Best selling author Petronella McGovern’s fourth book is another twisty page-turner. It’s a thriller, a family saga,
and a compelling story which reaches from personal trauma to global warming. It’s also a satisfying account of healing and redemption.
In The Last Trace, siblings gather for Easter. Lachy suffers memory blackouts and fears he may have committed crimes – even murder – he can’t remember. His son, Kai, is troubled and lost. His sister, Sheridan, is used to holding the family together.
Then a traumatic incident sets off the uncovering of secrets held for generations and across continents.
Petronella talks with Sisters in Crime’s Robyn Walton:
Petronella, please introduce yourself to Sisters in Crime members, and tell us
where your interest in writing comes from.
My first novel, Six Minutes, came out in 2019 and it was shortlisted for the Davitt
Awards which was exciting! I’ve always wanted to be an author but I thought I had to
get a ‘real job’ first so I worked in marketing communications. Now, I’m absolutely
thrilled to have four thrillers published by Allen and Unwin. Part of the reason I write
is to explore concepts and understand the world and human behaviour. Even as a
child, I’d imagine worst-case scenarios, like what would happen if an inmate escaped
from the nearby jail and took us all hostage on our farm? (I’m actually a very
optimistic, positive person!!)
I’m keen to understand what motivates people and I like figuring out my characters
and what makes them behave the way they do. My books are usually inspired by a
combination of personal anecdotes and something I see in the news media. The Last
Trace was inspired by a friend’s DNA test, a cold case and my mum’s research of her
own family history. I love being hooked by a book which keeps me thinking, so I
write page-turners with contemporary themes and lots of twists.
The Last Trace focuses on family dynamics. What draws you to writing about
families?
I’m one of five siblings and my grandmothers both came from large families. While
everyone’s family is different, often, the relationships within them have similar
aspects. A family can be seen as a microcosm of a community with all sorts of
dynamics in play – loyalty and betrayal, cooperation and competition, love and hate.
Family members sometimes switch between these extremes and also revert to
childhood roles. It’s so fascinating to explore.
In The Last Trace, I also look at the genetic side of families. It’s amazing how you
can spit into a test-tube today and get so much information about your lineage. And
there can be terrible shocks! A friend discovered that his biological father was a
sperm donor, and he wanted to track him down while his sister refused to even take a
DNA test. Such a different reaction from two siblings but it also got me thinking
about how much science has changed since the 1970s and 1980s, when sperm donors
were promised anonymity.
In the book, Sheridan and Lachy are in their thirties – she’s the older sister who has
always had a caring role for her younger brother. She thinks he’s a hero for doing aid
work overseas but Lachy is at his lowest point and can only see his own failures. He’s
panicked by a request for a DNA test from a woman in America. When a tragic
incident happens over a family Easter gathering, Sheridan doesn’t know if she can
ever forgive him and sends him back to America to sort out the DNA test. Little does
she realise what she’s setting in motion – a murder investigation and secrets that will
explode across the whole family.
The teenagers in the story bring a different viewpoint from the adults. I enjoy writing
about teenagers because they’re experiencing things for the first time and have intense
reactions.
I’m also examining memory and how stories are remembered in the family. Lachy is
having alcoholic blackouts and his mother has dementia – so neither of them are sure
what they can trust about their own memories.
What did you have to research for this story, and how did you tackle this?
I love research and I did so much for this novel – but the danger is that I can research
all day and never get around to actually writing. I attended a lecture on the use of
DNA in cold cases, which was given by a detective and two scientists and from that, I
researched the cases which were mentioned.
After much consideration, I did my own DNA test – I was nervous due to all the
stories I’d heard, as well as my siblings telling me I was adopted. (Three of them look
like Mum and one looks like Dad and I don’t look like anyone!) But as yet, there have
been no surprises thankfully! I interviewed people working in the jobs held by my
characters, as well as two social workers and another detective. The character Lachy
works in water aid and is in a state of eco-grief, so I read articles, listened to podcasts
and interviewed water engineers. Lachy’s feelings about climate change reflected
mine and the research about new technologies made me more optimistic about the
future, which was an unexpected side effect.
In this book, I also have chapters set in 1968, and they required a lot of historical
research. I’m in awe of authors who write historical fiction, as it takes so much time
to ensure the right language, clothes, food, societal attitudes etc.
Part of the story is set in Pennsylvania, but I couldn’t get over there so I had to rely on
memories from my last visit and internet research, including Google maps. In a stroke
of luck, I was invited to a writing retreat near the Snowy Mountains where the first
half of the book is set, so I immersed myself in that environment.
Religion is not often touched upon in crime writing these days, but in The Last
Trace you explore both the destructive and healing aspects of religious practice.
Would you comment on this?
People are fascinated by cults, particularly the brainwashing and the set-up of a closed
community. My 1968 storyline features a religious group which isn’t quite a cult, but
has very strict rules, and a teenage girl rebelling against those rules. In this case, the
pastor is her own father and we see a patriarchal system trying to control women’s
actions. Her father is so certain that his beliefs and his ways are right that it leads to
devastating consequences. I feel that’s the destructive aspect – a rigid, blinkered view
of the world that cannot be questioned (which is also relevant to society and politics,
not just religion).
In the novel, the effects of this are ongoing and have a long-reaching impact on many
characters. It was interesting to set these scenes in 1960s America, as society was on
the brink of change with the women’s movement, the black rights movement and
student protests against American involvement in Vietnam. The father’s religious
group is clinging to a very conservative way of life. I feel that some of this storyline
crept into the book through me thinking about the current state of American politics
and the discussions around women’s rights.
This destructive aspect is counteracted by a positive view in the present timeline of
the book. It shows a much more accepting religious group who welcome all into their
gatherings. Women are an integral part of the community and not confined to specific
roles. (I’m talking in generalities here because I don’t want to give away any
spoilers!)
What is your writing practice? Can you write at any time, and anywhere, or do
you need a specific routine and a special writing place?
For many years, I’ve been at home, writing alone, but lockdown brought the whole
family back into the house and they’re still here for half the week! Now when the
house feels loud and busy, I take my laptop to the library or occasionally I work at a
café overlooking the ocean. I love going on writing retreats for a period of intense
concentration.
When I’m deep in writing mode, I go to bed thinking about the story and the next
morning, I get up early and start writing. It feels like my subconscious has been
percolating overnight and the ideas flow. I’ll write for an hour then do other stuff and
get started on the day. But if I have that early-morning writing time, the story is in my head and I can come back to it any time. I’m not a planner and I love the surprise of
where the story takes me.
What can your readers expect next? Do you have anything in the pipeline right
now, and if so, can you share it with us?
I’m working on a new novel and I’m really excited by the storyline. All of my novels
have lots of characters and complicated subplots but this time, I’m trying to keep the
story contained and almost claustrophobic. It feels like I’m digging deep into all my
own fears and I’m putting them all onto the page. I can’t write it at night when I’m
home alone because I’m scaring myself!