Author G.B. Ralph works from his Palmerston North home on his popular The Milverton Mysteries series.
Author G.B. Ralph works from his Palmerston North home on his popular The Milverton Mysteries series.
Ashhurst is a great place for a murder, according to Palmerston North author G.B. Ralph.
Well, a version of it anyway. While Ralph’s cosy mystery series The Milverton Mysteries are set in the eponymous fictional town of Milverton, Ashhurst residents are likely to recognise the geographical location of Milverton just across the river.
The location met all his plot requirements, he said, but he wanted a fictional town rather than a real one, so he could “put stuff wherever” rather than stick to actual road or building locations.
“Apologies to any Ashhurst residents, but I couldn’t have two towns across the river from each other in existence, so I had to put Ashhurst off the map.”
The location of Ashhurst, be it in real life or as Milverton in his books, is perfect for a good murder, he said.
“You’ve got the Manawatū river, the Manawatū Gorge, you’ve got the ranges, the bush, the flood plains. You’ve got the new road under construction, the railway, the wind turbines. Basically plenty of ways for people to die.”
Having plenty of ways for people to die is important when you are writing in the genre known as cosy mysteries. The genre is in the style of Agatha Christie, with any actual violence such as murder taking place offstage and then investigated by an amateur sleuth living in a small community.
In Ralph’s words, “they are not full of graphic violence, explicit sex or swearing. There will be no harming of puppies or children and of course, the bad guy always gets caught at the end.”
While Ralph’s Milverton series ticks the cosy mystery boxes in the way any murders, violence or sex happen offstage and his central character falls into the sleuthing role almost accidentally, there are some differences to what might be considered “standard” in the genre, he said.
“Cosy mysteries are normally always set in a quaint English village or an idyllic American resort town. Then it’s normally a young or an elderly woman with a quirky hobby or occupation as the central character. And I have set mine in New Zealand with a gay main character, so totally different to those two main things.”
Those differences were what Ralph was most nervous about when it came to launching his first book in the series, he said.
“But actually they have been the two main things that people have highlighted positively in their reviews.”
The location of author G.B. Ralph's cosy mystery series may be a fictional town called Milverton, but its likely to ring a bell with many people in Manawatū.
Gay characters have developed notably in literature over the years, said Ralph.
When he was a teenager visiting the library he didn’t see many books about LGBTQI+ characters, and when there were, it didn’t end well, he said.
“Quite often the bit of stuff that did make it and get wider coverage or be turned into a TV series was often quite tragic. Basically, the message seemed to be that if you are gay you are going to die.”
That’s changed now, he said.
“Across all genres there are more stories where the main character happens to be gay, or side characters happen to be lesbian or transgender or something and it’s not really of consequence. They are just living their lives in their world which is how I wanted to write these mysteries. I don’t want to hold them up and say these are gay issues books, because they aren’t at all. There may be readers who enjoy them because of that, because there are gay characters in them, but if they were looking for that specifically they may be surprised when they turned the page and there was a murder in there.”
Milverton’s library and iSite is a key location in the first book in the series, possibly because Ralph is a big fan of libraries himself.
“I love how libraries are. As a reader they are amazing. Our librarians here at Palmerston North are fantastic. I quite often go into the library a few times a week, use one of their desks to write from.”
A recent local authors event at the library was great fun, said Ralph, who was one of the many authors to attend.
“It was pitched by one of the librarians and was so good. I knew maybe four of us local authors already but there were maybe a dozen I didn’t know and it was so interesting.”
Another key part of the Milverton series is a cat called Keith, which Ralph said has been “great fun” to write about.
“Keith, well, he fits with the cosy mystery vibe, they often feature a pet. But also, I had my main character by himself in an unfamiliar place and I thought he needed someone to talk to, and that became Keith. Cats actually feature in a lot of my stories, I like them. I just think they are like mini ferocious humans, they have so much character and sass, and so it’s fun to write them.”
While originally an engineer, Ralph is now writing fulltime and living with his partner in Palmerston North. As well as The Milverton Mysteries, he has also published another book series as well as plenty of short stories.
The third book in The Milverton Mysteries comes out later this year, but it won’t be the last, he said.
“I think as long as I am enjoying writing them, and people are enjoying reading them, then I will continue.”
The books are available as audiobooks as well as in print and as e-books, and Ralph has been involved with the whole process, self-publishing the print and ebook versions and then under contract with an audiobook publisher for the audio versions.
“I’ve really enjoyed the whole process and being part of it all the way through. I love the writing, but I also enjoy the editing and then commissioning and choosing the cover art and all that. Then with the audiobooks, listening to the audition tapes and deciding on the right voice for it. It’s all been really interesting.”
Between print and e-books, e-books make up the most of his sales, he said.
About 70% of his readers are American, with the second largest group being British, making up a further 15% of readers he said, and the third largest group is German.
“I think the New Zealand setting really appeals to all those readers, and it’s nice to, through the books, let them picture our amazing scenery and locations.”
To stay up to date with all of Ralph’s books, events and future plans, you can follow him on Facebook: gbralph or via his website www.gbralph.com
Ilona Hanne is a Taranaki-based journalist and news director who covers breaking and community news from across the lower North Island. She has worked for NZME since 2011.
