Martin Cruz Smith obituary: author of acclaimed thriller Gorky Park
His research consisted of a two-week package holiday to the Soviet Union, organised by Intourist but with no guide. It was largely a matter of walking the streets and exploring the bars and markets, he recalled, looking at the expressions on faces and listening to a language he didn't know. But he felt that he understood the place as a writer in a way that he had never understood anything before.
When he got back home and began writing, the figure of Arkady Renko, a depressive Moscow policeman wholly disillusioned but driven by a private sense of duty, began to dominate his imagination: he resolved to change the book's focus and ditch the American protagonist. 'I knew I was on to something pretty good,' he remembered. 'But when I showed my publishers, they asked where was the American hero?'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
5 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
This Morning's Martin Frizzell says Schofield scandal 'helped' amid Fiona's Alzheimer's
TV presenter Fiona Phillips was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's back in 2022 and the pair recently opened up about dealing with the disease in their candid new book This Morning boss Martin Frizell has said that the Phillip Schofield drama "helped" him while dealing with Fiona Phillips' Alzheimer's diagnosis. He recently said that the drama at work gave him something else to focus on while things were all go at home. Fiona was 61-years-old when she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's in 2022. Since then, husband Martin has been by her side caring for her. Martin talked about how he has coped in his wife's new memoir, Remember When: My Life With Alzheimer's, which Martin co-wrote along with journalist friend Alison Phillips. It comes after John Torode's wife Lisa Faulkner breaks her silence after his MasterChef sacking. During the diagnosis, Martin was also dealing with some drama while working at This Morning. However, he said that this managed to take "his mind off Fiona at home". In 2023, This Morning's Phillip resigned after more than 20 years on the programme after having an affair with a younger colleague. Co-host Holly Willoughby then resigned later after being informed by police of a plot to kill her. Martin has said that due to being busy at work, it gave him some "structure and normality". Speaking in the book, Martin wrote: "I was busy with work at that time. We'd had big changes at This Morning with Phillip Schofield leaving, Holly Willoughby stepping down after the pressures of a serious kidnap threat, and Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard becoming the new hosts in March 2024. "It meant there was a lot to sort out to make the show the best it possibly could be, but being that busy actually helped me. I loved going into work – not because it was an escape from what was going on at home, but because it gave me structure and normality. "And it meant that I didn't have time to think about what was to come for Fiona. For both of us." While this was going on, Martin shared that Fiona's "long-term memory was functioning better than the short-term" but she found it difficult to leave the house due to becoming more anxious. Martin quit This Morning a year after the This Morning scandal after first joining in 2014 as editor of Loose Women before taking over at This Morning. In a statement last November, he said: "Next year I'm expecting my family priorities to change so I need to free up time for them. I love my team at ITV and will miss them and the thrill of live telly but it's an always on, 24 hours a day, seven days a week commitment and I won't be able to do both. It's been a privilege to lead truly great presenters and producers, between us we've turned out more than six thousand hours of live topical telly, that's around 20,000 items and the gongs are always nice." Martin discusses in the book at Fiona is now unable to "brush her teeth, shower and use her phone" without his help. He said that his wife "wouldn't know how to turn the kettle on now" and now "sits and stares for most of the day".
