It’s my pleasure to welcome the (extremely) patient David Jarvis to Linda’s Book Bag today. We’ve been meaning to stay in together and chat about one of David’s books for ages but life kept getting in the way. At last we’ve had a moment or two for me to find out more!
Staying in with David Jarvis
Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag David, and thank you for agreeing to stay in with me.
Linda, thank you for asking me. I have been looking forward to this for some time.
Yes! You’ve been incredibly patient whilst there has been too much life happening beyond my ability to deal with it! Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?
Tonight, I have brought along The Violin and Candlestick which was published on July 16th by Hobeck Books. It is the third Michaela ‘Mike’ Kingdom novel after The Tip of the Iceberg and This Is Not a Pipe. Obviously, I am excited by all of this and very pleased with the three covers by Jem Butcher which are so distinctive.
Those are really dramatic and engaging covers.
Tell me a bit more about Mike.
I created Mike Kingdom in 1999, although in truth she appeared on my shoulder one day and has shouted in my ear ever since. I just type. I plot five or so chapters ahead but invariably she wanders off. Twenty-five years ago, I wrote nine chapters introducing Mike to my agent, Gerald Pollinger (who, with his father, was Graham Greene’s agent). He told me that she was a winner but sadly he never lived to see her in print.
What a shame.
To anyone who doesn’t know Mike, she was a CIA analyst who was seconded to the Five Eyes (the group of agencies from UK, USA, NZ, Australia and Canada) in London under her boss, Leonard de Vries. She was in an accident that killed her husband and damaged her leg; her hair also fell out. Mike is feisty, blunt and doesn’t seem to know her limits. She is an analyst not an operative, but this does not stop her getting involved.
She sounds totally brilliant.
Writing the dialogue between Mike and Leonard is one of the joys of my life. They have a love/hate, father/daughter relationship but at times it is hard to know who wears the trousers.
I imagine so. Would you say, then, that character is the most important element for you in writing?
While character and plot are important to me, so is backdrop. Each book is set against an important issue or issues. I am not writing a lecture, but I would be sad if anyone came away after reading The Tip of the Iceberg, for example, and was not in awe of the wonderful Antarctic Treaty which covers 11% of the Earth’s land surface. This Is Not a Pipe covers the relationship between, Algeria (one of the largest gas producers in the world), Morocco and Europe. So much of the EU’s gas comes through two pipelines across the Mediterranean.
I love a book that has a deeper message David. What will we find in The Violin and Candlestick?
The latest in this series of spy/geopolitical thrillers is The Violin and Candlestick which is set in the Middle East; it covers the West’s relationship with Iran, Bitcoin mining and the bids for the 2040 Olympics but these are merely the context.
I am lucky in my previous life to have worked in so many countries and to have been involved in places and off-the-beaten-track parts that most people don’t get a chance to visit. They give me the settings.
And it sounds as though they give readers a chance for a bit of vicarious travel too. How would you sum up your books?
All of my novels must be gripping, credible and have an unguessable ending that is obvious in retrospect. I don’t like contrived devices such as ‘it was all a dream’ or the introduction of the murderer on the penultimate page. Finally, my books must be witty and have some light relief while remaining taut and entrancing.
They sound brilliant. How have they been received by readers?
If I may quote from some respected reviewers?
Please do!
“It’s genuinely excellent storytelling that’s incredibly well researched and written with such a light touch and some wickedly black and cynical humour whilst full of sub-plots that all come together with great craft.
A writer at the top of his game…”
“’The writing was as always superb, with so many witty moments and that true British humour. Honestly can’t wait to see what is next for Mike Kingdom!”
“”David Jarvis is up there with the greats of le Carré, Forsyth and Clancy. The Violin and Candlestick is the best book in the series so far … with tension, drama and misdirection keeping you guessing to the very end. This book is unputdownable and I do not use that adjective lightly!”
“This is another cracker from the brilliant David Jarvis.”
“David has done it again and written a relevant, twisty and unputdownable thriller, that keeps you guessing until the very end.”
“”This is a well thought out, well plotted spy thriller … it’s great seeing how Mike has grown over the three books. I never saw the twist at the end coming that was a big surprise. I was suspecting some and got it completely wrong. This is an engrossing, engaging read that will have you turning the pages fast.”
“Intricately plotted, pacy & with a twist I didn’t see coming, The Violin and Candlestick is a great addition to a 5 star series”
“I read a lot of crime, and thoroughly enjoy it, but these are BRILLIANT … an absolute cracking series. If you’re a reader, read them in order and one after another, you won’t be disappointed.”
“The Violin and Candlestick is a geopolitical thriller of the highest order, with fabulously drawn characters, a thought-provoking storyline and is written with some wit”
“Well, just when I thought this author couldn’t top his last book, he absolutely knocks it out of the park again.”
“The ending had me fooled, hadn’t seen that coming, for me that was down to the quality of the plotting and writing. One thing David Jarvis does make you do as you read the books is stop and think … I was drawn in from the opening page, a gripping and addictive read.”
Wow. You must be so thrilled with those comments David. I really need to catch up with the books don’t I?
You do Linda.
What else have you brought along and why have you brought it?
