CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger 2024 – Interview with Femi Kayode

This Thursday will see the announcement of the winner of the 2024 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, and in the run-up we’ve been talking to some of the shortlisted authors to find out more about their novels. Today we’re sharing our interview with Femi Kayode, author of Gaslight.

How does it feel to be on the shortlist for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger?

I am beyond thrilled and frankly, a bit overwhelmed. First of all, the longlist, (and then the) shortlist are amazing and I never imagined that this particular novel would be in such august company. It is such a different crime novel with very strong interpersonal themes at its heart. So, to have it shortlisted for Ian Fleming Steel Dagger is affirming and inspiring. I think it also speaks to the way the genre is evolving to encompass more diversity in storytelling and the normalisation of the representation of writers that tell these stories. Each one of the novels shortlisted are different, powerful and compelling tales in their own right and yet, they are almost the antithesis of the 007 brand. I am excited to be recognised as being a part of this evolution in the genre of crime fiction.

How would you summarise Gaslight and what inspired you to tell this story?

Gaslight is overtly a simply story. Dr Philip Taiwo — the investigator I introduced in my debut, Lightseekers — has been asked by the elders of a megachurch in Nigeria to clear their charismatic leader’s name of the suspected murder of his wife, the First Lady of the church. Although there is no body, the police seem to have enough evidence to make the Bishop’s arrest as public and humiliating as possible. Dr Taiwo now has the double task of finding the missing First Lady and clearing the Bishop’s name of any suspicion of foul play. The latter proved to be the easiest of the tasks because as soon as Dr Taiwo has managed to clear one mystery, another emerges until he is not sure whose reality to trust: his, the suspect or the victim.

What inspired this story was a simple question which I posed to my editor some time back; why would the victim want the truth stay hidden? It was an interesting premise because it placed the victim in the front and centre of the crime, giving them agency and providing opportunities for the most unusual of red herrings.

What is your writing process?

If you had asked me this question before I started writing my third book, I would have been able to answer confidently: I have an idea, I pitch it to my publisher, it’s approved, we agree on a deadline, I have a pretty good idea what I want to say and generally know the beginning and the end. The middle always took work, but most writers will tell you that. I write and sort of go on to the end organically. But with this one, I am trying a different approach. I have done a detailed outline, done extensive research and I had hoped it would go faster, but not quite. I think I am also older, a bit more jaded. And with that comes a revision of how to do the best possible work, and the conditions under which to make that happen. I am not sure I have the answer yet, so I will wait until I deliver the first draft of my third book to answer a bit more confidently as to which process (‘pantster’ or planner) works best. I suspect it will be a combination of both.

What advice would you give to aspiring thriller writers?

Make peace with the fact that it’s been done before. Don’t sweat this idea of ‘being different’. Aim for a story well told. Spend more time on your characters, give them heart, pour your soul into them and if you succeed, you would have done what’s been done before but differently. Or at least done in a way that’s uniquely you. And that’s enough.

What is your favourite thriller and why?

I don’t have a favourite thriller or book right now. I have authors that I admire a lot and incidentally, two of them are on the shortlist. So again, you can imagine how truly privileged I feel. But if I have to choose a book that inspired me to want to write crime stories it would certainly be Sidney Sheldon’s The Naked Face. It was Mr Sheldon’s debut novel and it achieved two critical things: It made me want to be a writer and made me interested in the human mind enough to want to study it. It’s a great little book that literally changed my life.

Our thanks to Femi for answering our questions! The 2024 Daggers winners will be announced on 4 July. Find out more about past winners of the Steel Dagger on the CWA site here, and learn more about the rest of the Daggers and shortlists here.