Books / Charlotte Philby
Bristol author Charlotte Philby launches new Farrow & Chang crime series
Following a stellar critical reception for her 2024 thriller The End of Summer (HarperCollins), London-turned-Bristol novelist Charlotte Philby – who is also co-founder of the Old Market event and gallery space 17 Midland Road – has not been idle.
With a background in investigative journalism and espionage fiction (drawing on her own family history as the granddaughter of Soviet spy and double agent, Kim Philby), the author has been developing a new crime series featuring female detective duo, Madeleine Farrow and Ramona Chang.
The first book, Dirty Money, is set for release on February 13. Philby joined Bristol24/7 in the runup to publication, to reflect on her ongoing journey as a writer.
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Charlotte Philby, Dirty Money – a Farrow & Chang thriller (2025) – photo: John Murray Press
Dirty Money marks a change of direction for you as an author. What spurred you to move away from writing about espionage and suspense novels and into crime fiction?
“I don’t really see myself as a certain kind of writer. My plan is to continue writing crime novels alongside suspense and other novels. Having spent so long as a newspaper and magazine journalist, I’ve learnt to turn my hand to different types of storytelling, and I would get bored, I think, if I couldn’t do different things. That said, my books tend to be connected by a preoccupation with women leading double lives.
“The first book I ever tried to write – back in 2010, when I was on maternity leave from my job at The Independent – was a crime novel. For various reasons, it didn’t work at the time, and it’s interesting that I had to wait 14 years for the story to really come together as it has in Dirty Money, which is very much set in that same world.”
The main case in the novel was inspired by real-life events that you researched as an investigative journalist. What was it that made that scenario ripe for fictionalising?
“My part of that undercover sting, which involved a group of us working on the story together, was to go armed with a button-hole camera to meet our target – a man who was offering to connect young women with older men who would pay for their university fees, in return for “a level of intimacy” – and pose as a would-be student, in order to get him admitting what he was doing, on film.
“It’s hard to say too much without giving away the plot but it was such a mad case to work on because of the level of deceit involved, and what turned out to be the motivations of the man at the centre of this crime. In terms of writing the story it was a gift because I understood the mechanics of the case, and the twists and the tension involved in working on it, because I’d lived it.”
How did the two characters of Ramona and Madeleine come to you? Were there aspects of their personalities and circumstances that you knew you wanted to build from the beginning, or did they evolve over time?
“Each of these characters have appeared in my books before, and I just wasn’t done with them. They appeared quite organically when I first wrote them, and now I feel like each of these women probably represents a (very extreme, fictionalised) version of my personality. I started writing Ramona Chang – a younger, wayward former reporter – when I was in my twenties. She is a luddite who is contemptuous of the officiousness of modern life, as well as being a kick-arse private sleuth.
“Both she and Madeleine Farrow – who is older, and admires and envies Ramona’s free spirit and disregard for society’s rules – seem to have conversations on the page that probably reflect ones going on between the different parts of my brain.”
Charlotte Philby – photo: Barbara Evripidou
How do they relate to one another, and how do you relate to them?
“On paper, they are very different but really there are distinct similarities and connections that pull them together. Both women are outsiders, and naturally distrustful of others. They have a mutual respect, which started as a professional one and has grown to be personal, too. There is an almost maternal link there, and I think that’s partly in the absence of the mother-child relationship that usually appears in my books.
“I wanted very clearly for neither of these characters to have children (which my protagonists usually do have) because of the inherent challenges this creates in terms of their commitment to the job. Perhaps it was also a form of escapism as I have three children, aged from 14 to 9, so in writing a world where my characters don’t have them I can experience life in a different way.”
In terms of the writing process, how did this one compare to those that had come before?
“The first book came so naturally, I barely had to think about it. The characters sort of developed themselves and the plot followed. I’m currently writing the second and it’s a lot harder! Mainly, I think, because I am now painfully aware of the ramifications of every decision I make, for future instalments!”
What does the novel have to say about gentrification?
“For me, London – the city where I was born and raised – is as much a character in the book as a setting. There is a lot I resent about the city now – including the commercialisation and the horrifying extremes of wealth – and the book certainly skewers the poison that runs at both ends of the capital, and plays on how these interlink. But it’s also about showing a city many people know in a certain kind of way, with the perspective you only really have if you’ve grown up somewhere, and lived there as a naughty teenager.”
You made the move down from London in recent years, with your family. In what ways does Bristol serve you as a writer?
“Bristol feels much more collaborative and supportive for creative people. In London, it often feels like there are a lot of people vying for the same space – literally and metaphorically; the stakes are high, and the sense of competition can be quite toxic. I’m not really up for that. Generally (although it is a generalisation) it feels like in Bristol, people tend to make more time for each other, and the pace is more gentle. I’m happier here, in almost every way, and so is my family, so I think that reflects in how well I’m able to work.”
Charlotte Philby and Barney Beech at 17 Midland Road – photo: Charlotte Philby
Charlotte Philby: Dirty Money (John Murray Press) will be published on February 13, and can be pre-ordered now. For more about the author, follow @charlotte_philby.
Follow @17midlandroad for upcoming events and exhibitions at the gallery, or book for up to six people to stay.
Main photo: Barbara Evripidou
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