Interview with Neil Turner, Author of The Usual Suspect

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write The Usual Suspect?

I like to toy with societal expectations and tropes, particularly when they make no sense to me within the context of the lives they impact. Van Booker isn’t your typical woman; the situation she finds herself in is atypical for a mother. Yet there is a lot of standard idiocy in play from characters who seem to be boxed into ways of thinking and behaving that don’t serve anybody’s interests, including their own. Van, who is a no-BS type, often struggles to understand the motivations of people whose lives intersect with hers—often with potentially disastrous results. My readers know that I’m a sucker for a good underdog story, and Van is certainly buried deep beneath a bewildering pile of woes. Our judgments about who are good people and who are evil are often largely a matter of perspective, which is a little scary when you think of it. My team is good; your team is evil. It’s seldom that simple… and it isn’t in this novel.

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of The Usual Suspect, what would they be?

The musician Sly Stone passed away while I was hunkered down editing this book, and I found myself listening to a lot of his music as I worked. I could have chosen a few of his songs, but his classic “Everyday People” with his band The Family Stone truly resonated with me. It’s a feel-good song musically, wrapped around a compelling message of inclusion and hope. I’ve always been moved by its message about opening our hearts to everyone. The Usual Suspect ended up with an unusual assortment of characters—people who came from anywhere and everywhere and intersected in unusual ways. Everyone—to use a clichéd term—brought their own baggage to the game. I remember pausing to drink in a handful of Sly’s timeless lyrics as I worked: “different strokes, for different folks … we are the same, whatever we do … we got to live together.” Amen.

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

I have always read very widely: all sorts of fiction, biography, history, and a little philosophy. If pressed (as I am by this question!), I’d pick thrillers, but I won’t narrow it down to a specific sub-genre. It so happens that this is also the genre I write in, but it’s not necessarily my favorite. I dabble in some quirky stuff that’s a lot of fun to play with, but it isn’t commercially viable. Great for building my writing chops, though! Speaking of which, I think it’s essential for a writer to read a lot!

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

I’m most of the way through a new novel from a writer pal of mine, Roll Them Bones by Danielle Gomes. Charlie Donlea has a new book out this week called Guess Again, which I’m very excited to sink my teeth into, and I was thrilled just today to pre-order Ken Follett’s upcoming historical fiction novel, Circle of Days. What a writer he is! I’m working my way through The Lyrics by Paul McCartney—fascinating trivia, particularly for someone with a soft spot for the Beatles. The History of France is also waiting for me to crack it open. Taft by Ann Patchett, who is one of my favorite authors, is also lingering on the shelf. It’s the only one of her novels I haven’t read, and the idea of a world without an Ann Patchett book to look forward to strikes me as a bleak world indeed! It’s always comforting to know there’s another one waiting. 🙂

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

That’s a tough question! Courtroom scenes can be fun, what with all the inherent conflict we get to play around with, but it’s difficult to sort through them in search of a favorite. I enjoy writing scenes that have a bit of sprawl in terms of characters and content, and if a little humor gets sprinkled in, so much the better! In this book, there’s a scene where I bring back a character I’ve always enjoyed writing, Max Maxwell, who is a retired Chicago PD detective. He’s also an audiophile with a love for old LP records. Max is colorful, and his interactions with Tony are always fun. In the scene I’m referencing here, Tony ropes Max into using his old police contacts to do a little investigative work for Van’s defense team. Tony trots out an excellently preserved copy of the 1967 album United by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell to entice Max. Are you detecting a bit of a theme in all these musical references? Read on.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

I’m afraid this is yet another boring aspect of me. I’d like to tell you that I write naked with a 1930 Underwood typewriter at the end of a pier hanging over the ocean, in all four seasons yet! Perhaps accompanied by a pet parrot who suggests dialogue. Alas, I sit at an unremarkable oak desk in an unremarkable spare bedroom in an unremarkable home in an unremarkable neighborhood in a typical Canadian city. What fun is that! But wait! I seldom write without music playing, which is apparently somewhat unusual, especially given that I listen to the music without it becoming a distraction. At this point, hearing no music is the distraction. You’ll find plenty of references to music in my books, often a result of it leaking onto the page from my ears. That’s my big quirk. See? Boring. 🙂

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

Live and let live.

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

Be very, very slow to judge others; be equally slow and deliberate in reaching conclusions about things you neither fully know nor entirely understand.

Neil Turner is the author of the new book The Usual Suspect

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