Erik D’Souza interviews Irene Fantopoulos to discuss her crime novel, Murders in Deer Park, which is a follow-up to her previous book All the Evil Scatters. During the interview, Erik asks Irene about her protagonists, Detective Melissa Hargrove and RJ Otombo. Irene explains her unique writing approach: using second-person point of view for the killer's narrative, which lets readers experience the killer's perspective and motivations while maintaining suspense about the killer's gender. The story begins with a renovation where three skeletons are discovered buried behind walls in a Deer Park townhouse, and Irene discusses how she incorporated her real-life neighborhood into the fictional setting while making necessary changes for the plot. The interview also covered Irene's background in criminology and social work, which provides authenticity to her police procedural details, and her current writing projects, including a cozy mystery and historical fiction set in Greece during the military occupation of the 1960s and 1970s.
BIO
Irene Fantopoulos is a writer of fiction and nonfiction, with a particular affinity for crime and mystery. Her work has an element of mastery — something to solve. In addition to the recent release, Murders in Deer Park, she is the author of All the Evil Scatters, Luck of the Draw, and Burden of Proof. Her short stories and essays have appeared online and in print.
Irene’s writing often incorporates elements of her Greek heritage. She loves including the city of Toronto in her work, often seeming like a character in its own right.
She holds a Master’s degree in Social Work and a Bachelor’s in Sociology and English Literature. Irene also studied criminology at the University of Toronto and worked on policing policy with the Ministry of the Solicitor General in the 1990s. She earned a Creative Writing Certificate from George Brown College and is a graduate of the Humber School for Writers. After leaving the Ontario civil service in 2019, she dedicated herself fully to her passion—writing—and rediscovered a long-lost manuscript from 1989 (Burden of Proof).
Irene is actively involved in her community as a Director on the Board of the ArtBarn School, where she also leads writing workshops for adults. She is a member of the Writers’ Union of Canada and the Crime Writers of Canada.