The Stoning, Peter Papathanasiou’s first crime novel, with a Greek Australian Detective Sergeant as the protagonist, marks the beginning of a series, that has excited fans of the Outback Noir genre and crime fiction across the world.
“Simply having a Greek Australian detective is something quite unique. It’s not something that has been seen previously, and readers have latched on to it”, Papathanasiou told Neos Kosmos in an interview about the success of his novel which takes place in a small outback town in Australia.
The first book of the series, takes Detective Sergeant Georgios Manolis to his childhood hometown to investigate the death of a popular local teacher. There, he will face the ghosts of his own past as he revisits a town simmering with the racial tensions between white and Aboriginal Australians, townies and the refugees housed in Cobb’s new detention centre.
“I’ve travelled around outback Australia extensively and have seen the distances, the colours, the heat, the animals,” the author tells us.
“When the rest of the world pictures Australia, in their mind they see red dust, kangaroos, open spaces, bright sunshine and heat. I thought that it would make a really good setting to tell a crime story, and allow me the opportunity to explore some of the significant issues. Beyond the idyllic touristic view of Australia, there are complex issues the country is grappling with.”
Papathanasiou decided, that if he was going to write about Australia, he would have to include the many voices of its people.
“I could not have a book about Australia without a voice to represent the first Australians, or the voice of migrants, and of those who were born here.”
“I was away from Australia, and I was able to look back with clear eyes”
The character of a Greek Australian detective in the Australian outback was born in the UK, in 2014, when Peter Papathanasiou was completing a Master of Arts degree in City University of London.
“I was away from Australia, and I was able to look back with clear eyes. It was cold, I was a little bit homesick, so I wanted to get transported to a place that was clean, with few people, and was hot with vibrant colours.”
Also, being in the UK, in Europe, Papathanasiou gained a better understanding about how these countries were dealing with the influx of refugees, and was able to put the Australian immigration issues into perspective.
The detective, he explains was based on himself. “Someone with a Greek Australian background. Someone who grew up here, but has a Greek heritage. I studied criminal law at ANU and I was always interested in stories like this, both to study them, to watch them on TV and read in books. The character of Manolis is largely based on myself and my brothers, who live in Greece.”
In his next book, Papathanasiou will take the reader to Greece
Following the success of The Stoning, the author’s second book of the series is set to be published in September, whilst a third book is also in the making, as interest grows to adapt the books for the screen, either as a feature film or a TV Series.
In the second book, Greek Australian detective, George Manolis returns to his roots, to investigate a crime set in Greece.
“I’ve travelled to Greece many times and I have always kept careful notes when I was there, which I had also used when I wrote my memoir Little One.”
The author refers to his powerful memoir, in which he explores his roots and tells the story of his family, his parents’ journey and the secrets that were revealed once he found out that he was adopted.
On writing
Papathanasiou says that The Stoning was written in the hours after midnight, “late at night, when it is nice and quiet.”
With a family of three young boys and a day job in Canberra where he lives, there are only a few moments available during the day, to dedicate to his writing.
The Greek Australian author had studied criminal law and then went on to become a scientist.
“I wanted to be a scientist and try to help people make new discoveries, but at the same time, I was always interested in writing, and always a big reader. When I worked as a scientist, I was able to channel that creativity into the experiments that I did.”
Once he moved out of this field, he says that he had to transfer that passion to something else, where he could express himself creatively.
“And that is when my writing started to take off.”
Papathanasiou started to write his memoir Little One in 2008, The Stoning in 2014, and the next book that is coming out, in 2019.
“So these are not things that happened yesterday. They’ve been many, many years in the making. They’re only now starting to come out into the public eye. There’s this old saying that “it takes 20 years to become an overnight success” because of the all that groundwork you have to put in before people start to notice.”
“Years of work is slowly paying off.”
He adds also how grateful he is to have that opportunity to create a character like Manolis and try to tell these stories that will become part of Australian literature.
“It is amazing to have the book with a publisher that has a great reputation in crime fiction, to be that Australian voice and have it received so favourably by reviewers, critics and readers.”
“It is not an easy road, but anything worth doing usually takes time”
