Автор Кирен Скотт рассказала о создании нового детектива «The Getaway» и секретах процесса написания

Kieran Scott: I Write To Entertain In this interview author Kieran Scott discusses writing a closed-door mystery with her new novel, The Getaway. Kieran Scott is the author of more than 50 novels for children and teens, eight of which, written under the pen name Kate Brian, have been New York Times bestsellers. Her mystery novels for adults include Wish You Were Gone, Regrets Only, and People Will Talk. Kieran graduated from Rutgers University with a B.A. in English and Journalism and lives in Northern New Jersey with her husband and two sons. To keep up with the author and her work, follow her on Instagram and Threads, and visit KieranScott.com. In this interview, Kieran discusses writing a closed-door mystery with her new novel, The Getaway, her hope for readers, and more. Name: Kieran Scott Literary agent: Holly Root, Root Literary Book title: The Getaway Publisher: Thomas & Mercer Release date: September 1, 2026 Genre/category: Mystery thriller Previous titles: People Will Talk; Regrets Only; Wish You Were Gone Elevator pitch: When five couples gather at the Hamptons mansion of one of their own for their annual getaway, each guest finds a mysterious envelope containing a damning secret about themselves and their host. With a hurricane bearing down on them and nowhere to run, one of those secrets is about to turn deadly. What prompted you to write this book? I adore a closed-circle mystery, and I’ve always wanted to try to write one. Of course, you always want everyone in that closed circle to have a motive, so I thought, Why not give them each the idea that their worst secret is about to come out? What better way to give everyone a reason to kill? Meanwhile, I’m at a stage in life where, unfortunately, people around me are getting separated or divorced and navigating what their new worlds look like. In those situations, we always talk about what’s going to happen to the relationships with the kids, but we never talk about what happens to long-standing friendships. Does one member of the couple get to keep the friends? What if not everyone agrees on which side of the couple they want to stick with? So, that fed into the story, as well. How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process? It was about two years between the germ of the idea and the book hitting shelves. Once I had a solid pitch my wonderful agent was able to sell it pretty quickly, and then I got down to writing. I’ve got a very set process and very specific and fleshed-out outlines, so it takes me a few months to get a first draft done. Not that there aren’t hiccups along the way. With this one, I changed the killer about halfway through the writing, so I had to go back and revise a lot! I also realized somewhere along the line that the body count wasn’t high enough, so I wrote in a character just so I could murder them. That was a first for me! Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title? Probably the biggest thing for me was choosing the title. I always think I have the greatest title in mind and my publisher always disagrees with me. But with this one, there was a very specific process around marrying the cover to the title to the most intriguing image, and I’d never seen it brought together in quite that way before. Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book? Aside from the aforementioned change of killer and upping of body count, I was surprised to find myself writing in two teenaged girls and a dog. It was like they just sort of appeared in my mind and wouldn’t go away. I think my instincts were that I needed a bit of levity, and I think that’s what these characters provide. The girls also end up playing an integral part in the denouement, so I was glad they chose to appear. What do you hope readers will get out of your book? Mostly, I hope they get sucked in and find themselves immersed in a good, twisty, propulsive story. I write to entertain, so that’s what I hope for. I do think there are some interesting takeaways about the complexity of adult friendships and on the secrets we keep. If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be? I’ve heard this said many times, but . . . read as much as you possibly can, and read in different genres from your own. You never know what might inspire you or which writer might open up a new world for you to explore. It helps you find your voice; it helps you expand your vocabulary; and most importantly, it makes you empathetic to all types of people from all kinds of places. You can’t write characters that readers will root for if you don’t have empathy.