CJ Tudor’s dark, twisty debut, The Chalk Man, tells the story of Ed Adams who witnesses a horrific accident when he is 12. Life changes drastically for Ed and his friends — Fat Gav, Hoppo, Metal Mickey and Nicky after the accident and the finding of the decapitated body in the woods.
The 46-year-old Tudor says the idea for the book was born when a friend gave her daughter a tub of coloured chalks for her second birthday. Over email, Tudor explains her fascination with the dark and macabre. “I’ve always been attracted to dark stories, mystery and murder from a very young age. I started off reading ghost stories before moving on to Agatha Christie then classics like The Woman in Black and The Turn of the Screw . Then, when I was 12, I discovered Stephen King and that was it — I was hooked!”
The first King novel Tudor read was Christine . When asked about her favourite King novel, the Nottingham-based writer says, “Either The Shining or Pet Sematary . The Shining is a classic and works as both a ghost story and a portrait of a man slowly losing his mind. Pet Sematary is terrifying and dark and taps into our scariest what-if fears. It is probably King’s darkest book.”
King has commented on The Chalk Man saying, “If you like my stuff, you’ll like this.” “I am still grinning,” Tudor says. “It is a dream come true. He has been a huge influence throughout my life. There are some deliberate nods to his books in The Chalk Man . I’m thrilled he took them in the spirit they were intended.”
The Chalk Man is set in the town of Anderbury. Talking about the importance of setting, Tudor says, “the contrast is between the picturesque market town and the dark events taking place beneath the surface. In a way, the setting also echoes the characters who are all hiding dark secrets. I think small towns are a very good setting for thrillers because of the slightly claustrophobic atmosphere.”
The book has two time-lines — 1986 and 2016. Tudor says managing the two “wasn’t particularly difficult. I wrote all of the 1986 sections first and then threaded in the 2016 sections. That way I knew exactly what had formed my adult characters which made writing them much easier.”
Tudor picks her probably unreliable narrator, Ed as her favourite character in the book. “I’m very fond of Ed. I see a lot of myself in Ed, which is perhaps a tad worrying!”
Tudor’s next novel also deals old sins casting long shadows. Tudor says the past sometimes informs our future. “I don’t believe we’re powerless to change it but certain events can leave their mark, even if you don’t realise it consciously. I often think we never really lose the child inside us. We just get taller and better at pretending.”
Among the many odd jobs Tudor did, she also was a dog walker. Hoppo’s dog, Murphy, features in her novel. “I love dogs and Murphy is very important to the story. The incident with Murphy is what finally breaks the friends apart and is a catalyst for many other events.”
Commenting on the title, Tudor says, “I love the title because it works on many levels. Interestingly, for a long time the working title of the book was The Chalk Men. The day before submission my agent suggested we change it to The Chalk Man – the right decision of course!
Teachers play an important role in the novel. There is Mr Halloran and Ed grows up to be a teacher. Tudor’s next novel also has a teacher as the protagonist.
“Often the protagonists in crime novels tend to be detectives or lawyers or forensic scientists. I like to have characters in more everyday jobs who are thrown into extraordinary situations. Also, people have expectations about certain professions. We’re used to reading about a hard-bitten, hard-drinking cop. A teacher, not so much.”
The CJ in CJ Tudor stands for Caroline Jane but Tudor decided to go with initials because “I felt that Caroline wasn’t quite right for a crime writer and Caz (which is what everyone calls me) didn’t seem like an author’s name.”
