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WORK TITLE: Souls of Men
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.arashworth.com/
CITY:
STATE: TX
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married.
EDUCATION:History degree.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and novelist. Worked as a liquor store clerk, auto mechanic, technical writer, marketing copy writer, and high-tech product manager.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
A.R. Ashworth grew up reading classic books assigned in school and the works of other writers, from C.S. Forester to Ursula K. Le Guinn. In his early twenties, he discovered British crime writer Dorothy Sayers. “Sayer’s Gaudy Night gets my vote as the best mystery ever written,” Ashworth noted in an interview for the Better Beta Reads website. Before turning to mystery writing himself, Ashworth earned a degree in history and worked in the high-tech industry and other jobs.
Ash worth started writing fiction while traveling for work to fill in the time as he spent hours on airplanes and hotels. Although none of his early work was published, Ashworth eventually landed a publishing contract with his debut mystery novel Souls of Men: An Elaine Hope Mystery. The novel, the first in a planned series, introduces readers to Londons Detective Inspector Elaine Hope, who is working on the case of a brutal murder of a teenage girl.
Commenting on his decision to feature a female protagonist, Ashworth noted in an interview for the Better Beta Reads website: “Gender roles interest me greatly. It’s important for me to portray strong female characters.” Ashworth went on to comment: “I started with a story involving two scarred people … but I wasn’t clear which of them was going to be the protagonist. As the story matured it demanded a strong female lead who could stand up to anything the world threw at her.”
Elaine and her partner, Detective Chief Inspector Marcus Benford have been assigned to the case of a dead teenage girl, Sheila Watson, found by the tracks in East London. She was badly beaten and slashed before dying. It turns out that the teenager had snuck out the night before for a date with someone named Danny. Marcus, however, thinks the murderer may be Dr. Peter Willend, who was spotted by a security camera on the same bus with Sheila and then following Sheila after she got off of the bus. While interviewing Peter, Marcus has a heart attack. Fortunately, Peter is a doctor and saves his life. Nevertheless, the attack means the end of Marcus’s career, and Hope is promoted to detective chief inspector. The promotion is welcomed by Hope except for the fact that she is now heading “a bungled case while the tabloids demand action,” as noted by a contributor to Lesa’s Book Critiques website.
The good doctor proves to be innocent of the murder, and he and Hope seem to be headed toward a romantic relationship. Now working with another detective, Liz Barker, Hope puts together a bigger team, a request granted after a potential witness to the murder is also found brutally murdered. “Part of the pleasure … comes from watching the team track down the clues, eliminate suspects, and plod through the case to a successful conclusion,” wrote a Lesa’s Book Critiques website contributor.
Hope and her team eventually connect their case to another murder of a a rental agent who was handling a property near where they found Sheila’s body. They go on to trace ownership of the property to a Serbian crime family and one of its young members, Danillo, who has a car like the one Sheila was seen getting into on the night her death. Hope is convinced Danillo is the killer but still needs the evidence to prove it. She only hopes that she can build a case against him before he strikes again.
“This is a procedural with heart, yet it doesn’t shy away from the dark,” wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor. A contributor the the Night Owl Suspense website, wrote “Ashworth shows some real promise” and went on to remark: “The story does have its shining moments.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2017, review of Souls of Men: An Elaine Hope Mystery.
Publishers Weekly, February 6, 2017, review of Souls of Men, p. 49.
ONLINE
A.R. Ashworth Website, https://www.arashworth.com (October 27, 2017).
Better Beta Reads, http://debdobalina.wixsite.com/ (October 27, 2017), “Bookmarks: Featuring an Interview with A.R. Ashworth, Author of Souls of Men.
Lesa’s Book Critiques, https://lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com (April 15, 2017), review of Souls of Men.
Night Owl Suspense, https://suspense.nightowlreviews.com/ (February 1, 2017), review of Souls of Men.*
Howdy, y'all. I'm A.R. Ashworth, a denizen of the Texas Hill Country who writes about DCI Elaine Hope, a female detective chief inspector in the London Metropolitan Police. Go figure.
Growing up, I thrived on healthy doses of C.S. Forester, Patrick O'Brien, Isaac Asimov and Ursula K. Le Guin. Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness was a mind-opener for me about gender roles. My current favorite mystery/thriller writers are Peter Robinson, Val McDermid and Louise Penny. I find many of the Scandinavian Noir writers to be good reads, including Henning Mankell, Arnaldur Indridason, and Helene Tursten.
