Paul Grech interviews bestselling crime author Mark Camilleri, whose latest novel Alias in the Inspector Gallo series has just been published

Up till a little over a year ago, I rarely touched any crime fiction. Then COVID hit and for whatever reason during the first lockdown it seemed that they were the only kind of book I was capable of reading.

Among those I chose to try out there was Mark Camilleri’s Nex. I was very sceptical especially as till that point I’d been spoilt by some exceptional writers like Andrea Camilleri and Stieg Larsson. By the end however, I couldn’t wait to read the first two books in the series and, in particular, any possible sequel.

Which is why I was impatient to read Alias, Camilleri’s fourth book, when it came out earlier this year published by Merlin Publishers. And I wasn’t disappointed. While all books in the series are good, this is undoubtedly the best one. Camilleri has matured as a writer and grown in confidence. The story is tighter and, most importantly, keeps you guessing till the end.

I did find it a bit odd, however, that someone as considerate as Camilleri could pen something as dark as his crime novels. That curiosity drove me to have a chat with him.

Let’s start with Inspector Gallo’s origins: why did you opt to have him be part Italian?

I think that having someone who is half Maltese and half Italian results in someone who belongs here, belongs there, but ultimately also belongs nowhere. I felt this played well into his character which is never truly at peace with itself.

There are then other factors, such as that Gallo is an intriguing surname – short and memorable. Gallo is also a (very) secondary character in Andrea Camilleri’s Montalbano series. It was also the surname of my first ever crush, a girl who was in my class in primary school who moved here from Sicily. Gallo is also a surname that actually exists in Tuscany, which is where the inspector’s father is from. So, it was a mix of factors.

That you checked this detail brings me to a topic that I wanted to talk about. Your stories are, clearly, heavily researched. How do you go about that?

One of the best ways of doing research is face-to-face interviews, but this was hard to do for Alias because of COVID, so I had to resort to online meetings.

Inspector Gallo has been with me for 13 years now

The reality is that when you’re writing on a subject about which you’re not an expert, you have to dig and research a lot. Obviously, I’m not an expert on police procedures and, while I’ve learned a lot over the years, so much that I know very well how they would act in particular circumstances, there are always matters that I have to ask about, to make sure that I get the details as correct as possible.

Another aspect which always intrigues me about your writing is the level of detail that you put into describing places and locations. How important are these details for you?

If you decide to set your story in a real location, you have to be faithful down to the tiniest of details. I wanted my readers to recognise features in places I write about and think “Camilleri mentions this in his book”. That for me is very important. The more grounded in reality a story is, the more people can relate to it.

Naturally, there will be some places that you know inside out. Others less so, so I’d go and take photos to refer to later.

There is also the use of stubs of characters, people who appear in your story for a few pages usually to help it along but who then are never mentioned again. How did you get to this device? Was it a conscious decision?

It wasn’t necessarily something conscious. It all depends on what they bring to the story. In life there are people who remain friends for the rest of your life and others who are fleeting presences. It is the same thing in writing. There are certain characters who just make enough of a mark on the story without really being immersed in it.

However, rather than being a conscious decision it is usually the story itself that dictates it. The flow of the story will be such that you see the need for someone to dip in to help shape it a bit.

Speaking of characters, I see music as another character in your writing…

Yes, music means a lot to me. I write to music and without it I would feel lost. It gives me the necessary stimulus to concentrate on what I am writing. Obviously, there is music that I decide to include from the very start, such as Roxy Music in Alias.

There were a couple of tracks that I researched purely to fit the narrative. The majority, however, I was already familiar with.

Does writing such a dark book put you in a dark place? Does it have an impact on you psychologically?

You become immune. There is so much research needed for a crime novel and you get to see so many things that it doesn’t remain shocking. Sometimes, it is the opposite in fact; I’m surprised that readers find it shocking to read just how dark people can be.

In the beginning it was different. Inspector Gallo has been with me for 13 years now. Sometimes I think about him, other times no.

Do you think that being synonymous with Victor Gallo will limit you especially in trying to write different books?

That is a problem every writer faces, including greats like Andre Camilleri and Ian Rankin. It is the price that you have to pay for that success.

That is why I won’t keep on writing Inspector Gallo novels ad aeternum. I want to test myself in different genres. I think that I’ve proven that I can write crime novels but now want to show that I can do other styles. So the next one – after the fifth Gallo – will be something different. There are already some ideas. There will be people who won’t read it unless it is a Gallo book but there will also be new readers. You win some and you lose some.

Which genres would you like to play around in?

There are two in particular that I’ve been thinking of. The first one is dystopian fiction. And then something historical. Two different genres, one looks to the past and another to the future.

In truth there is something else that I’m thinking of, but I’d like to keep it under wraps for now. I haven’t started it but would like to. Again, as a personal challenge.

Paul Grech is a writer as well as the publisher of Paġna Mmarkata, a bookmark sized magazine of original Maltese short writing and poetry.