Why did I write The Barrage Body?
I’ve not been quiet about explaining how hard I found The Barrage Body to ‘solve.’ I don’t think I’ve been restrained in explaining why either. Which brings me to the inspiration behind this latest mystery set in the 1940s.
When I finished writing The Secret Sauce, I was sure there was more ‘mystery’ to solve (if you’ve not read it yet, don’t be put off, the mystery is solved in the book, this is more a background element). I checked with a few advanced readers, and their response was reassuring, ‘We just thought you’d get to that in the next book.’ And this was absolutely my intention.
BUT, well, the huge BUT is that after I’d started writing the book, my research led me down a very different path. My intention was to base the fourth book at the Fort Dunlop/Dunlop Rubber Company factory. I found a lot of aerial photographs and a book about memories of working at the factory, and all seemed good. Only then did I discover the barrage balloons. The resource I consulted said they had been situated at Fort Dunlop, or at least one of them had (I am now not quite so sure, but it was too late). So, the original title went out the window, and the story changed quite a bit. The barrage balloons, constructed by Dunlop, although at a different factory, were just too enticing, and so the story veered away from my original intention. It veered so much that I eventually realised I had two halves of two very different stories. My mystery (and you should all know I don’t plan them – if that wasn’t already obvious enough) couldn’t be solved. GRRRR.
https://www.business-live.co.uk/incoming/gallery/pictures-fort-dunlop-archive-7417272 (even more images here)
So frustrated was I, that I had to put an almost complete manuscript to one side for a month and write something else. I didn’t even think about the book during that month. I was very cross with myself. Eventually, I realised what had to be done (but it was not a single lightbulb moment, but rather many of them) and the mystery became solvable. So, while my inspiration was to base this mystery at another Erdington staple, the Fort Dunlop site, it was even more inspired by the barrage balloons that were flown during WW2 to act as a deterrent to enemy aircraft. Curious, you can watch a fabulous video over on the PATHE website https://cutt.ly/NtpYVUD8.
Here’s the blurb
Birmingham, England, December 1944.
Chief Inspector Mason of Erdington Police Station is summoned to the Dunlop Rubber Company by an irate Mrs Adams from the Buying Department on a cold Tuesday morning in December 1944.
No sooner have he and O’Rourke managed to uncover the cause of Mrs Adams’ telephone call to the police station, than events take a far more chilling turn than the rogue situation’s vacant advertisement first alluded. It might just be that they’re in the right place at the right time to prevent a terrible tragedy. Or are they?
As the barrage balloon threatens to break free from its winch truck in the terrible wind, Sam Mason makes a most unwelcome discovery. Who killed the man, but more importantly, how did he end up, roped to the barrage balloon? And with the WAAF denying their involvement, how was the barrage balloon even floated? What does it all mean? And when they discover the secret tyre formula from the Testing Department has also been stolen, Sam starts to fear there is even more at stake.
Join Mason and O’Rourke for the fourth book in the quirky, historical mystery series, as they once more attempt to solve the impossible in 1940s Erdington.
Check out The Erdington Mysteries page to discover more about the books.
Buy The Custard Corpses here, available in ebook, paperback, hardback and audio. Or, check out the signed editions page to get a copy directly from me. Book 3, The Secret Sauce, is available now, (as is book 2, The Automobile Assassination).
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MJ Porter 