Which beloved Children’s author did Claire Douglas grow up on?

What Book…

Author Claire Douglas

. . . are you reading now?

I’ve nearly finished reading Clare Mackintosh’s Other People’s Houses, which stars two of my favourite detectives, DC Ffion Morgan and DS Leo Brady.

They are investigating two cases: a set of burglaries on an affluent street called The Hill and the body of an estate agent pulled from a lake over the border in Wales.

The story is also interspersed with sections from a true-crime podcast about a cold case double murder of previous residents of The Hill. It’s ingenious how it all connects and I can’t put it down.

Ffion and Leo’s banter and wit is so brilliantly written, and what’s great about this series is that they can also be read as standalones, as Clare adds in little snippets of what has happened in the previous books.

. . . would you take to a desert island?

I would have to take something I’d already read and loved. So I’d say the His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman, which is nice and weighty and would keep me entertained for a long time.

I first read the books about 20 years ago and I remember how obsessed I was with the worlds Pullman created. It’s great to see my children now reading them. I would love to read them again (and I’m cheating slightly by bringing three books!).

A childhood favourite that can still make Claire Douglas cry

. . . first gave you the reading bug?

Definitely most books by Enid Blyton which I devoured when I was a kid. I couldn’t get enough of them, and had so many different series including Malory Towers and St Clare’s.

 I started off with the Faraway Tree books and then moved on to the mysteries. The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, and the Adventure series were my favourites before I moved on again to the school stories. 

I also loved Tom’s Midnight Garden by Phillipa Pearce. I reread it recently and it still made me cry!

. . . left you cold?

I don’t usually continue with books that don’t grab me within the first few pages, but I also have to be in the mood for a certain story or genre. 

If I’ve read too many thrillers then I like to pick up something completely different.

Sometimes I’ve started a book and not continued with it only to pick it up again months later and really enjoy it.

The New Neighbours, by Claire Douglas (Penguin, £16.99), is available now from the Mail Bookshop