I’ve brought your chance to read a bit Linda! Here’s the start of The Violin and Candlestick …
CHAPTER ONE
Leonard de Vries fell out of the taxi onto the gravel of the pub car park.
This was all the more embarrassing as he was arriving for lunch, not leaving. Fortunately for him, he suffered no real injury apart from a slight graze to his nose. In fact, the act of standing up posed a greater problem, and he arrived at the door of The Greedy Pelican out of breath and licking the blood from his podgy finger, which he had been using to test his face for any damage. The taxi driver pulled over to a shady corner under some trees to eat. He was thinking that, if some punter wanted to pay him to sit and wait while he ate his sandwiches, he was more than happy to comply.
The only other person who saw this dramatic entrance was Leonard’s ex-employee, Michaela Kingdom, who was sitting inside and looking out through a grubby window. Mike, as she was known, was almost embarrassed at the pleasure she was deriving from watching the short, overweight man attempt a forward roll across the gravel. She had never forgotten him telling her that he had the mind of an athlete.
“No chauffeur to open your door today?” she asked as he approached her table; the pub was virtually empty at midday on a Tuesday.
“No, this is unofficial. That’s why I chose here,” he replied, explaining why he had come in a taxi from Chiswick to some godforsaken eatery near the reservoirs under the flight path to London Heathrow. He seemed disorientated and, after looking around, said, “I thought that this was just called The Pelican?”
“You mean you’ve been here before and still decided to come back?”
“It’s handy, and they used to do big rib-eye steaks, if I remember correctly.”
“Well, it was The Pelican, but now it’s part of a chain and has been rebranded. I had to google it. If you’re interested, that carved beam up there is from HMS Pelican, one of Drake’s ships that went around the world in 1577. I’m guessing that any other link to Sir Francis is pretty much lost. It now does ‘a mixture of Indian and Chinese’, or ‘fusion’ as they call it. It’s basically anything with rice. It’s ironic that Drake brought the humble potato to England from Virginia. I hope you aren’t hungry?”
Immediately, she regretted saying this as his face displayed just how hungry he was; this being nothing new. He wore his dark-green tie loose at the collar, in the style of Sir Les Patterson, more because the knot had tightened to a small lump over the years from his greasy fingers trying to adjust it.
“Sir Francis must be spinning in his grave,” he said.
“He was buried at sea.”
When she’d arrived, Mike had no idea if Leonard had actually booked, so she asked the manager to turn around the reservations diary so she could read the names. There she spotted Sir Donald Reeve. “That’s him,” she said as the manager, who had been born locally in Poyle, gave her an old-fashioned look. Mike was getting accustomed to Leonard using anagrams of his name specifically to irritate her and to test her decoding skills. Continuing professional development, he called it. She had another phrase in mind.
Carlos, the manager – and indeed people within a radius of several miles – would never have guessed that Leonard, under any of his aliases, was actually the CIA director in London and head of Five Eyes, an intelligence-sharing mechanism between the USA, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand that was based in Chiswick. Any subterfuge was really unnecessary: nobody even vaguely took a bit of notice.
Mike and Leonard agreed that, before getting down to business, they would order food and drinks. This didn’t take long.
“Right, let’s lay down some rules. You aren’t going to ask me to do any fieldwork, are you?” Mike asked after twenty minutes of small talk. The previous three times he had sent her into the field, it hadn’t gone well. This shouldn’t have been surprising as she had been a CIA analyst and not trained to leave the office.
“No, I swear on my mother’s grave. This is desk-based analysis.” His soft Alabaman accent made this sound almost believable, although his mother – who was just having breakfast in the suburbs of Montgomery, the state capital – may have had something to say about that.
Mike was wearing her jet-black Cleopatra wig and motorcycle leathers. She looked at him with her very-dark-brown eyes, but she said nothing.
“What?” he asked, holding out his arms, his palms upwards. “I really need a freelancer for a small task. It will suit you down to the ground. I can’t use my team. You’ll understand why when I explain.”
She stretched out her damaged left leg under the table, unfolded a napkin and placed it on her lap. “The second I think it might lead to fieldwork, I’m right out of here.”
“I get that.” He was at his most appeasing. “I know you’re an analyst, which is why I’ve lined up an operative you can call on if it ever becomes necessary … which it won’t,” he added quickly. “We call him Crip.”
“Leonard!” She put her head in her hands. “Leonard, you’re so un-PC. You cannot call someone that.” She contemplated this for a few seconds, then said, “He doesn’t actually sound that suited to fieldwork. I mean, really?”
“It’s short for Crippen. Chris Crippen. He worked for me, like you. He’s now a freelancer, like you,” he emphasised. “We’ll make a great team.”
“Oh, sorry.” Mike was so used to Leonard having a casual disregard for rules, manners, political correctness and just about everything that she had jumped to her own conclusion.
The waiter turned up with a basket of bread and some butter. Leonard picked up a roll with a crust so hard and thin that it shattered into pieces across the table as he tried to break it. He brushed his palms against each other and took a folded piece of card from his jacket pocket. On it was a series of telephone numbers, codes, names and addresses. He handed it to her and explained some of them before getting down to the real reason for the lunch.