The Sun
5 minutes ago
- The Sun
Key clue in unsolved murder of mum, 22, shot dead on her sofa when three men burst into her home 20 years ago
A KEY CLUE has been found in the unsolved murder of a mum shot dead on her sofa when three men burst into her home 20 years ago. The family of the mother, 22, has appealed for anyone with information to come forward. 3 Lucy Hargreaves, 22, was asleep on the sofa when three men burst into her home in Walton, Liverpool, on August 3 2005 and fatally injured her. The killers then set fire to the home on Lambourne Road, where her partner and two-year-old daughter were upstairs, and they had to escape through a window. Two decades on, her family released a previously unshared photograph of the mother-of-three, taken at college. They said: "Over the past 20 years, people will have talked with family and friends. "A number of people were contacted by males using a phone that was stolen, along with a vehicle used in Lucy's murder. "The people who received those calls, along with others, could have information which could be crucial in achieving justice for Lucy, her parents, sister, children and all her extended family and friends. "We appeal directly to them to please come forward. Now is the time." Police arrested 21 people as part of their investigations, but no-one has been convicted. Manhunt Launched in Northampton: River Nene Murder Investigation Underway A comprehensive review into her murder was launched by Merseyside Police two years ago and remains ongoing. Howard Rubbery, head of the serious case review unit, said: "It is now 20 years since Lucy was taken from her family in the most brutal of circumstances. "After carrying out the killing, the offenders ignored the cries of a toddler upstairs as they poured petrol around the house and set fire to it. "Their callous and reckless actions could have claimed the lives of two more people that night, had they not escaped the flames by jumping from a window upstairs. "We are as determined as ever to get justice for Lucy, whose death robbed her family of a loving mother and daughter. "As with any unsolved murder, time is no barrier to our pursuit of justice for Lucy and we appeal to anyone with any information, no matter how small it may seem, to contact us." Ms Hargreaves' family, who said they "miss her every single day", welcomed a focus on tackling violence against women and girls in recent years. They praised the families of other victims of gun crime, including the mothers of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt Korbel and Ashley Dale, 28, who were shot in their homes in separate incidents in Liverpool in August 2022. The family said: "We greatly admire the determination and guts of the families of those who have more recently been killed as a result of gun crime here in Merseyside. "The mums of both Ashley Dale and Olivia Pratt Korbel have led a real and powerful community challenge to men of violence." The family added: "We consider ourselves to be an ordinary local family with strong roots in the Walton, Norris Green, Croxteth and Dovecot areas of Liverpool. "Lucy's nanny Joyce was a strong mother of eight who had to cope with the loss of three granddaughters in her lifetime - including Lucy. "Her nanny Betty, left a widow aged 35 with six children to bring up, was awarded the British Empire Medal for her services to nursing as an auxiliary nurse in the Royal Liverpool Hospital. "They were two strong local women typical of their generation, and Lucy too was a strong woman who could have achieved so much had she only been given the opportunity." Detectives are continuing to appeal for anyone with information about a gold Lexus car, believed to have been dumped shortly after the shooting on Richard Kelly Drive, Clubmoor, by a number of men who then ran in the direction of Normandale Road. Police previously said they wanted to speak to Kevin Thomas Parle in connection with Ms Hargreaves' murder. Parle, who was believed to be living abroad, was also wanted in connection with the murder of Liam Kelly, 16, who was shot in the early hours of June 19 2004 in Dingle, Liverpool. 3
Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Man who murdered British backpacker Peter Falconio dies - without revealing location of his victim's remains
The man who murdered British backpacker Peter Falconio more than 20 years ago has died - without revealing the location of his victim's remains. Bradley John Murdoch murdered the 28-year-old and assaulted his girlfriend Joanne Lees at gunpoint on a remote stretch of road near Barrow Creek in Australia's Northern Territory on 14 July 2001. Mr Falconio and Ms Lees, both from Yorkshire, had stopped their camper van after Murdoch pulled up beside them, claiming to have seen sparks coming from their vehicle. He shot Mr Falconio in the head as he inspected the van, before forcing Ms Lees into his vehicle and binding her wrists with cable ties. She managed to escape, hiding in the outback for hours before flagging down a passing truck. Murdoch was convicted in 2005 and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for at least 28 years. The 67-year-old was diagnosed with terminal throat cancer in 2019 and was moved to palliative care from Alice Springs Correctional Centre last month. A Northern Territory Department of Corrections spokesperson said: "I can confirm that Bradley Murdoch passed away last night in the palliative care unit at Alice Springs Hospital. "The death will be subject to investigation by the Northern Territory Coroner." During his trial, prosecutors argued that Murdoch was likely to have disposed of Mr Falconio's body somewhere in the vast, remote expanse of desert between Alice Springs and Broome, covering more than 1,200 miles. Despite repeated searches, the body has never been found. Ms Lees, who returned to the UK, told Australian current affairs programme 60 Minutes in 2017 that she still wanted to "bring him home". "Pete lost his life on that night, but I lost mine too," she said at the time. "I'll never be fully at peace if Pete's not found, but I accept that that is a possibility." Murdoch lodged several unsuccessful appeals over the years, with Australia's highest court refusing to hear his case in 2007. Last month police announced a new 500,000 Australian dollar (£240,000) reward for information leading to the discovery of Mr Falconio's remains.
