Caz Frear certainly doesn’t make it a habit to complain about bad service — but the one time she did inspired the plot for her latest chilling novel, Five Bad Deeds.
After leaving the restaurant, Frear says she started worrying that maybe she’d been too hard on the waitress. What if she’d had a bad day? What if her partner had left her that morning, or maybe a family member was sick, leaving her distracted?
“It didn’t exactly excuse the rude service, but my intention certainly wasn’t to get her into trouble,” she says. “I simply gave an impulsive, honest answer when the manager asked if everything was ok. But it got me thinking about intention — how my off-the-cuff comment could have led to a negative consequence. How easy it could be to unintentionally upend someone’s life without ever realizing.”
A lot of lives are upended in Five Bad Deeds, a multi-layered novel of revenge, loyalty, and secrets — and a powerful demonstration of Frear’s impressive command of the craft. The book introduces us to a fully fleshed-out cast, including Ellen, a teacher, mother, and wife who is considered an all-around good citizen. At least to most people.
When an ominous note arrives in the mail suggesting that Ellen must pay the consequences for past transgressions, it’s clear someone is blaming her for all of the bad they’ve experienced — and they’re hell-bent on destroying Ellen’s reputation and her future.
In this Q&A with BookTrib, Caz Frear talks about the pros and cons of writing morally gray characters, the themes that drive the plot, and what fans can look forward to next.
The book is filled with what we might refer to as morally gray characters. Not long ago, it was considered “risky” to write unlikeable characters. Do you think society has become more accepting of them?
It’s funny, because when you think of some of the most wildly successful thrillers of the past 10 years — Gone Girl and Girl on the Train immediately spring to mind — they often have very morally questionable characters at the heart of the story. I tend to think, as long as the character is interesting and rounded, as opposed to a one-dimensional cartoon “baddie,” readers are generally happy to dive in. Sometimes a love-to-hate character is the most fun. That said, I didn’t really start the book thinking about the characters in terms of being “unlikeable,” and I hope that most of them are at least in some way relatable. At the end of the day, “good” people still feel envy, resentment, irritation, and sometimes outright dislike (even if they hide it).
Although Ellen is the primary character, the characters are all fully fleshed out, including teenager Orla. She feels so authentic! What can you share about the inspiration for her and how she formed for you?
I’m delighted she feels authentic, as I don’t have kids myself and I was so determined to get her right. I guess I drew on my own experiences of being a teenage girl, to a degree. While the world has changed dramatically (the internet was barely a thing when I was a teenager, never mind social media), I can still acutely recall those feelings of life often seeming so unfair, of wanting to fit in so badly, of feeling like I was totally ready to conquer the world, and the only thing stopping me was stupid rules and curfews. I also had help from teenage nieces and nephews (in terms of checking “teenspeak,” WhatsApp etiquette, etc.) Choosing to present Orla mainly through her WhatsApp exchanges also helped me to get to the core of her quickly. She was far more likely to be brutally honest in private chats with someone her own age, and that gave me carte blanche to have fun with her.
Five Bad Deeds has plenty of suspense, but you also include dark humor — there are so many laugh-out-loud moments. What is humor’s role in a dark novel of suspense?
Thank you for saying that! Part of it is down to personal taste. While I absolutely love the mystery genre, I don’t tend to gel as much with stories that are unrelentingly bleak, as they just don’t feel authentic to me. Human beings use humor to cope, to temporarily lighten the worst of situations, and while I don’t think a mystery novel is the place for slapstick humor, a witty exchange or observation makes it feel like real life.
I suspect you don’t write with a “message” in mind, but there are some wonderful underlying themes throughout the novel. Aside from a great read, what do you hope readers take away from this story?
Ultimately, I just hope it provokes lively discussions. I’ve no doubt that some of the characters/decisions will be divisive, but that’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned (personally, I love a novel that makes me think about what I’d do in a certain situation, rather than it being too “out there” in terms of plot). As you say, I didn’t start writing Five Bad Deeds with a specific message in mind, but there’s a reason why Ellen’s “Few people are all good, few people all bad…” monologue appears so early in the story. Essentially, this a novel which plays with the idea of “good’ and “bad.”
What can you share about what you’re working on next?
Something quite different, although obviously still a mystery/thriller. I’m very much in the weeds with it at the moment, so it may change shape again, but in a nutshell, it’s about a middle-aged woman who develops an obsession with a young, glamorous couple. But is her obsession borne of loneliness, or is something much more sinister at play…?
About Caz Frear:
When she’s not agonizing over snappy dialogue or incisive prose, Caz Frear can be found shouting at Arsenal football matches. She is the author of the crime mysteries featuring Cat Kinsella: Sweet Little Lies (which was nominated for a Barry Award), Stone Cold Heart, and Shed No Tears. She grew up in Coventry, England, where she now lives. Follow her on Twitter: @CazziF and on Instagram: @cazzifwrites.
