Vanda Symon

Vanda Symon is a crime writer from Dunedin, New Zealand. She is a three-time finalist for the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Fiction novel, was shortlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger award, and was nominated for the 2022 USA Barry Awards.

Suffolk readers will be familiar with her books featuring sassy heroine Sam Shephard. Vanda's latest, Expectant, was published by Orenda Books on 16 February. You can find Expectant and all of Vanda's books on our catalogue.

Who were your heroes as you were growing up and did the local library service play a part in introducing you to books?

The Greerton Public Library in Tauranga, New Zealand, was my home away from home as a kid. My Mum introduced me to the wonders of books early on in life, and trips to the library to pick up a stack of them were frequent. My first obsession with a book started at the library as a young kid, where I became addicted to The Berenstain Bears Almanac. I reissued that book so many times! The library helped fuel my love of novels set in Roman times and knights & castles, King Arthur and authors such as T.S White, Rosemary Sutcliffe, Ronald Welch, Mary Stewart…

You worked in a pharmacy before you were published. If the writing had not been a success, do you think you would have followed a scientific career?

I have done both! I did a PhD in Science communication, and I currently work as a researcher at the Va’a o Tautai Centre for Pacific Health at the University of Otago, looking into the health of Pacific peoples. I am involved in projects looking at access to medicines, and also experiences with dementia for Pacific people and their families.

Science and the arts go beautifully hand in hand.

All writers have ways of getting into the mindset for writing. How did the tea tray mind mapping ritual come about and how does it work?

My mum used to refer to drinking tea from pretty bone china tea sets as ‘frilly tea.’ She was a firm believer in not saving things for good occasions, and I certainly am too. We used to have frilly tea parties where friends were invited around for tea and we’d use the cake stands for the baking and wear frocks. I see my tea trays as a frilly tea party for one. Mentally, they feel like a special treat as you settle in to do some writing.

I’m a visual kind of a girl, so I find mind-mapping, or visual representation of what you’re trying to do really useful. They are great in plotting crime fiction as you can draw lines between things and literally see the connections. They are fun to do too – I use lots of colours and they can get quite messy.

And then you wrote Overkill... How long was the character of Sam Shephard in your mind before you thought I've got to get her down on paper?

I had initially started writing Overkill with a male detective protagonist, but that just wasn’t working for me. I had an epiphany moment when my husband did something dumbnut, and I thought I can’t even understand the man I married, how the hell do I think I can live in the head of a male? So I changed him to a her and Sam Shephard arrived fully formed and with quirks, sass and attitude. She’s still bossing me around.

Your latest book in the UK is Expectant where Sam Shephard returns. Can you tell us a little about it?

When we left Sam at the end of Bound she was newly pregnant. In Expectant she is in the last weeks of work before going on maternity leave when the brutal murder of a heavily pregnant woman shocks the city of Dunedin. For Sam this case feels very personal, and the clock is ticking, for her and the impending arrival of her baby, and to catch the killer before they strike again…

What's next for you?

Getting stuck into writing the next book – a follow up to Faceless, or a new Sam Shephard. Not sure which. What do you think?

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

Book – I’ve recently read Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr.. It blew me away.

Music – The Hallelujah Chorus by Handel, live, in a gloriously acoustic church or cathedral.

Art – A Monet exhibition, where you get to truly appreciate his genius in using the three dimensional elements of paint to reflect light.

What is the funniest or strangest thing anyone has ever said to you about your books?

When people have complained about the swearing (Sam Shephard has a good, er, vocabulary and she’s not afraid to use it) but no one complains about the brutal or grizzly murders!

What is on your 'to read' pile at the moment?

It’s more a to read mountain, rather than pile, but those near the top are Horse by Geraldine Brooks, Razorblade Tears by S.A. Crosby, Incredible Journeys: Exploring the Wonders of Animal Navigation by David Barrie.

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

I’m the youngest of twelve!