Emotional ties with crime writer Minette Walters

Minette’s latest novel The Last Hours will be published by Allen & Unwin on Thursday, price £20. To order a copy for £16 until 12 November, go to you-bookshop.co.uk or call 0844 571 0640; free p&p on orders over £15

‘My father Samuel’s oar, from when he rowed at Cambridge University, hangs on our kitchen wall. I have few memories of him, as he died when I was nine. But I do remember him always telling jokes and he taught me the three L’s: love, loyalty and laughter.’

‘This thin gold band cost me £10 when my husband Alec and I married 39 years ago. We were friends for ten years after meeting at university. When he went to work in Nigeria, I realised how much I missed him. We were married six months after he returned.’

‘Every time I walk past this painting of a dinghy and two children, I think about my Irish granny whom I adored. I was about 17 when she died and she wanted me to have it to remember her by.’

‘This beautiful bracket clock belonged to Alec’s parents. I loved them, but they rowed about everything. It taught us to listen to one another and not bicker over silly things.’

‘Chickens are my favourite animal after dogs. They tap on my office window if they think I’m late with their food. They give us fresh eggs every day.’

‘I would rather wear pearls than diamonds any day. I find that the more I wear these strands of pearls, inherited from my mother, godmother and mother-in-law, the better their sheen.’

‘We bought this historic manor house in a tiny Dorset hamlet about 18 years ago. We needed somewhere large enough for our parents to live with us. I hate any kind of noise when I’m trying to write, but it’s quiet here. A plague pit nearby inspired my new novel about the Black Death.’

‘These photographs are of my sons on their wedding days. They were both married in the grounds of our house. Roland [left, 38] married Charlotte [36] in 2014 and Philip [36] married Sarah [34] in 2011. If you give your children love, education and a roof over their heads, all will be well.’

‘My mother Colleen was a good artist and engraved this bowl with the names of my books after I published my fifth novel, The Ice House, in 1992. It’s a lovely memory of her.’

‘As a child, I loved reading Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes Short Stories in these old copies of the The Strand Magazine. When asked what I wanted to do as a grown-up, I said that I’d like to write crime stories.’