What sort of research did you do for this book?

For certain aspects of the book, there was very little research I needed to do.  For example, there is a scene early in the book where Finn, my protagonist, goes to visit a client in the jail in downtown Boston.  Because I have done a great deal of pro bono work in conjunction with the New England Innocence Project, I have been in the jail to visit clients and I have made the very journey I describe. 

With respect to the robbery itself, I did an enormous amount of research, starting with secondary sources.  There have been a number of non-fiction books written about the robbery, as well as documentaries.  I used the F.B.I.'s website, and detailed contemporary (as well as more recent) accounts of police reports and witness interviews.  I visited the museum itself repeatedly, mapping out the paths followed by the two robbers, and tring to figure out certain aspects of the timing.  I also did a great deal of research on art theft generally--on the IRA's role in art theft in the 1980s and 90s, and on the history of the F.B.I.'s art theft program and investigators.  I had previously researched the Boston mob scene for prior books, and I brushed up on some of that research as well.  When I finally felt that I had a good grasp on the specifics, I talked to a few people who were involved in various ways in the investigation, but really just for color.  I made a conscious decision to avoid talking directly to many of the main players and suspects.  Ultimately this is a novel--a thriller, at that--and I didn't want my characters to be bound by preconceptions of actual people.  I also wanted to avoid any suggestion that my characters were based on real individuals.

What kind of challenges did you face writing a book on a real crime?

In some ways, writing about a real crime was one of the most difficult (and therefore fun) things I have done.  I wanted to be true to the central aspects of what is known about the crime--to provide the reader with an interesting and realistic glimpse into the details of one of the greatest thefts of all time.  I also wanted the story to address some of the great mysteries and quirks of the theft itself--to provide explanations that are plausible based on the true facts of the crime.

At the same time, the book is, at its core, a character-driven novel, and the characters are fictional.  It is also a thriller, and I wanted the novel to keep pace with the expectations of the reader--to create and exciting and compelling story.  The robbery is really just the backdrop, and I didn't want to get so mired in detail that the story would lose its edge.  As a result, I focused on certain aspects of the crime and left out certain details that were less compelling.

People are always intrigued by a writer's path to publication; tell us about your journey to published thriller writer?

My journey to publication was a short and serendipitous one.  I never planned on trying to get anything published.  I liked to write, and I decided to write a novel for fun on my commute to work in Boston by boat.  When I was finished, I planned to have a couple of hundred copies made up at Kinko's that I could give out to friends and family.  My father read the manuscript and thought it was great, and he suggested that I give it to a guy he knew who was a literary agent.  The short version of the story is that the agent reluctantly agreed to take a look at it, and called me a week later and offered to represent me.  Shortly thereafter I had my first publishing contract.  (There is a much longer, funnier version of the story, but it involves bird calls, impressions and a few slides, and it doesn't play very well on paper.)

What is the most challenging aspect of the writing process?

For me, the most challenging part of the writing process is producing something that I am happy with.  I am far and away my own worst critic, and I am constantly striving to be a better writer at both the substantive (plot/character) level, and the technical (execution) level.  I pick apart my characters and my plots constantly to make sure I am pushing myself to create the best story I can.  Then I rip every sentence down to its barest essentials to make sure I'm telling that story in the most understandable, compelling way I can.  That is the joyful, maddening process that challenges me and makes writing a passion.  It happens very rarely, but the moments when I can look at some small portion of something I have written and think to myself, now that's good, are worth the madness.

Clare Langley-Hawthorne was raised in England and Australia. She was an attorney in Melbourne before moving to the United States, where she began her career as a writer. Her first novel, CONSEQUENCES OF SIN, has been nominated for the 2008 Sue Feder Memorial Historical Mystery Macavity award. The second in the Ursula Marlow series is THE SERPENT AND THE SCORPION. Clare lives in California with her family.