Tom Cain and The Accident Man

Book2Book interview 'Tom Cain' about his sure to be controversial book, 'The Accident Man'.

What's The Accident Man about?

I'm trying to write a story based on a premise, which the whole world understands. The concept is that the hero is the man who killed Princess Diana - how can her killer be a hero?

It's about a man who finds himself unwittingly in a position to do something appalling and then discovers that people are out to get him, but he doesn't know for a while what he has done.

Did you time its publication with the 10-year anniversary of the Princess of Wales's death?

If I could have got the book out sooner I would have done. I had the idea nearly three years ago but I couldn't make it – to make the hero and get the tone of voice and make it work. A year ago all I had to show the publisher was 30,000 words.

The book kicks off after the death of Diana but you barely mention her name...

I don't need to tell the reader who is in the car because you know. I wanted to make it perfectly clear that it is a fictional universe; the book is entirely hypothetical.

There is something grubby about trying to put words into real people's mouths. It is very important people don't think it's an exploitative story. Essentially the only characters named are fictional, which freed me as a writer. Otherwise it would be too close to comfort. Millions of people have speculated and this is a fresh spin.

Read the rest of the interview here.