Dorothy Sayer's Gaudy Night gets my vote as the best mystery ever written, and a book all aspiring mystery writers should read. I say this because the central crime isn't murder and the academic and romantic plots are every bit as engaging and tension-filled as the detection plot. It also includes the most moving final dialog of any book I've ever read. Sayers taught me that, if you write to the heart and the human condition, your story can transcend genre. Gaudy Night succeeds at this on every level.
I wrote my first fiction when I was bored witless during the interminable flights and homogenized hotels of my career in high tech. I decided to put my laptop (a novelty in those days) to work. Those short stories didn't survive; that's for the best.
Thanks for reading this far. I hope you buy my books.
A. R. Ashworth earned a degree in history before embarking on a twenty-plus year career in high tech. Along the way he developed a lasting love for London, Paris, and mystery novels. Souls of Men is his debut novel. Ashworth lives in the Texas Hill Country with His wife, their cheese-seeking chihuahua, and an oversized tabby cat. You can find out more at www.arashworth.com.
A. R. Ashworth earned a degree in history before working for twenty years in high tech. Along the way, he developed a lasting love for Paris and London, which inspired his writing. He lives in the Texas Hill Country with his wife, a cheese-seeking Chihuahua, and an oversized tabby cat.
arashworth.com
Featuring an interview with A.R. Ashworth, author of Souls of Men:
In Souls of Men, what moved you to write a novel with a female protagonist?
Gender roles interest me greatly. It's important for me to portray strong female characters, especially in a dark book like Souls of Men. I started with a story involving two scarred people--Peter and Elaine--but I wasn't clear which of them was going to be the protagonist. As the story matured it demanded a strong female lead who could stand up to anything the world threw at her. Once I had sketched the first few chapters, if I hadn't made Elaine the protagonist, she would have brow-beat me until I did! She's that kind of gal. If she weren't British, I'd swear she was Texan.
Erica Jong wrote, "I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged." How difficult is it for you to put your work out before the public eye? Does the idea of your work being judged interfere with the writing process?
The notion of other people reading my words and peering into my psyche scared me for years. It doesn't anymore. People can judge my work on its prose style or whether or not the characters are true. It makes good conversation and food for thought. Much of the criticism will help me improve my writing.
Did you know the ending of Souls of Men before you began writing the first chapter?
No, I didn't. How could I have envisioned those last three chapters? Elaine and her antagonists took the story to that point. They forced the final arc to twist in directions that the standard thriller tropes rarely seem to go. When I got to the end, it was the only honest way that I could see to end this part of Elaine's journey. Of course, her story isn't over at the end of this book, so I needed an ending that wrapped the main plot, yet created more tension and drove her forward.
Some writing coaches suggest that a writer should complete a list of traits and facts about each character before they start writing. Do you do that?
No. I attempted to complete a couple of those lists when I first started writing, but it was more time-consuming than it was helpful. I once saw a list that included the character's favorite colors, what they like to eat for breakfast, parent and sibling names, and other obtuse information. It was preceded with the pontification that the more surprising the details are, the stronger the character will be. Say what? If I relied on that, I'm sure I'd get a contrived character. Strong characters are built by what they do and how they meet the challenges of the story.
Anna Castle, a novelist friend of mine, says she makes up character traits from the story, backwards. I do, too. My list for Elaine is quite short, and grew from the story. How does she relate to her Superiors, peers, and subordinates? What does she expect from colleagues? What principles is she loyal to? How does she react to emotional, professional, and physical threats? What does it take to force her to act outside accepted norms of behavior?
Share a little about your early writing influences.
When I was growing up, I read all the classic books that my teachers required me to read, plus healthy doses of C.S. Forester, Patrick O'Brien, Isaac Asimov and Ursula K. Le Guin. Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness was a mind-opener for me concerning gender roles.
In my early twenties I discovered Dorothy Sayers. Sayer's Gaudy Night gets my vote as the best mystery ever written, and the one mystery all aspiring mystery writers should read. I say this primarily because the central crime isn't murder and the academic and romantic plots are every bit as engaging and tension-filled as the detection plot. It also includes the most astounding final dialog of any book I've ever read.
My current favorite mystery/thriller writers are Peter Robinson, Val McDermid and Louise Penny. I find most of the Scandinavian Noir writers to be good reads, including Henning Mankell, Arnaldur Indridason, and Helene Tursten.
Will your next novel be in the same genre?
