Richard J. Brewer, bookseller and anthology  editor, sits down with J.D. Knight for a biographical interview.

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RJB: How did you write your first novel?

J.D. Knight: It started as a memoir about my father's career as a Deputy Sheriff in Los Angeles County.  He died when I was 11.  So I wanted a chance to research his short life, maybe feel a bit closer to him.  And through the art of fiction, give him more time on earth.

RJB: How did this project turn into a novel?

J.D. Knight: One of my father's associates on the force was prosecuted for corruption, and my research uncovered a dark side of modern policing.  This dirty cop sparked my imagination and I decided to follow my muse and put aside the memoir.

RJB: Your narrator, Virgil Roy Proctor, is he based on your father?

J.D. Knight: Not exactly.  Virgil is like my father in a few aspects: both are from Southern California, with family in Oklahoma, and a heritage of Cherokee blood. My father was a family man with a heroic day job.  Virgil, on the other hand, is the anti-hero, a failure at conventional life, but a guy who displays unexpected moments of virtue.

RJB: Reading your first book I was reminded of James Crumley and Raymond Chandler. Any other influence on your style? 

J.D. Knight: Well, that's high praise... thanks for that.  Along with Crumley and Chandler, I'd have to say Patricia Highsmith has been a big influence.

RJB: How so?

J.D. Knight: I've always loved the Ripley novels, and I see Virgil Roy Proctor in the same tradition, a guy outside polite society who is free to make funny observations and break the rules.  

RJB: Do you see your books in the tradition of the picaresque?  Your narrator like a Huck Finn?

J.D. Knight: Sure, that's probably true for me, but I think there's a bit of Huck Finn in all hard-boiled detective fiction.

RJB: The original memoir project about your father was set in L.A. County.  Why move the novels to Oakland and the Bay Area?

J.D. Knight: I went to school at UC Berkeley and settled in the East Bay where my children were born.  I figured that Hammett had San Francisco, Chandler had Los Angeles.  Why not use an overlooked city like Oakland for my fiction?

RJB: In your first book, Virgil is the narrator in classic detective fiction style.  In your second book, you offer mulitple points of view, along with Virgil's.  Why the change?

J.D. Knight: The story demanded it -- to increase suspense, and to offer a bigger canvas. It also allowed Virgil to share the stage with another character who handled important courtroom scenes.

RJB: Yes, you've allowed a secondary character from the first book to come forward.  Tell us about her.

J.D. Knight: Andrea Faber is a defense attorney who made a walk-on appearance in ZERO TOLERANCE.  In the second book, THE DEVIL'S JUKEBOX, she hires Virgil to find a missing witness in a death penalty appeal.  The story is more cinematic, jumping between Virgil and Andrea.  And more exciting.

RJB: I agree, your second book is more like a mainstream thriller in structure, but you've retained Virgil's one-liners, too. A very enjoyable hybrid.  Can you tell us about your third book in the series?

J.D. Knight: I just finished the first draft, so it may be too early to chat about the plot here... but I will say that I enjoyed taking Virgil outside Oakland to visit New Orleans. Two of my favorite American cities.

RJB: I loved the opening chapters you shared with me... it looks like Andrea hires Virgil to find another missing person.  Only this time, the missing person is legally dead.  Now that's a hook!

J.D. Knight: Honestly, I can't imagine another book that is strictly Virgil's POV, and Andrea Faber is too good a character to stay off stage for long.

RJB: I agree, she's a good match for Virgil Roy Proctor...

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COMING SOON:

Part Two of this interview will discuss the Kindle editions of ZERO TOLERANCE and THE DEVIL'S JUKEBOX, and the unexpected hazards of riding along with the Oakland Police during a 'dog watch' shift.