When I was developing the idea for a crime thriller series led by a female detective, I decided early on that I didn’t want her to have a fractured home life – there were already plenty of other books like that around.
As a lot of the crimes Kay Hunter investigates are dark and disturbing, I wanted her home life to provide her with a sense of normality.
The idea of Adam being a vet really appealed to me as soon as it popped into my head. (I blame watching repeats of the BBC series All Creatures Great and Small as a kid.)
Here was a character who was Kay’s equal in intelligence, could provide her with a safe home life AND give me a perfect excuse to provide some light relief for readers during the course of the series.
After all, you never know what animals a vet might bring home!
Of course, events in Kay’s professional life have meant it hasn’t all been plain sailing for her and Adam, but I think the dynamic between these two people is something that is working, and seems to have been well received.
I’d love to know what you think of my choice for Adam’s career, and what other animals you think he might bring home next – why not let me know in the comments?
And, if you’d like to know what happened to Sid the snake at the end of Scared to Death, why not join my Reader’s Group to find out, and receive more behind the scenes news about the Kay Hunter series and my writing?
Works for me for all the reasons you list. But, then I am an animal lover; even my cat that sometimes bites me for no known reason. He hates water, so that is usual punishment – from a squirt bottle or even a shower.
Also, heroes/heroines with horrible home lives does get boring after a while.
Hi Jim – I’m glad you like Kay’s background. As for cats, I think they have an unwritten rule that they’re allowed to be evil every now and again 😉