The Good Books, Lydia Travers: ‘Agatha Christie and anyone from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction was an inspiration’

Lydia Travers on her love of historical novels, her favourite books of the year so far, and being inspired by Agatha Christie.

The first book I remember reading:

It would have been an Enid Blyton. She was hugely popular then. I can’t remember which was the first of hers I read, but I do know I devoured them all. The Mystery Books were my favourites: The Rat-a-Tat Mystery and others featuring Roger, Diana, Snubby, Barney, a dog and a monkey. That I, a working-class child in south London, identified with these middle-class children living in the country didn’t strike me as odd in any way – the adventure was the thing. 

A book I recommend to everyone:

For Scottish humour, I’d say Compton Mackenzie’s Highland novels, and for English humour it has to be PG Wodehouse, especially his Blandings Castle series.

When it comes to crime, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, where the unfortunate titular young woman is murdered at a country house each evening for seven days, has the most intricate and clever plot I’ve come across. 

For romance, du Maurier’s Frenchman’s Creek – who doesn’t love a 17th century French pirate? Stella Gibbons’ Cold Comfort Farm is a wonderful satire on rural life, a far-from-everyday tale of country folk. Not fitting into a particular genre, and a book I love for its beautiful writing, is Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor; it tells of the effects over time of a missing child in the lives of a village community . I also read non-fiction and I’d recommend Title Deeds by Liza Campbell, a funny and concerning account of growing up at Cawdor Castle. From this you can see that I like my books to have a rural setting.  

The best three books I have read in the last year:

The Appeal by Janice Hallett, a crime novel set in a small village’s amateur drama club with the story told through emails, text messages and such like. This format can be less than engaging, and it took me a little while to get into the book, but then I read to the end almost without stopping. 

Denis Thériault’s The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman, a quirky and charming story about a shy Montreal postman with a secret.

Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Gondola of Doom by Olga Wojtas. I’m a huge fan of the Miss Blaine’s Prefect series. The time travel adventures of Morningside librarian Shona McMonagle are a hoot from beginning to end.

A book I didn’t finish:

The most recent book I didn’t finish was Luckenbooth by Jenni Fagan. The idea seemed promising – the devil’s daughter puts a curse on an Edinburgh tenement – but I found its various troubled characters over a number of decades read like a series of short, underdeveloped pieces.

An author who has inspired me:

I’ve always loved historical novels and my first books were romances inspired by Georgette Heyer. When many years later I discovered I was reading more crime fiction than any other genre, I began to write what became The Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency series. It features two women who run their own agency in Edwardian Edinburgh and their exploits in the city, and the Highlands and Islands. These are cosy crimes and my inspiration has to be Agatha Christie and all the writers of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.   

My favourite place to read:

Somewhere warm! In the garden when the weather is hot enough, over the stove while cooking dinner (which probably explains why I’m a dreadful cook), in the sitting room when the fire is lit, in bed with the electric blanket.

Lydia Travers was born in London. She moved progressively north until settling with her husband in a village on the edge of the Scottish Highlands. She has raised children, bred dogs and kept chickens; and for as long as she can remember has written for pleasure. A former legal academic and practitioner with a PhD in criminology, she now runs self-catering holiday accommodation, sings in a local choir and is walked daily by the family dog. Death in the Scottish Castle (Bookouture) is out now and can be bought here.