Aussie-based Brit Alan Carter knows how to tell a cracking yarn. And to the delight of his fans, his latest thriller, Prize Catch, is out now.
It’s set in Tasmania, where Carter himself is now based. He chats to The Starfish:
What’s Prize Catch about?
m
It’s a murder mystery – cum – action thriller set against the twin backdrops of industrial salmon farming and allegations of war crimes In Afghanistan. Two very different themes but linked perhaps by a culture of untouchability and entitlement. A military veteran struggling to hold down a job lands a gig at a local salmon farm where his military skills are put to use against local activists. Meanwhile a woman recently widowed begins to delve into the truth of her partner’s death.
m
How did the idea for this book come about?
m
Two non-fiction books, Richard Flanagan’s Toxic – about the salmon industry, and Mark Willacy’s Rogue Forces – about the Afghanistan allegations came out around the same time and made for riveting ,if depressing, reading. But I could see in both the potential for a crime fiction plot. The challenge was to bring two such disparate themes together.
m
It’s set in Tasmania; how long have you lived there now?
m
I’ve been here about six years. Practically blue blood local. Not.
m
Did you drive around doing research for authenticity’s sake or were you already very familiar with the places you mention like Bruny island, Lake St Clare, various Hobart cafes and venues.)
m
I was pretty familiar with the places, being both a hiker and a coffee drinker, but you don’t want to get it wrong, especially in Tassie. I even went up into the same mountains where I sent Sam and Ros so I could double-check the landscape and my description of it.
m
Much as you clearly love Tassie, you don’t pull any punches when it comes to referring to the way Tasmanians mistreat their natural environment. For example, “a nice view over the murky, heavy-metals tainted- river”;  and all the road kill; plus of course, the salmon industry. Do you think it’s easier for an outsider like yourself to write a book which has a poke at the disregard some powerful forces hold for the environment down there?
m
Sometimes it might be easier but it could possibly be also used against you – e.g, ‘outsider what would he know?’ There’s been a lot of migration into the state in recent years and we’ve contributed in our own way to the housing availability and affordability crisis. So cashed-up Boomer NIMBYs might be better served keeping their heads down. I say as much in the book.
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Alan Carter
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Have you met any anti-salmon-industry activists down in Tas?
m
Yes, one of them interviewed me for the Hobart launch.
m
Is the industry there as creepy as you describe in Prize Catch?
m
No, this is a work of fiction where goodness, badness and everything in between serve the interests of storytelling. But, like any crime fiction story where power and influence are put under the microscope, you don’t have to dig too deep for traces of the truths behind the fictions.
Can literature help make a difference, do you think? Shame some locals into trying harder?
I’d love to be able to believe so but I’d be hard-pushed to come up with an example of such a thing happening. I like writing stories to entertain and to talk about issues important to me such as the environment and social justice and crime fiction can be a great vehicle for that.
You mention two books that inspired you:Â Mark Willacy’s Rogue Forces and Richard Flanagan’s Toxic. What in particular did each help you with?
m
Both offered great factual detail which I was able to draw from to weave an authentic (hopefully) fictional story. I would highly recommend both as excellent and compelling reads.
m
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Since being in Tas, have you noticed more people are prepared to speak up against the down side of the salmon industry? Are some starting to realize, perhaps, that they can’t take their beautiful environment for granted?
m
The community seems to be quite divided about it. I have no argument with ordinary men and women who need the job to pay their bills and mortgages. People have to be able to live and work. The farming practices can be changed, as has been shown elsewhere around the world, to impact the environment less – but that requires political and financial will, perhaps fewer profits at the top end of town. Too often ordinary workers are offered up as ransom, let us continue to trash the joint or they lose their jobs. It isn’t and shouldn’t be all or nothing.
You’ve moved around a fair bit in recent years. Are you in Tasmania for good, or will we see you living back in Perth again at some stage?
I expect to die in Tassie. Just not too soon I hope.
m
You’re no doubt already working on your next book; what’s it about?
m
It’s the third in the NZ Nick Chester series, entitled Franz Josef and due out late 2025.
