‘No.’
Marni dipped the needles into the black ink. She was going to enjoy this very much. He wasn’t, but then that was the price you paid for a tattoo.
‘Ready, Frank?’
‘As I’ll ever be.’
She tattooed the first black line on the pale skin of his back and laughed.
‘Ouch.’
‘How does it feel to be tattooed?’
‘You can stop now. I didn’t realise it would hurt this much.’
She carried on tattooing.
‘Don’t worry. You’re sitting like a champ.’
Acknowledgements
I owe many people large debts of gratitude for their support and help over the course of bringing The Tattoo Thief into existence, but two people stand out for their unswerving belief in the potential of a three-minute pitch to become something more, and for the unstinting support they gave me through the writing process. My wonderful agent Jenny Brown, of Jenny Brown Associates, through her involvement with Bloody Scotland, gave me the chance to pitch my idea in the first place and offered me representation on the promise of what was to come – you have my eternal gratitude. The other person is my amazing editor Sam Eades, of Trapeze – she was present at the initial pitch and shepherded me through the creative process with patience and insight, drawing the best from me and then demanding more – thank you – you’ve made me a better writer by setting such a high bar.
I also owe a great deal to the Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival – the value of being able to pitch, as an unknown and unproven writer, in front of a panel of publishers and agents cannot be underestimated. I’m not exaggerating when I say that those three minutes pitching my idea on the stage at Bloody Scotland changed my life.
Thanks and admiration to my stalwart copy editor Sophie Wilson, who never once complained at having to change thousands of em dashes into en dashes and double quotation marks into single quotation marks – rest assured, that won’t be necessary in the next manuscript. She also helped me to avoid multiple disasters by spotting plot holes and correcting my most heinous errors. And gratitude to my accidental and enigmatic proof reader Mac, who picked up all the errors I certainly would have missed.
Thanks are due to numerous other folks. In particular, I want to thank my very gifted tattoo artist, Matt Gordon, who not only tattooed the brilliant octopus on my arm but also, over 25 hours of tattooing, imparted a huge amount of information on the art and the people who pursue it. Thank you also to Woody of the Brighton Tattoo Convention, not only for helping me with my research and checking the manuscript for authenticity, but also for never complaining that I have hijacked his convention for the purposes of fiction. Jess Stocker of Chapter XIII in Brighton gave me insight into what it’s like for women working in a male-dominated industry and how women tattoo artists are becoming more of a force.
I’m extremely grateful to Superintendent (Retired) David Hammond of Staffordshire Police for ensuring no major errors in my police procedure and also to Doctor Jo Harris of Imperial College School of Medicine for similarly advising me on medical matters.
Thanks are due to Marion Urch of Adventures in Fiction, who imparted a great deal of writing wisdom to me over the course of her mentorship and made me the writer I am today.
Finally, many fellow writers, friends and family members have earned my gratitude. They have acted as sounding boards, readers, cheerleaders and purveyors of the necessary quantities of gin that fuelled this endeavour. In particular, I’m grateful to my wonderful friend Madeleine Mitchell for many hours of discussion of plot, writing technique and much else, and to Crystal Hill Nanavati for reading and endless encouragement. Also to the members of my book group for making me read things I didn’t want to and for their massive enthusiasm for The Tattoo Thief – thank you, Diana Barham, Amanda Hyde, Jo Harris and Sue Cunningham. Thank you to Carol Ridler for providing me with my hermit’s cottage where I was able to hide myself away and write uninterrupted over the long cold winter – and thank you for providing gin and encouragement while I did this. I must also thank Caroline Wilkinson and Niamh Paris for their friendship and support throughout the process. And last but not least, a million thanks to Mark, Rupert and Tim for their enduring support and the belief that one day I would make it.
If you should have been mentioned here and I’ve missed you – you still have my gratitude and I’ll buy you a large drink when you point it out to me!
Reading Group Guide
1.What is the effect of hearing the story from the voice of the killer in those short chapters? How did it make you feel?
2.Marni is a complex character, damaged by her past. Is she a hero or a villain? Do you like her?
3.Brighton feels like an extra character in the novel. Discuss how the seaside setting is used in the story.
4.How does the author ratchet up the tension throughout the novel? Were there particular moments when you were on edge?
5.Discuss the relationship between Marni and DI Francis Sullivan, and how it changes over the course of the story.
6.Did you suspect who the murderer was? What hints did the author make?
7.Discuss the role of tattoos in the story. What did you learn?
8.Share your favourite films/TV programmes/books about detective duos.
About The Author
Alison Belsham initially started writing with the ambition of becoming a screenwriter and in 2000 was commended for her visual storytelling in the Orange Prize for Screenwriting. In 2001 she was shortlisted in a BBC Drama Writer competition. Life and children intervened but, switching to fiction, in 2009 her novel Domino was selected for the prestigious Adventures in Fiction mentoring scheme. In 2016 she pitched her first crime novel, The Tattoo Thief, at the Pitch Perfect event at the Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival and was judged the winner.
Copyright
AN ORION EBOOK
First published in Great Britain in 2018 by Orion Books.
This eBook first published in 2018 by Orion Books.
© Alison Belsham 2018
The right of Alison Belsham to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work respectively has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
eBook ISBN: 9781409175148
Trapeze
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The Tattoo Thief Page 31