Penny Ponders On A Reluctant Private Eye
The Accidental Spurrt & Killing O’Carolan
The Accidental Spurrt and Killing O’Carolan by Walter Pilcher chart the adventures of reluctant private eye, Mark Fairley. However, they are not just private investigator stories. If you’ve encountered Walt Pilcher before, say in On Shallowed Ground, you will be wondering — can the creator of Dr Barker’s Scientific Metamorphical Prostate Health Formula® keep his writing feet on the earth for long enough to write a detective novel at all?
It turns out he can. Yes, I was surprised too. Not only can he spin a good yarn, but he can also create the sort of character in Mark Fairley that you can’t help rooting for. Fairley is a capable sort of guy, but he flounders. No surprise, as he has been pitched into unfamiliar waters.
My intention in this piece is to explore an area of background that intrigued me, but if you want to read actual reviews, I can recommend these:
The reason I’m not writing this as a review is that I’ve taken on a specific task which is to dive into the spotlight books and take a peek at a specific angle for Fantastic Books Publishing’s
And that’s what I’ve done.
What is hidden behind the curtains?
Walt Pilcher is a master of both parody and the absurd, but there’s a thread of reality running through the murder and mayhem in both these books that had me wondering how much had come from experience. So guess what I did when I had the chance to ask Walt — that’s right, I asked him.
I started with the first book in the series, The Accidental Spurrt:
There’s a thread of international espionage running through the story. Is it true to say you were drawing on your own experience to bring this to life — not suggesting you worked in international espionage but I know you’ve worked in corporate management around the world?
This was Walt’s response:
Early in my business career, when I was young and didn’t know much, my boss sent my wife and me to a fancy resort for a weekend where our main competitor was having a marketing and sales conference. I was supposed to spy on them while pretending to have a good time at the resort.
I couldn’t do it. It just seemed wrong.
So, I had a good time at the resort while pretending to spy.
I don’t recall my boss’s reaction when I had practically nothing to report upon my return, but I suspect he was actually a little ashamed he had sent me on such a mission in the first place.
Corporate espionage is a real thing, of course, but with the internet and other resources there are plenty of ways to figure out what your competition is up to without doing anything illegal or unethical. Over the years since that incident, I have relied on those tools to good effect.
I have no experience with political or international espionage, but between my legitimate corporate experience and what’s portrayed on TV, in the movies, and in books, not to mention stories behind the news headlines, it’s not difficult to write about those things with acceptable veracity. You have probably found that to be true in your own crime writing, even though I’m sure you have much more first-hand experience and sources than I because you have been at it a while. For me, it’s like, “I’m not a doctor, but I saw one on TV.”
There was one thing in that answer that for me encapsulated the magic Walt Pilcher gets into his work: having gone out with the intention to spy whilst pretending to have a good time, he ended up having a good time whilst pretending to spy. That’s a Pilcher twist for sure.
I went on to ask about Killing O’Carolan:
You have some interesting military-based technology in this book. Without spoilers, is this based on real technology or is it something you’ve thought up from scratch?
He replied:
It is imaginary, but the verisimilitude comes from the fact that there are indeed military-grade weapons based on lasers and electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) that can be devastating. Why not combine them and simultaneously hint that there may even be other ingredients in the resulting “ray” or energy beam and that the mix and intensity can be varied for different desired effects?
Interestingly, in The Accidental Spurrt, a strange ray or energy beam also figures importantly in the plot as the Spurr Nutritionals chairman, Mr. Z, falls victim to it early on and other effects are suspected as the story unfolds. I never set out to use similar energy beams or rays in both books, but then I can’t claim I have total control over these stories either. Sometimes they write themselves. If there is a follow-on to Killing O’Carolan, I will try to come up with something different, but no promises.
I presume they are reading my books in the Pentagon and MoD Abbey Wood (is that the UK equivalent?) and will take appropriate weapons development action because of my ideas. I seek no fame or fortune from this, of course; I want to serve my country. Just so they don’t kill me because I know too much.
The fact that this answer sent me scurrying to check up on MoD Abbey Wood to work out if it is the UK equivalent of the Pentagon*, typifies the way that Pilcher’s writing sets you off on tracks at odd angles to the point in question. It put me in mind of something I’d once read in a review of his work:
Pilcher also introduces the idea of “fictional non-fiction”. A great idea, but after reading this book, you may realize that there is already a lot of “fictional non-fiction” out there. It just isn’t labeled. But his is, meaning, perhaps, that his is actually non-fiction “fictional non-fiction”. That is the way he gets your mind going! Hop on, and enjoy the ride. Dr Robert E Murphy, review published on Goodreads.
*I still don’t know about Abbey Wood.
MABLE 2022
Both The Accidental Spurrt and Killing O’Carolan along with Walt Pilcher are in the spotlight during this autumn’s online MABLE 2022 event that will run during September and October. Do sign up. It’s free and you’ll have the chance to chat with the authors.