“You know that the coordinating role in Five Eyes rotates every two years. You may not have realised that my term has just ended, and now it’s the turn of Barbara Aumonier from Canada. I can’t stand the woman, but that’s probably not important; she doesn’t like me either. It is important, however, because the USA thinks someone in one of the five agencies has been compromised and is selling the family silver. Finding this person is going to be difficult because we’re searching among friends. The team in the Counterintelligence Department at Langley is checking as discreetly as possible, but they have to be careful not to leave a trail. Heck, let’s be straight: they’re just pussyfooting around.” He stopped as the waiter approached with a large, well-done steak, some rice and a jug of an odd-smelling Asian sauce. Leonard waited until Carlos had served Mike her plaice with capers and retreated out of earshot.
His plate was very hot, and the steak was almost stuck to it. “So, this is what they mean by fusion, is it?” he said before tucking into the meat with a wooden-handled steak knife.
“How can I help? You know I no longer have access to the five countries’ systems, and I’m more likely to leave a trail or tip off anyone interested.” Mike looked at the small fork and fish knife she had been given. “Unless you can get me some access?”
“That won’t be possible.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m currently behind the eight ball. This week, I’ll probably be suspended and sent back to head office. If I’m lucky, I might get the job of ordering light bulbs. If I’m unlucky, I might be in a cell staring up at one.”
Mike looked at her old boss with genuine surprise. “Really? What have you done?”
“Jeez, you know I don’t always follow the rules, but I get enough results that no one cares. Now they’ve started digging and are wondering if it’s me.”
“And you have no idea who it might be?”
“Personally, no … but they think it must be someone with my level of access. It’s some of my files that have mysteriously turned up in the wrong hands.”
“How do I contact you?”
“All the numbers and codes are on that card. I didn’t want anything on the system connected to you. Crip’s details are on there too, but you won’t need him. I may not be able to contact you, so I wanted you both to have each other’s details. Nobody else knows, and please don’t tell anyone. There’s one more thing: this came in the post the day before yesterday.” He took out of his pocket a brass key with the word ‘DUPLICATE’ written on the attached tag and handed it to her.
“What’s this and who sent it?”
“I’ve no idea. There was a piece of paper that said it was for safekeeping and that he would call very soon to meet up. There was no name.”
“What am I meant to do with it?”
“Keep it safe in case I’m suspended. I don’t want it in our office, especially if we’ve been compromised.”
“Where do I start? What do you want me to do?” She was suddenly excited but, at the same time, overwhelmed with the magnitude of the task.
“Before they began to suspect me, they told me they were looking at a senior Australian agency director who might have got involved in some construction fraud. His name’s on the card. You could start with him.”
“Leonard, we’ve had our differences, but I’m sorry – really sorry. I’ll do my best.”
“And I’ll try to let you know if I’m suspended. Are you leaving that rice?”
That’s cracking! I’m even more determined to catch up now! But what’s that you’ve got there?
I have also brought along a candlestick; it is a sculpture of Icarus and I love the irony. He is naked but feels that it is necessary to wear an old flying hat. Just the idea of Icarus being anywhere near naked flames makes me smile.
I suspect you have a wicked sense of humour… Is art and sculpture important to you generally?
Art features in all of my novels in different ways. This Is Not a Pipe is a painting by Magritte; in it, he questions whether it is or can be a pipe. This is so relevant to the plot of my story. The Violin and Candlestick is a painting by George Braque. It is in front of this painting that key interchanges take place in my third novel while it is in a travelling exhibition in a Doha gallery. Giacometti’s ‘Running Man’ sculpture also features in the book… but I won’t spoil the plot.
No don’t! We’ll have to read the books and find out for ourselves. Thank you so much, David, for staying in with me to chat about The Violin and Candlestick. It’s been such an interesting evening. I understand the fourth book in the Mike Kingdom series is in the pipeline too so I think readers are in for a treat. Let me give them a few more details about The Violin and Candlestick.
The Violin and Candlestick
A businessman flies by private jet for a half-hour lunch in Doha, Qatar. This would have been no big deal except that he is the CIA’s main asset in the Middle East and, six hours later, is found dead in his villa.
Michaela ‘Mike’ Kingdom was meant to be investigating something else for Leonard de Vries, her old CIA and Five Eyes boss, when he asked her to help him find the killers. She had been one of his analysts in London before the ‘accident’ that had killed her husband and damaged her leg.
She told everyone many times that she didn’t do fieldwork, but no one listened, not even Mike herself. Leonard told her not to worry as he had organised help in the form of another ex-CIA agent, now a Paralympian in the US basketball team
The Violin and Candlestick is published by Hobeck Books and available for purchase here or on Amazon.
About David Jarvis
David Jarvis went to art college in the 1970s before setting up an international planning practice, which he ran successfully for forty years. This took him around the world from Trinidad to Croatia and from France to Saudi Arabia.
His canvases just got bigger and bigger.
He has now retired to Wiltshire to write and drink wine, not necessarily in that order.
For further information about David, follow him on Twitter/X as @David_Jarvis_ , Instagram and Bluesky.
