would apply if the book is about a real person. We all know what William Shakespeare or Queen Victoria or Nelson Mandela looked like. But if the characters are originals, even if there is a description of them in the text, we’ll all ‘see’ them slightly differently, and if they appear in a film or television adaptation, that’s where the problems start.

Now, I have to give a word of praise here to Peter Jackson, because I always thought Aragorn was a role that could never be cast, but Viggo Mortenson’s depiction of the character is perfect, at least to my eyes. Likewise, Jeremy Brett’s Sherlock Holmes and Joan Hickson’s Miss Marple (plus a range of minor characters) but there it starts to get a bit dodgy. Russell Crowe plays Jack Aubrey with a lot of success but he doesn’t look like the Aubrey I see when I read the books, nor does Paul Bettany’s handsome Dr. Maturin resemble either my mental image or the description in the book. In the case of the Master and Commander film, it didn’t spoil my enjoyment, but that doesn’t apply in every case.

It complicates matters when I start to think about the characters I’ve created. (I wonder if other authors feel like this?) I know that my Jonty/Orlando/Adam/Robin don’t look the same in my readers’ imagination—I know because they sometimes compare them to real people and I think not quite—although that’s okay. It’s a reader’s privilege. But how would I feel if somebody wanted to make a TV adaptation of the Cambridge or the Lindenshaw books and wanted to cast actors who look nothing like either my vision of my leading men or most of my readers’ vision of my leading men? I get miffed enough when adaptors arse about with the plots or characterisation of books when they hit the screen. (Don’t get me started on the desecration of Sydney Chambers as he’s morphed from the delightful, thoughtful person in the books to the nasty piece of work of the TV series.)

Are there any characters whose onscreen depictions rile you when you compare them to the book versions?

About Old Sins

Past sins have present consequences.

Detective Chief Inspector Robin Bright and his partner, deputy headteacher Adam Matthews, have just consigned their summer holiday to the photo album. It’s time to get back to the daily grind, and the biggest problem they’re expecting to face: their wedding plans. Then fate strikes—literally—with a bang.

Someone letting loose shots on the common, a murder designed to look like a suicide, and the return of a teacher who made Robin’s childhood hell all conspire to turn this into one of his trickiest cases yet.

Especially when somebody might be targeting their Newfoundland, Campbell. Robin is used to his and Adam’s lives being in danger, but this takes the—dog—biscuit.

Available now from Riptide Publishing.

Amazon

About the Lindenshaw Mysteries

Adam Matthews’s life changed when Inspector Robin Bright walked into his classroom to investigate a murder.

Now it seems like all the television series are right: the leafy villages of England do indeed conceal a hotbed of crime, murder, and intrigue. Lindenshaw is proving the point.

Detective work might be Robin’s job, but Adam somehow keeps getting involved—even though being a teacher is hardly the best training for solving crimes. Then again, Campbell, Adam’s irrepressible Newfoundland dog, seems to have a nose for figuring things out, so how hard can it be?

Check out the Lindenshaw Mysteries.

About Charlie Cochrane

Because Charlie Cochrane couldn’t be trusted to do any of her jobs of choice—like managing a rugby team—she writes. Her mystery novels include the Edwardian era Cambridge Fellows series, and the contemporary Lindenshaw Mysteries. Multi-published, she has titles with Carina, Riptide, Endeavour and Bold Strokes, among others.

A member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Mystery People and International Thriller Writers Inc, Charlie regularly appears at literary festivals and at reader and author conferences with The Deadly Dames.

Connect with Charlie:

• Website:co.uk/
• Blog: livejournal.com/
• Twitter: @charliecochrane
• Facebook profile page: com/charlie.cochrane.18
• Goodreads: com/goodreadscomcharlie_cochrane

To celebrate the release of Old Sins one lucky person will win a swag bag from Charlie! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on February 16, 2019. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following along, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!