KJ Whittle: 'It's important to strike the right balance between surprising and intriguing the reader'
BY Maya Fernandes
11th Sep 2025
In this interview KJ Whittle, author of the debut murder mystery Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests, shares her advice for budding crime writers.
'Twists and misdirection are a key part of any crime novel but, in my opinion, they work best when they happen during the natural course of the storytelling.'
We caught up with Kerry to discuss her time studying on our Writing Your Novel – Three Months course, the inspiration behind her debut novel, her favourite crime fiction characters and her approach to creating suspenseful twists.
Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests features seven distinct characters – each with their own secrets and motives. What was your process for developing such a varied cast, and how did you ensure each character had a unique voice?
When I first sat down to write this book, my main focus was to create a diverse but also believable cast of characters. Truthfully, at the start, I had no idea where the story would go beyond the table of diners sitting down together and receiving their mysterious envelopes. My background is in real-life journalism, so I’ve spent years interviewing people from all walks of life, with all sorts of stories to tell, from victims of crime to those who have experienced terrible illnesses, grief and heartbreak but also people who have shown remarkable strength and turned their lives around in all sorts of ways. So, I drew from the real stories I have heard and the real people I have interviewed to create a group of hopefully authentic characters with a range of ages, backgrounds, perspectives and experiences.
Twists are essential to any good crime novel. What do you think makes a twist truly satisfying? Do you plan them in advance, or do they surprise even you as you write?
Sitting down to write my book, I wasn’t even sure of the genre, let alone what twists there would be. I’d had the idea for a diverse table of diners who receive envelopes stating the age they will be when they die and was interested in how different people would react to this information. From that starting point, I was led by my characters, while I sat back and reported on what was happening. Then suddenly, as I was writing, one character admitted to the murders. It was a scene that didn’t make the final cut, but it was crucial as it told me I was writing a murder mystery.
Twists and misdirection are a key part of any crime novel but, in my opinion, they work best when they happen during the natural course of the storytelling. I think it’s so important to strike the right balance between surprising and intriguing the reader but also making it believable without leaving your readers feeling like they’ve been blind-sided.
If you could step into the shoes of any fictional character from a crime novel, who would you choose and why?
If my moral compass could be surgically removed, I would love to spend the day as Kitty Collins in Katy Brent’s book How to Kill Men and Get Away With It. She just goes around knocking off badly behaved men without a second thought! I’d love to have her audacity – and designer wardrobe.
On the other end of the scale, I’d happily join the Thursday Murder Club, perhaps as Joyce rather than Elizabeth, so that I’d be along for the ride without too much pressure. Their lifestyle at Cooper’s Chase retirement village is right up my street – cocktail hours, G&Ts in the afternoon, then solving the odd murder in their spare time.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers, especially those tackling their first thriller or mystery?
I would suggest reading extensively, both in your chosen genre, and around it. Writing courses, like those at Curtis Brown Creative, are great for getting you started and making some writing friends. But the number one advice is to just write. Carve out some time, even if it’s just half-an-hour, to regularly sit down and put words on a page. It’s the best way to work out your style and to see where your writing journey will take you.
You studied on our online Writing Your Novel – Three Months course. How did studying with us impact your approach to writing?
A big part of the course was giving feedback on the other students’ work. I remember initially finding this strange and challenging. We were asked to annotate word documents and that threw me. I emailed one of the course leaders asking if I could just write a few paragraphs of feedback, but I was encouraged to give it a go and, before long, it became second nature. The process of critiquing other writers’ work line-by-line became so useful when it came to my own writing. It taught me how to look at my work more objectively and consider what was – and wasn’t – working. Sharing my own work with my course mates also helped me grow a thicker skin, which I think will be good preparation for life as a published author!
Many of our students find lifelong writing friends on our courses. Are you still in touch with anyone you met on the course?
Absolutely yes! After the course finished, we set up a Slack group where we continued to share work and update each other on our writing news. Our group have members in the US, New Zealand, France and Ireland so it’s a great way to stay in touch across all of those time differences. Occasionally we work out a time to have a Zoom chat and a few of us have managed to meet up in person, which has been so special. I can’t tell you how much those friendships have helped my writing journey. The feedback I’ve had on my work and the reassurances when things haven’t been going so well has meant everything. Many of our group have agents and book deals so there has been lots to celebrate since 2019.
And finally, what’s next for your writing journey?
I’m currently working on my second murder mystery, another stand-alone, as part of my two-book deal with SourceBooks in the US and HarperNorth in the UK.
Get your hands on a copy of Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests, out now from HarperNorth.
KJ Whittle was a student on our online Writing Your Novel – Three Months course from 2019 to 2020.
The books linked in this blog can be found on our Bookshop.org shop front. Curtis Brown Creative receive 10% whenever someone buys from our bookshop.org page.