Very classy mash up of real-life criminal cases given a waspy Jane Austin framing - Julia Miller hits the right note for cosy, cackling crime
- CWIP
- Sep 30
- 3 min read
For readers who haven’t (yet!) read your ‘Crime and Prejudice’, can you tell us about it in one sentence?
Criminal secrets lurk beneath the veneers of respectability in this playful peek behind the scenes of Jane Austen’s world.
What inspired you to go for a mix of stories linked to the era of Jane Austen?
I love Jane Austen’s wit, so I decided to explore the minds of her characters and shine a humorous light on the darker natures she might have imagined for them. It was fun to subvert readers’ expectations and uncover the seamier side of life in Regency times. This allowed me to lift the women out of the constraints of their age and class and offer them a more empowered future. For ultimately, it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single woman in possession of a good fortune has no want at all of a husband.
Why did you choose crime as a backdrop to sit alongside your witty style of storytelling?
‘I murdered my father at a very early period of my Life, I have since murdered my Mother, and I am now going to murder my Sister.’ So wrote the young Jane Austen, in her comic story ‘Letter from a Young Lady’. With such a great example, it wasn’t a huge leap for me to conceive a criminal counterpoint to one of her most popular novels, Pride and Prejudice. The incongruity between the outward uprightness of the beloved characters and the lawless situations in which I placed them, using details from actual cases in the Old Bailey records, made crime a perfect foil for comic writing.
Which witty novel inspired you the most growing up?
So many, but I’d say the earliest was Just—William by Richmal Crompton. I love the way William moves between the worlds of adults and children, unwittingly exposing grown-up absurdities and creating chaos all around him. The misunderstandings are hilarious, and Richmal Crompton’s comic timing was a lesson to me in the art of the short story.
How long have you wanted to write and finish a manuscript? Where do you write? Do you take coffee breaks or stick to water/wine/other? Any writing habits gratefully received.
I’ve written short stories in the past, but so many characters in Pride and Prejudice had eccentricities just begging to be explored that I wove twelve stories together into a single manuscript. A health scare last year prompted me to seize the day and publish the book myself.
One of the most useful skills I ever learned was touch typing. I mostly write straight onto a computer. Noise from the street is okay, but I can’t listen to music when I’m working. For me, music requires attention, and I don’t have any to spare when I’m immersed in a story.
I drink loads of warm water when I’m writing. It soothes my throat (I live in a dry part of Australia), and drinking lots of water forces me to get up from my computer for bathroom breaks. Without that incentive, I’d spend too long sitting in one place, tapping away at my keyboard.
My best advice to myself, from my days as a lecturer in research communication skills, is to take a break at a high point when writing, rather than waiting till my metaphorical pen runs dry. This gives me an incentive to return and see where my characters are heading.
Finally, can you tell us why you think CWIP is important?!
Women hold up half the comic sky. CWIP is a unique celebration of that.
If you could offer support we would love you to press the button below - so we can keep going!
