Photo by Bruno Passigatti
Tracy Clark is the author of the new novel Echo, the latest in her Detective Harriet Foster series. Clark is also an editor, and is a Chicago native.
Q: This is the third in your series about Detective Harriet Foster--what inspired the plot of Echo?
A: Echo was inspired by an empty field that looked just perfect for a body dump. Once I had the location, pieces began to fall into place. How'd the body get there? Who put it there? Why?
Then I began thinking about justice and vengeance and how they can mean different things to different people. I had my cast of cops already, so after the body, the justice/vengeance thing, I was ready to give it a go.
Q: How was the novel’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: Echo revolves around two similar deaths (same MO, same location, same method of death) separated by 30 years. So the current murder is literally an echo of the past murder. The title also fits with Det. Harriet Foster's personal situation, as she is struggling to survive past trauma and loss.
Q: The novels are set in Chicago--how important is setting to you in your writing?
A: Oh, setting is very important in my novels. The city of Chicago is literally another character in the stories, and I work as hard to make it as vivid, as unique, and as engaging as I can. I want readers to get a real good sense of the city. I want them to be able to feel it, smell it, hear it, get its flow.
Getting a sense of the city my cops work in helps the reader understand the cops themselves just a little bit better. These are Chicago cops, not Boise cops. These are cops as tough as the now-defunct steel mills used to be. They're as unrepentant and down to earth as the brash counter staff at The Wiener’s Circle. It's fun writing that.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?
A: All I'm ever after is for the reader to enjoy the stories. I want them to find the characters and the books worthy of their time. I want them to like them so much they come back for the next installment, knowing they're going to have an equally good time then too.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I'm working on the last Det. Harriet novel before I switch over to a standalone.
Book four is tentatively titled Edge. Harri and team are back, this time faced with a new deadly drug that has hit the streets of Chicago. As bodies fall, Harri and Vera and the entire CPD must figure out who's putting the drug out on the streets and stop them before anyone else dies.
Edge asks the question, subtly, how far are some people willing to go to satisfy their own desires?
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Nothing earth shattering, really. I'm plugging away on Edge. I have until mid-March to deliver it. I'm taking it one page at a time. Wish me luck!
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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