Yes. I'm currently working on the second of three planned Elaine Hope novels. Payment in Kind begins about nine months after the end of Souls of Men.
Souls of Men book blurb:
It's a short road to hell, when you don't know you're on it.
Veteran detective Elaine Hope is driven by the search for justice. To find the sadist who beat a teenage girl to death, she'll stand up to anyone, including her bosses, bad cops, and Serbian gangsters--even when she becomes their prey.
Nilo Srecko, the vicious scion of a Serbian crime family, is Elaine's prime suspect. Nilo wants nothing more than gratification of his twisted desires, and when Elaine turns up the heat on him, he turns the tables.
Neither of them realizes that they are jeopardizing a far-reaching plan that Nilo's uncle Anton, the family capo, has been developing for years. And Anton has no qualms about sending anyone anywhere, even to hell.
A. R. Ashworth writes the Elaine Hope series of suspense thrillers. Souls of Men, the first book of a planned trilogy, will be released by Crooked Lane Books in April, 2017. A. R. has a degree in history and has worked as a liquor store clerk, auto mechanic, technical writer, marketing copy writer and high-tech product manager. He is a native Texan and resides in Austin, Texas.
You can contact A.R. here.
Ashworth, A.R.: SOULS OF MEN
(Mar. 1, 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Ashworth, A.R. SOULS OF MEN Crooked Lane (Adult Fiction) $25.99 4, 11 ISBN: 978-1-68331-117-1
DI Elaine Hope gets a promotion to DCI and a chance at romance in this debut mystery.A teenage girl is found beaten, slashed, and dumped by the tracks in East London. DI Hope and her senior partner, DCI Marcus Benford, discover that Sheila Watson sneaked out a window at night to go dancing with an older bloke known as Danny. Security camera footage reveals she took a bus ride with Dr. Peter Willend, a handsome surgeon. Benford prematurely latches onto him as the culprit, but Hope's intuition says he's a decent man. Her intuition is confirmed when Willend is not only cleared by forensics, but even saves Benford's life when the detective has a heart attack while interrogating him. Benford's retirement opens the way for Hope's promotion; Dr. Willend's release clears the way for him to ask Hope out on a date. Meanwhile, Hope and her protegee, Liz Barker, connect Sheila's death to the murder of Geri Harding, the leasing agent for the property next to the first crime scene. All signs point to the property's owners, a shady Serbian family, and their lowlife lawyer. While questioning the lawyer, Barker and Hope run into Danilo, a young member of the crime family whose sports car--the same make as the one Sheila was seen getting into--and aggressive flirtation mark him unmistakably as Sheila's killer. Now it's a race against time as the Metropolitan Police fight the crime family's machinations to prove that Danilo is the killer before he strikes again. The characterization is thin, and the violence against women goes well past gritty into gratuitous. Worthwhile only for thriller addicts with too much time on their hands.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Ashworth, A.R.: SOULS OF MEN." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Mar. 2017. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA482911770&it=r&asid=5e57d4932d312fb30636d8f194d38a95. Accessed 28 Sept. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A482911770
Souls of Men: An Elaine Hope Novel
264.6 (Feb. 6, 2017): p49.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Souls of Men: An Elaine Hope Novel
A.R. Ashworth. Crooked Lane, $25.99 (304p)
ISBN 978-1-68331-117-1
The beating death of 15-year-old Sheila Watson in East London propels Ashworth's strong debut, a series opener. When a bus driver says that a passenger, later identified as American surgeon Peter Willend, got off at the same stop as the victim, Det. Insp. Elaine Hope's instincts tell her he's not the killer, but then she finds him undeniably attractive. With the help of a promising new colleague, Det. Constable Liz Barker, and a crack team, Elaine follows a labyrinthine set of clues while the bodies pile up. Ashworth spins a gritty mystery buttressed by shady deals, dirty money, and a vast criminal enterprise. It's easy to root for the smart, empathic Elaine, whose vulnerabilities (including hinted-at childhood trauma) only add to her appeal, and Ashworth surrounds her with intriguing players, including an obnoxious colleague who may be more than what he seems. This is a procedural with heart, yet it doesn't shy away from the dark. Agent: Elizabeth Trupin-Pulli. JET Literary Associates. (Apr.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Souls of Men: An Elaine Hope Novel." Publishers Weekly, 6 Feb. 2017, p. 49. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA480593843&it=r&asid=37c1450359da6fa6a718d98efec22089. Accessed 28 Sept. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A480593843
Souls of Men
An Elaine Hope Novel, #1
A.R. Ashworth shows some real promise with his debut British mystery featuring Detective Inspector, Elaine Hope, but will need to make a few improvements in order for this to be a successful, long running series.
