Behind the Pages: What Lies in Darkness

Last year, a new detective took the mystery charts by storm: Jess Lambert, an unforgettable heroine recovering from an unimaginable loss, who starts to think she might be seeing ghosts in the lake town central to These Still Black Waters. Her author, Christina McDonald, had already made a name for herself with her breakout smash hit The Night Olivia Fell. But this was something new for McDonald: A protagonist with staying power who left readers clamoring for a series.

Now, Jess Lambert is back in a page-turner that works equally well as a sequel and a standalone in its own right. Her story is a fresh blend of dark, atmospheric suspense with a touch of paranormal; readers are invited to bring their own interpretations of how much is real and how much is in Jess’s head, and the result is a deliciously fun read that will leave you looking over your shoulder and burrowing under the covers tight.

Come along as Christina McDonald takes us Behind the Pages.

1. What’s the title of your book—and was that always the title?

The title is What Lies in Darkness, and it’s remained so since the end of the first draft (about five months into writing the story).

I brainstormed and brainstormed before sending the draft to my editor, and somehow managed to come up with What Lies in Darkness, which popped into my head in one of those rare moments of clarity where you know a title fits, and then the marketing team agree.

2. Who’s the main character of your book-and was that always their name?

Jess Lambert, my main character, started her character journey in These Still Black Waters (book 1 in this series), and initially her name was Morgan Casey. I ended up using that last name for another detective (Detective Will Casey), so I brainstormed a bit more, and landed on Jess Lambert, which was so perfect I never changed it again!

3. At the start of the book, what’s the character’s goal?

As a detective, Jess Lambert’s character goal is always to solve the case she’s investigating, so each book in the series focuses on a new case. Because Jess is a detective, technically the books are police procedurals, but they’re different than other procedurals in that they focus more on the characters outside of the police. In fact, the police are almost a secondary character in these books.

In What Lies in Darkness, Jess’s case starts when Alice, the other protagonist, finds a bloody backpack that Alice is certain belongs to her missing sister. When Jess is called in to investigate, she finds a man’s body hidden in a suitcase near where the backpack was located. Jess’s goal is to find out who killed him, and how he’s tied to Alice’s missing family’s case.

4. What was the core idea for this novel—a plot point? A theme?—and where did it come from?

The core idea for this novel came from a recurring nightmare I’ve always had, reflecting a deep-seated fear of mine: coming home after school/work/friend’s house, and my entire family having disappeared. This nightmare lessened as I got older, but still appeared randomly. One morning a few years ago, I woke after having that nightmare, but instead of turning away from it, like I usually did, I started writing about it.

It was a very personal writing exercise, and what came out was a fictional scene that later became the first chapter for What Lies in Darkness, in which Alice is with her family driving home during a snowstorm. They get in a horrible car accident, and when Alice regains consciousness, her entire family has disappeared.

5. At what point did you come up with the final version of the first line?

Initially my first line was going to be: “I’m taking a Jell-O shot when my dead dad walks in.” Alice is partying with her friends and since the accident she’s had hallucinations. But then I decided to use the chapter I’d done as a writing exercise (in which Alice is in the car accident), to give more context to the trauma she’d experienced. So the first line ends up being: “My family was murdered at the witching hour,” which allows the reader to know instantly that she doesn’t think their disappearance was an accident at all.

6. Did you know the ending of the book when you started?

No, I never really do. I didn’t know who the baddie was going to be or even who the body in the suitcase was, let alone how they related to Alice’s missing family’s case. I just simply sat down and wrote, always trying to keep in mind my character’s external goal and internal need.

Often in the first draft, the story leads me more than me leading the story. I’ll throw in a missing head or a sudden bomb exploding or maybe a dog shows up in a snowstorm, and then I’ll see if they connect as the story goes on.

Sometimes this means I write myself into a corner and then I spend a fair bit of time questioning my existence, my book’s existence, and the existence of all of my characters. But I do manage to make it all work out. Eventually.

7. What’s something in this book that you’ve never done before?

I introduced a few chapters from the villain’s POV during the final chapters of the book so the reader could get a deeper insight into how the events came to be from the villain’s perspective, as well as their motivation and emotions. I wasn’t sure if it would work, but once I’d written that POV, I felt that it really added a new depth to the book that I liked and was proud of.

8. What part of your launch events are you most excited about?

I live in London so it’s difficult (and expensive) to get to [North] America to do live events, but I just so happened to book my family holiday in Toronto over the time period when my book was launching, and my dear author friend Hannah Mary McKinnon was launching her book the same day, so we did an author event live in a Toronto bookstore, which was so much fun!

9. Who in your #writingcommunity deserves a special shout-out for supporting you in writing this story?

All the bookstagrammers on Instagram who tirelessly read, review, talk about, promote and share books, simply because they love books and they love authors. The bookstagram community is one that constantly supports, inspires, encourages and cheers me on every day. I’m incredibly grateful. And especially Tonya Cornish at Thriller Book Lovers The Pulse who coordinates and promotes early reviews for my books. She’s a rock star in my eyes.

10. How do you want readers to feel when they close the book?

Breathless. Triumphant. Stunned. Emotional. Always emotional.

Once when I was a kid I was reading outside of my classroom before school started and I got so caught up in the book that I didn’t realize when the class went inside. I closed my book a little later and realized I’d missed the start of school!

I want my readers to feel that way, so absorbed in my book that they lose track of the world moving outside of it.

11. What did YOU learn from this book?

 I’m not sure ‘learned’ is the right word, but I was able to process my fear of coming home and my entire family having disappeared. I’m not saying I’ll never have that nightmare again, but I haven’t had it since I wrote this book, so fingers crossed …

Also, I learned that I can write a series … I worried that Jess’s character arc was done; that I wouldn’t be able to find a way to keep her vibrant and changing on the page. And since I’m a pantser at heart, it really felt impossible for a number of months as I wrote, then deleted, page after page after page.

I keep a wall of Post-it notes next to my desk, a range of quotes and words that mean something to me. And one of them is: “Don’t write it right. Write it, and then make it right.” And so I just started writing. Anything. Anything at all. Once I had some words, I had something to edit. And I just let myself feel free to sink into my character, which is where I really realized the plot came from anyway.