Georgia Pattison's 2019 Christmas novella

It has become one of those things some writers do to include in their annual output a Christmas short story or novella featuring their series character. But how does a writer find a protagonist strong enough to be the lead in a succession of books?

My contemporary series character is early-music soprano, Georgia Pattison, who sprang from my experiences as a choral soprano with Worcester Festival Choral Society. The memories of my involvement in the musical life of that city in the 70s and early 80s are very happy ones. Being invited to sing in Three Choirs Festivals was an honour. For one week, we lowly amateur singers mixed with the best and the brightest - and royalty on occasions. I loved it. In all the years I was with Worcester, there was only one piece of music I never grew to like and that was Tippett's Child of Our Time. I can, hand on heart, say that every other piece, even if I didn't much like it when we started, I loved by the time it came to the performance.

Georgia came into being during a performance of Elgar's Dream of Gerontius. There is quite a bit of sitting down in the second part of this oratorio as far as the choir is concerned. With the best will in the world, one's attention can wander.

Mine began to wonder what would happen if the Angel sang a fabulous concert to ecstatic acclaim, and was murdered shortly afterwards. I tried several attempts to get the story down, but it was 30 years before I had the time and the determination to really write the book. Dearly Ransomed Soul was the result and the beginning of the frequently rocky relationship between Georgia and DCI Hamilton of the Three Counties Police.

To come full circle to the beginning of this blog, Georgia, poor girl, is now well and truly destined to find a body every Christmas. This year's adventure comes about when she stands in for the music teacher at a school in Worcester during their nativity play, followed by a concert from the school choir.

The fact that a man is killed virtually under Georgia's nose she regards as something of an insult, not least because she had no idea that it had happened. She resolves to find the killer. What drives her resolution even harder is the fact that DCI Hamilton is facing a disciplinary hearing and possible instant dismissal. The detective and the singer may have had a volatile relationship but it is one built on mutual respect. If Georgia can find evidence to prove that Hamilton is innocent, she will. If she can find the killer, that will also help Hamilton's case.

The killer, however, has other ideas and this time it could well be that Georgia has put herself in danger once too often.

You can find While Shepherds Watched here: mybook.to/Shepherds

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