Josh Stern has two jobs and he likes to keep them separate. A personal trainer during the day and a part-time investigator by night.
When a dead body is found in Josh's gym, it sets off a series of seemingly unconnected events, reigniting an old case he thought he'd solved - the disappearance of a twenty-year old student more than two decades ago.
As Josh is pulled into a web of deception, decades of lies surrounding a young woman's disappearance need to be untangled, where every truth uncovered reveals a darker secret.
.png){kind=spacer}
A Death In The Gym by Patrick Hardy was published on 28 March 2026 by Troubador. I am delighted to share this interview with the author today, as part of the #RandomThingsTours Virtal Book Tour.
.png)
Patrick Hardy was born in Bournemouth, Dorset and studied law at UCL.
Interview with Patrick Hardy - author of A Death in the Gym
The premise of A Death In The Gym combines the worlds of fitness and private investigation. What inspired you to create Josh Stern, and how did the character first come to life?
I was keen to write about a world I am familiar with – the world of fitness and personal training. But to make that world more interesting, I wanted to add another dimension which was the world of private investigation. The inspiration for Josh Stern was to create a character who could live in both worlds. It sounds clichéd but once I had the idea of that character, Josh Stern just emerged from my imagination.
The novel revolves around a decades-old disappearance and long-buried secrets. What drew you to exploring themes of memory, deception, and the lasting impact of the past?
I was keen on the idea of two seemingly unrelated stories becoming, over the course of the narrative, interconnected. Keeping the stories separate required some of the characters to conceal the truth. And to connect the stories, I wanted the historical deceptions to affect the present day. I was drawn to these themes because I thought they had the makings of a good story.
As a solicitor and England and Hong Kong-qualified lawyer, you've spent much of your career uncovering facts and analysing evidence. How has your legal background influenced the way you construct mysteries and plot twists?
Lawyers generally need to be detail-orientated and should be familiar with analysing a sequence of events – Did X cause Y? What if Z were to intervene? I think that helped me to construct some of the plotlines.
The story begins with a body being discovered in a gym. Was there a particular real-life event, observation, or "what if?" moment that sparked the idea for the book?
No! Nothing of any significance in the book was based on a real-life event or conscious observation. It all just emerged from my imagination – and one imagined event inspired me to invent the next!
Josh Stern balances two very different careers as a personal trainer and private investigator. What challenges and opportunities did this dual identity create when developing the story?
I initially thought it unlikely that one person would be a personal trainer and a private investigator. The first career seemed to suit a younger character and the second career, an older one. So, the challenge was to be able to create a character who might credibly do both. The mix of the two careers (and the worlds they occupy) gave me the opportunity to take the world of a personal trainer and create an event which would fall into the world of a private investigator, a mysterious death.
You have previously written short stories and articles. How different was the experience of writing your first novel, and what surprised you most about the process?
For me the main difference (and challenge) was coming up with a story which I could sustain over the 80,000 plus words of a novel. The most surprising thing (although it probably shouldn’t have been surprising) was how difficult it was – particularly, a crime/mystery book where you need to lay clues for future events. That often involved coming up with a plot twist later in the story and then having to rewrite earlier pages to signpost it.
Many aspiring writers struggle to find time to write alongside demanding careers. What does your writing routine look like, and how did you fit novel-writing around your legal work and other commitments?
The writing routine was a challenge! I try to write in the early evening (between work and dinner) and at weekends or when I am on holiday. At least, that is the ambition! I think that if you have a limited amount of time to write, it is essential that you create fixed periods to write even when you are not feeling inspired. Just writing something will often feed the inspiration – and avoids the temptation to put it off.
Now that A Death In The Gym is published, what would you like readers to take away from the book, and can we expect to see more adventures featuring Josh Stern in the future?
My main hope is that readers found the book entertaining and worth the time they spent with it. There are various plotlines which have been deliberately left open – so if there’s the demand, I would definitely like to create more stories.
.png){kind=spacer}
He qualified as a solicitor in England and in Hong Kong and as an advocate in Guernsey.
He is also a certified personal trainer.
Although he has written several short stories and articles, A Death In The Gym is his first novel which draws upon his experience of the world of law and fitness.
No comments:
Post a Comment