the late check-in at hotel beaupain…
First, I apologise for the late check-in to ‘Hotel Beaupain.’ As I’m sure you know, there have been several obstacles to overcome this last year, which means that everything has taken much longer to facilitate. From covers to edits to proofreading to typesetting, all entail a whole series of complicated steps, each of which needs checking and signing off from me and a delay in one has a knock-on effect on the others. But here we are, finally, and I hope you’ll think it’s been worth the wait.
I first had the idea for ‘Hotel Beaupain’ when… oh, shute, I can’t say that. Spoilers. In fact, there’s very little I can say that won’t spoil the story. I’ll explain: when I get an idea for a Hugo book, it often comes as a straightforward idea, a paragraph from which the entire story is based. One of the things I both like and dislike about writing the Hugo books is that they are often complicated for me to keep track of. I like the freedom of moving between time periods; it keeps the story moving, but it is also like arranging a puzzle; you only get a piece at a time.
‘Hotel Beaupain’ is no exception as the story moves back and forth over a relatively short period, but these differences are crucial as the story unfolds. For example, the story begins with Hugo being found in the middle of a crime scene, all the clues pointing to the fact that he is the person responsible. But that can’t be possible, can it? It’s interesting because we know Hugo, so our first instinct is that he must be innocent. When I started this story, I was hesitant. I’m not a big fan of “wrongfully accused” stories, but when I realised that no one would actually believe Hugo to be guilty of a murder, it allowed me to weave a (somewhat complicated) tale that involves what appears to be a murder without a body. But if there is no murder, where is the alleged deceased? And what is the motive for framing Hugo?
I hope that you’ll follow along with the story as the clues unfold in front of you and that by the time the truth presents itself, you’ll see the clues were there all the time. Or were they? Is the person who presents themselves as the culprit actually guilty? Like I said, it’s a complicated tale, but once you get to the end, I hope you’ll understand, particularly why I have to remain tight-lipped…
I still can’t believe we’ve reached the 13th Hugo book (investigates, that is, there are also the three prequels) and also my 21st book (even though, at this moment, I am currently working on book 26). I honestly don’t know how this happened, but here we are, soon to enter the tenth anniversary year of ‘un homme qui attend.’ Work on the French translation is nearing completion, and it will be released in the new year, along with two other translations. If they go well, there will be more! I hope to have more surprises for the anniversary and will keep you posted.
As for the future, once I finish the current book, I’ll start work on the next Coco and Hugo books. Two stories for both of those series have already been completed, so you’ll get those next year.
I hope life is treating you well. My summer has been difficult. My husband’s health has been up and down, and at the moment, we have another family member poorly, so I’m hoping that things will improve soon.
Talk to you soon, but in the meantime, sending you love.
Gxx