When a young girl is beaten to death, Elaine takes over the investigation in which the prime suspect was nothing more than a potential witness, putting any real progress with the case in jeopardy.
As the team is forced to come from behind, another murder occurs which could tie into Elaine’s case. Could there be a serial killer on the loose?
I love British mysteries. There is something about the atmosphere, the dialogue, and the featured inspectors that make these mysteries unique and absorbing.
The author definitely understands how to create that tone and the type of characterizations that go with it. All the elements are in place in this novel, but the pacing is very slow, the dialogue is a bit flat at times, and the romantic elements felt forced with very low key chemistry. The plot is just a little thin and predictable, which is never a good thing, but with mysteries it is especially troublesome.
The story does have its shining moments, though. Elaine is a strong female lead and I grew to like her quite a bit. The secondary characters are fleshed out quite well, which enhances the story and adds depth.
In the last quarter of the book the momentum shifts into high gear with a tense, somewhat emotional conclusion, which also left the door open for further installments.
This series may be a ‘work in progress’, but I think it deserves a chance to grow and develop. I plan on giving any subsequent installments a chance to see how things go from here. British mystery lovers, in particular, may want to give this one a try.
Book Blurb for Souls of Men
When a young teenage girl is found brutally murdered in East London, veteran Detective Inspector Elaine Hope catches the case alongside her superior, Marcus Benford. Benford suspects Peter Willend, an ex-military surgeon from Texas and one of the last people to see the victim alive, but Elaine isn't so sure. But when Benford is taken ill, and Elaine takes over the case, she's given the chance to develop a new line of enquiry.
But now she's in charge of a bungled case and has released the only suspect. Her superiors are doubtful, and London's tabloids are screaming for a scapegoat. With her protégé, Liz Barker, Elaine chases leads that entangle her in a web of secrets tied to a multi-national criminal organization. And as she tracks her prime suspect through wintery London boroughs, other, darker hunters come out from the shadows.
Elaine's life gets even more complicated when Willend, her former suspect, shows romantic interest, despite personal tragedies he won't reveal to anyone--but Elaine has her own secrets to match.
Souls of Men, A. R. Ashworth's masterful debut, is sure to appeal to readers of Sharon Bolton and Deborah Crombie.
Night Owl Reviews Feb, 2017 3.25
Saturday, April 15, 2017
Souls of Men by A. R. Ashworth
A. R. Ashworth's debut police procedural, Souls of Men, is not for the weak of heart. The crimes are vicious. The villains are true villains. And, his lead detective, Elaine Hope, is in for the fight of her life in this book.
Detective Inspector Elaine Hope is partnered with Benford, a Detective Chief Inspector probably investigating his last major case since he retires in thirty days. The victim is a teenage girl, brutally beaten, stomped, and slashed with a knife, and then her body was dumped. Fortunately, in London, there are cameras that show the girl getting on a bus, and getting off, followed by a man. The camera leads point to a loner, a surgeon. Although Elaine doesn't believe he's the killer, Benford demands a fast arrest. But, in the middle of the interrogation, Benford suffers from a health emergency. Now, the newly named Acting Detective Chief Inspector, Elaine Hope is handed a bungled case while the tabloids demand action.
Although she has limited manpower, Hope puts together a dedicated team who are willing to put in the time necessary to catch the killer. And, when a possible witness is brutally killed, she's able to add a couple more officers to the group. Part of the pleasure in reading a police procedural comes from watching the team track down the clues, eliminate suspects, and plod through the case to a successful conclusion. DCI Elaine Hope is determined to do everything she can to find justice for the victims, and her team works diligently toward a case that can be laid out for the prosecutor. But, the people behind the vicious deaths are as intelligent and wily as Hope.
I appreciated the logical development of the investigation in Souls of Men. I didn't feel as if Hope truly came alive in the book. She lacked emotional depth, although her intelligence and capabilities are outstanding. But, it's obvious that Ashworth is setting the groundwork for an ongoing series, and the story of an officer who is knocked down, but determined to fight back.
A.R. Ashworth's website is www.arashworth.com
Souls of Men by A. R. Ashworth. Crooked Lane. 2017. ISBN 9781683311171 (hardcover), 304p.