Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Talking to Strangers by Fiona Barton

Book Description

When Karen Simmons is murdered on Valentine’s Day, Detective Elise King wonders if she was killed by a man she met online. Karen was all over the dating apps, leading some townspeople to blame her for her own death, while others band together to protest society’s violence against women. Into the divide comes Kiki Nunn, whose aggressive newsgathering once again antagonizes Elise. 

A single mother of a young daughter, Kiki is struggling to make a living in the diminished news landscape. Getting a scoop in the Simmons murder would do a lot for her career, and she’s willing to go up against not just Elise but the killer himself to do it.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Talking to Strangers by Fiona Barton is the second book in the series. This one involves three women out for the truth, all will be narrators in the story.

Police detective Elise King is assigned to investigate the murder of local hairdresser Karen Simmons.  Before her death, Simmons ran a singles group called the Free Spirits, and King immediately sets her sights on the men Simmons was dating. The author humanizes the detective by showing how she is trying to cope and recover from a mastectomy and chemotherapy.

Stepping on King’s toes, almost competing with her is Kiki Nunn, a journalist striving to find the big scoop. Considering she interviewed Karen about her online dating she decides to investigate the online dating angle.

Then there is Annie Curtis, who lost her young son Archie sixteen years ago in the same woods that Karen died. Though the police swiftly arrested Nicky Donovan for Archie’s murder, a pedophile who killed himself in custody. Annie is agonized both to feel the old wound being ripped open and to be racked by the unbearable suspicion that Nicky was innocent, and Archie’s killer is still at large.

It is fascinating to see how Barton has all three women come together in the end to help find the murderer.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?

Fiona Barton:  This is the second book in the series with my detective Elise King. I had a conversation with a friend who was talking about on-line dating when it started out.  She had a date with someone and sent a map of coordinates.  She was very excited.  I was dubious because I wondered if she was putting herself at risk.  I then spoke to other friends. This is now the new normal of dating. I know of women who met lovely men and got married.

EC: What about the victim, Karen?

FB: She was being judged. There are people who were negative about her dating strangers and thought, ‘what was she thinking. Did she ask for it in a way.’ I hoped to explore this judgement in the book. There is a book quote, from Elise she “hated the fact she was just a number.”  People do not realize there is a person behind that number. It is so dehumanizing.

EC:  What about social media?

FB: It is here and will not be rid of. I wanted to show the effects of social media and how it can be used. The ‘friends’ on social media are usually people that the person does not know and have just popped up.  Communication is more and more on-line.

EC:  How would you describe Elise?

FB:  She is an incredibly ambitious woman.  She is driven.  In book 1, Local Gone Missing, readers see that Elise thought her life was sorted out until her boyfriend dumped her for a younger woman and she discovered she had breast cancer.  Her whole world turned upside down. Elise feels vulnerable and has a fear the cancer will come back. She started to question and is doubting herself. She is battling the physical and emotional side of the disease, which she tries not to acknowledge. Elise is on her own but is lonely.  I think she is a woman in conflict.

EC: How would you describe the journalist Kiki?

FB: She is a single mom.  Because she has a child to raise, she is no longer in mainstream journalism. She is pushy, takes risks, and is always looking for a scoop. Like Elise she is lonely. Kiki cares about Karen and does not see her as a number.

EC:  What role does Annie play in the story?

FB: She is a victim who had her child murdered. Annie tries to put one foot in front of the other, but having Karen die in the same woods as her son has reopened all the wounds. Like Kiki and Elise, she is also lonely even though she is married.  Annie feels she is not heard in her marriage.

EC: Of the three women characters which pushed the case along?

FB: I think they all had a hand in it.  Elise helped it along through her investigation, finding out the information. Kiki took a deep dive into the online dating world.  I think they thought they were stepping on each other’s toes, but they complimented each other. I think they could be friends.  In this book when they were together both saw crisis but could be friends.

EC: Next book?

FB: No title, but Kiki will be featured.

THANK YOU!!

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