Q&A with Bryan Gruley

  

 

 

Bryan Gruley is the author of the new novel River Deep. His other books include the novel Bitterfrost. He is also a journalist, and he lives in Michigan. 

 

Q: River Deep is your second novel featuring your characters Devyn Payne and Detective Garth Klimmek--do you think they have changed at all from one book to the next?

 

A: Absolutely. Devyn is coming off a failed experiment with living downstate and has crossed the courtroom aisle by signing up with prosecutor's office. And she's considering whether Jimmy Baker is a long-term relationship, or not.

 

Klimmek is looking forward to retirement and replacement surgery for his aching hip when this double-murder case is dropped in his lap. They will both have difficult choices to make throughout the book. 

 

Q: What inspired the plot of River Deep?

 

A: A 1989 case in which a man named Larry DeLisle drove his wife and four young children into the Detroit River. He supposedly confessed in a grueling police interrogation and for the past 20-some years has been appealing to have his life conviction overturned.

 

His appellate briefs served up some great material for the interrogation of Catriona Dulaney and the courtroom scenes in River Deep.

 

Q: The author Danielle Girard said of the book, “Haunting and morally complex, River Deep asks how well we ever truly know the people we love.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: It's certainly haunting, given that the inciting incident is the drowning of two infants. And I always strive for the morally complex, because that's how humans are. The knowing or not knowing of people--from Devyn to Jimmy to Klimmek to Catriona to the enigmatic, one-eyed stranger Hooper--is vital throughout.

 

Q: The novel is set in a small town in northern Michigan--how important is setting to you in your writing?

 

A: It's crucial. I try to make the setting, whether it's Bitterfrost, Starvation Lake, or Bleak Harbor, a character unto itself. Readers seem to think I succeed at that.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I'm about halfway through a draft of the third Bitterfrost book, tentatively titled Savage Falls. It's a mess!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I really love hearing from readers, whether it's via my website or social media channels--and not just readers who like my books. I welcome constructive criticism (and sometimes nasty review quotes wind up on T-shirts!). Thanks for the great questions, Deborah!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Bryan Gruley.