Character Interview: Sheila Riley

With 48 hours to go to the release of The Filey Connection, we meet the third member of the Sanford 3rd Age Club management team, Sheila Riley. Sheila is another youngster in her fifties. A former school secretary, when her husband, Peter, a police inspector, died she decided the time was right to leave the world of education and joined Joe in the Lazy Luncheonette.

DWR: Sheila, you're seen as the educated member of the team. Is that something you find gratifying?

Sheila: Brenda, Joe and I all had the same education, and don't let anyone kid you that I'm smarter than them. I think the difference between us lies in our approach to life. Brenda can be very emotional you know, and for all his logical and deductive abilities, Joe's mind leaps about like a jackrabbit. From an early age, I was taught and think calmly. It may not get the steak and kidney pudding served quite as quickly but at least it gets to the correct customer.

DWR: you and Brenda are best friends, yet you have different attitudes to widowhood.

Sheila: Even when I was younger, I never approved of transient relationships. When we were teenagers, Joe once confessed that he fancied me. I knew right away what he meant by that and I refused to take second place to his father's café. These days I prefer to live alone. I don't feel the need of company. When that changes I shall probably do something about it.

DWR: As one of the founder members of the Sanford 3rd Age Club, how do you react to the charge that you're all locked in a time warp dominated by the music of the sixties and seventies?

Sheila: Do you imagine that applies only to more mature people? Most generations are defined by their taste in music and fashion. My mother liked Glenn Miller and Frank Sinatra, my children are all fanatical about Madonna and the Pet Shop Boys. We prefer Abba and The Carpenters. Why? Because the music reminds us of those wonderful years when we were setting out on our journey through life. There's nothing fuddy-duddy about it. Just nostalgia.

DWR: Do you find that having been married to police inspector is of any use when Joe's on an investigation?

Sheila: Occasionally, yes. Joe's niece, Gemma Craddock, is a CID officer, and she can usually guide him, but there are those occasions when my admittedly limited knowledge of police procedures help. But to be really honest, I find my education to be a better asset. Again, it's that habit of stepping back and thinking calmly about things.

DWR: Speaking frankly, I'd have thought working a place like the Lazy Luncheonette, a truckers' cafe, is beneath you.

Sheila: Snobbery has no place in my life. I arrive for work at seven every morning, I work with some lovely people… and Joe… and most of the lorry drivers, factory hands, and the dray men from the Sanford Brewery, are fun and easy to get on with. Unlike so many people, I don't get out of bed dreading the thought of a day's work. Instead, I look forward to it every morning.

DWR: Do you ever wish that Joe had the same attitude?

Sheila: Don't let his irritation fool you. Joe loves the Lazy Luncheonette. If the building and his ex-wife were both on fire, Joe would call the Fire Service to the café first.

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The Filey Connection, a Sanford 3rd Age Club Mystery, by David W Robinson, is published by Crooked {Cat} Publishing on Friday March 2nd 2012. You can read a pre-release review at The Little Reader Library