Q&A With Loreth Anne White 

Last night I finished reading an early copy of Loreth Anne White’s upcoming novel The Unquiet Bones coming out on March 5^th, 2024. After I finished speeding through the book, I couldn’t wait to finally do this Q&A with her. Loreth is the Washington Post, Amazon Charts & Bild Bestselling author of many mystery thriller suspense novels, some of them are The Maids Diary, The Patients Secret, In The Deep, Beneath Devils Bridge, & In The Dark. In a past life Loreth was a journalist in both Canada & South Africa! 

Q: Loreth, would you like to tell the readers who haven’t read the novel The Unquiet Bones a little bit about it?

A: When human remains are discovered beneath the foundations of an old chapel in the woods, evidence suggests the bones could be linked to a decades-old case of a missing local teen. Homicide cop, Jane Munro—pregnant and sharply attuned to the preciousness of life—hopes the grim discovery will finally bring closure to the missing girl’s family. However, for a group of old school friends once dubbed the Shoreview Six by the media—it threatens to expose a terrible pledge made on an autumn night almost 50 years ago. These friends are all now highly respected and affluent members of their communities. All have rich and extended families. None expected this dark chapter in their past to ever surface again. But as Jane and forensic anthropologist Dr. Ella Quinn begin to peel back the layers of secrets and close in on the truth, the group begins to fracture. And they discover just how far each might go to guard their own secrets.

Q: I read somewhere that The Unquiet Bones was inspired by an actual unsolved disappearance & murder in Canada. How much truth is in this novel and how much of it is fiction? 

A: The spark of the idea for THE UNQUIET BONES comes from the real murder of 16-year-old schoolgirl Rhona Duncan. In 1976 Rhona—a friendly and popular teen—was walking home from a party with her friend in a safe North Vancouver residential neighborhood. But she never made it home that night. The next morning, she was found dead (raped and strangled) outside a house just three away from the safety of her own. Her murder remains a mystery to this day. But while THE UNQUIET BONES was sparked by Rhona tragic death, my story is entirely fictional, and inspired in large part by my own experience. I went to school in an area not far from Rhona’s home when I was around the same age as she was. I remember her neighborhood of the past, and how safe it seemed. I know the music and fashion and trends and kids of that time. And I wanted to spin a tale of friends who believe an old secret from that time is safe, until bones are found, and their group—their old pact—begins to crumble as a cold case cop closes in.

 Q: You were a journalist in both South Africa & Canada. What was it like being a journalist in both countries? Would it be fair to say that your journalism career helped with writing your mystery thriller books?

 A: My journalism background trained me to reach word and story targets, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. It also familiarized me with various editing, deadlines, and production processes, and taught me how to constructively process criticism. And it provided some great fiction ideas.

Q: If it’s not too early to ask, are you currently writing your next book and if so, can you reveal any details about it?

A: I’m currently finishing off edits for a twisty psychological suspense novel due to be released in September 2024. My hope is that readers who enjoyed THE MAID’S DIARY will love this one! It’s a story about Chloe Cooper, a somewhat lonely and quirky bartender/dog walker who has trouble navigating social currents, and who becomes parasitically fixated on her new neighbors—a glamorous ‘It’ couple who has just moved in across the street. But of course, things are not what they seem, and when Chloe witnesses a murder, things turn very dangerous for all involved. I also have a short story coming out with Amazon Publishing in March/April 2024 – THE GHOST WRITER—and two novellas in the works.

 Q: What would be helpful advice for anyone wanting to write mysteries like you do?

 A: For me, one of the best tips would be to read and to keep reading stories in the genre you want to write. It helps to internalize genre-specific elements like pacing, voice, POV use, tense use, planting fair play clues, end-of-chapter hooks, placement of twists, etc. And just start writing—put that proverbial pen to paper. Because sometimes you don’t know what you need to know until you get going, and then when you hit a hitch, you can figure out what to research further and ask.  

Q: Does Hollywood have the rights to your work? I could see The Unquiet Bones becoming a great limited series on HBO, Starz & Showtime. Also the entertainment industry needs original content again. 

A: I have had works optioned for film/television but so far nothing concrete has come from it. And thank you—seeing THE UNQUIET BONES on screen would of course be something of a dream come true.