Chris Ewan

Chris Ewan is a British crime and mystery writer. His first novel, The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam, won the Long Barn Books First Novel Award. Along with his first novel, his second book The Good Thief's Guide to Paris were both shortlisted for the Last Laugh Award for best comic crime fiction.

His thriller Safe House, set on the Isle of Man, sold over 500,000 copies and was shortlisted for the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year.

Chris's other titles include The Interview (written under C.M. Ewan), A Window Breaks and Long time Lost. His latest book is The House Hunt which is published by Macmillan at the end of August 2023. You can find The House Hunt and Chris's other titles on our catalogue.

You are on record as being an admirer of Raymond Chandler's work. What is it about his books that got you into writing?

I first stumbled across Raymond Chandler’s work when I was visiting New Orleans and I asked a second-hand bookseller for a recommendation. He sold me a copy of The Long Goodbye for three dollars and fifty cents. The book changed my life. I started reading it on a shady bench in Jackson Square, in the middle of the city, in the middle of August, and almost immediately fell in love with crime fiction. I was swept up by Chandler’s laconic, tough-guy prose, his poetic descriptions, the jaded LA he conjured. It’s still the single most exciting and special reading experience I’ve ever had.

You were training as a lawyer when you decided to become a full-time writer. That must have been a huge decision at the time?

Ah, not quite. I was made redundant from my job as a lawyer just as I was beginning work on Safe House, my thriller set on the Isle of Man. My redundancy package covered my bills for six months and I put my head down and gave the book everything I had. Luckily for me, it went on to be shortlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award and to sell more than 500,000 copies in the UK — enough so that I could continue to write full-time.

A lot of Suffolk readers will be familiar with your Good Thief series with gentleman thief Charlie Howard. How did those come about?

Growing up, I dreamed of being a travel writer. Then I fell in love with crime fiction. The Good Thief’s Guide mystery novels were my attempt to combine my two passions by writing a fun crime series set in a number of exotic locations. The books took me (and Charlie) to Amsterdam, Paris, Las Vegas, Venice and Berlin. Once I had the idea to feature a burglar as my main detective, everything else seemed to fall into place.

How did the success of Safe House change your life?

It changed everything for me! It let me write on a full-time basis and it made it possible for me to write more standalone thrillers. On a more personal level, my daughter was born just after Safe House was published and the book’s success enabled my wife to give up work to be at home with our daughter until she began school. I never imagined a story about a plumber on the Isle of Man who gets caught up in a puzzling disappearance might resonate with so many readers.

Your new book is The House Hunt. Can you tell us a little about it?

The House Hunt is a “what would you do” thriller about a young couple who are selling their recently renovated home in London and what happens when the woman, Lucy, agrees to show a complete stranger around the house by herself (because their estate agent is running late) only to find that the man she is showing the house to refuses to leave. It’s a tense and suspenseful story of secrets and survival.

You often take situations that could possibly happen to ordinary people. How do you identify a situation that has the potential for a story?

I tend to think of everyday situations where an ordinary person might be vulnerable without necessarily realising it. For example, my previous novel, The Interview, is about a woman who attends a job interview on the 13th floor of an office building only to find that her interviewer is asking her increasingly bizarre questions, and that everyone else has gone home for the weekend...

Is there anything you can share with us about your latest project?

I can tell you that it’s another “what would you do thriller” about a young couple who agree to give a lift to a couple with a baby who have been stranded by a breakdown, little realising the danger they are inviting into their car. And that I haven’t finished it quite yet!

One book, piece of music or work of art that everyone should experience?

Other than Chandler? Since I’m watching it live on television as I write this, I would say that I will always have fond memories of the year I went to Glastonbury Festival, and it seems like the perfect kind of experience to enjoy at least once.

What is the strangest or funniest thing any of your readers has shared with you?

One reader asked me if I’d like them to teach me how to pick locks! They weren’t a burglar — they were an accountant whose hobby was lock picking — and thanks to them, I can now rake and shim padlocks, and do some basic lock picking.

Can you tell us one thing about yourself that your readers may not know?

I’m terrified of heights. Recently, my wife suggested I might like to take up rock climbing. Make of that what you will...