Philippa sits down with the brilliant Jo Spain — 13 bestselling thrillers already published, translated into 17 languages, TV writer and producer — to talk about her extraordinary new novel Never to Be Found, which sparked a bidding war from some of the biggest names in television before it was even published.
🎙️ Jo Spain on Never to Be Found
In Japan, up to 100,000 people every year voluntarily evaporate from their lives — a phenomenon known as jōhatsu. Entire industries exist to help them do it, providing new identities, documents, and a clean start. Veronica Paige has brought this concept to Britain, running a business disappearing people — until she discovers she's helped a murderer vanish.
Jo and Philippa discuss:
How a lunchtime article led to the entire concept of the book — and why Jo raced to write it before anyone else could
The once-in-a-career bidding war: Sam Mendes' production company, Amazon MGM, and The Walking Deadshowrunner Angela Kang all in pursuit of the same book
Why Jo always writes books for the love of them and scripts for the money — and why those two things are entirely separate
The three categories people fall into when they hear about jōhatsu: those who want to vanish, those horrified by abandonment, and those who think they'd be brilliant at making people disappear
How Veronica justifies what she does — and the moral question at the heart of the book
Why layers matter more than first drafts, and what it looks like from the outside when Jo is deep in the editing stage
Her dream writing location: the coast path between Moville and Greencastle in Donegal — where the Wi-Fi barely works and the day takes its time
Her nightmare: a writer's room, surrounded by other writers, expected to create on demand
The pressure of reader expectations for twists — and why she's made peace with the fact that she can't please everyone
BookTok: how she joined to keep an eye on her children and ended up addicted, embarrassing them daily, and discovering her last three books there
What she's reading: The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett, the latest Jane Harper, and London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
Biscuit answer: A committed biscuit addict who has written an entire novel powered by ginger nuts. Current favourite: shortcake with sultanas, dunked, and firmly classified as healthy eating.
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