139: Gavin Bell: 138 Main Street – A Killer Premise and a Deadly Manhunt

What if a killer was targeting people who all shared exactly the same address – but lived thousands of miles apart?Gavin Bell joins me on In My Good Books to talk about 138 Main Street, his ingenious new thriller and the first novel he has published under his own name after previously writing as Mason Cross and Alex Knight.The novel begins with a brutal murder at 138 Main Street in an affluent Long Island town. Then another killing takes place at the same address in Illinois. With more than 7,000 Main Streets across the United States, the FBI faces an extraordinary problem: how do you protect thousands of potential targets when you have no idea where the killer will strike next?Gavin tells me where the brilliantly simple idea came from, how a spot of procrastination led him down a Main Street research rabbit hole, and why setting the story across America gave him the geographical scale he needed. We talk about researching locations during lockdown, using property websites and floor plans to construct scenes, and how real places can force a writer to rethink a plot.Gavin will be appearing at Bloody Scotland on Saturday 19 September on Across the Pond, alongside Edel Coffey and Tariq Ashkanani, chaired by me! The panel brings together three writers whose latest novels take readers across the Atlantic to America.Gavin also shares the Bloody Scotland events he doesn't want to miss: In Conversation: Chris Brookmyre and Abir Mukherjee on Friday 18 September at 1.30pm, and Denise Mina Presents: Jane Harper & Jane Casey on Saturday 19 September at 3pm.