Interview with Stephen Eoannou, author of After Pearl (Book 1 of The Nicholas Bishop Mystery Series)
Today it gives the Indie Crime Scene great pleasure to interview Stephen Eoannou, whose novel After Pearl has its debut on May 1st 2025 (today).
What was the inspiration for your novel After Pearl, and what is the significance of the title?
I was sitting in a bar nursing a bourbon and thinking about the movie I’d watched the night before. It was some mystery with a one-dimensional private eye as the main character. You know the type: a hardboiled ladies’ man who can drink a quart of bourbon or take a slug in the shoulder and shake it off. A character who has a stronger sense of justice than the crooked cops or crookeder judges. A character we’ve seen or read a thousand times already. I was annoyed that novels and movies were still being made with such a protagonist. Out of the blue, I thought of my mom’s childhood friend, Mickey. Everyone called him Mickey The Bug because he was a creepy, insect-like kid. When he grew up, Mick became shady. A gambler, I think. I remembered my mom telling me that during World War II, Mick was in San Francisco waiting to be shipped to the Pacific when he got drunk and stepped in front of a taxi. His injuries were so severe, they sent him home with a medical discharge. Mom was convinced he stepped in front of that cab on purpose to avoid being deployed. I thought, that’s my private eye! A shady guy. An alcoholic. Somebody who may have deliberately stepped in front of a cab to avoid the draft. A character with such a poor moral compass that he’s called Nicky the Weasel. I took a sip of bourbon. Nicholas Bishop was born. The novel is set after Pearl Harbor, and that’s partly where the title comes from. You’ll have to read the novel to find out the other meaning.
Who is Nicholas Bishop, the protagonist of After Pearl?
Bishop is a private eye who has lost everything. His alcoholism has cost him his detective agency, apartment, and the secretary who he’s secretly in love with. He’s forced to take a job as the house detective at The Lafayette Hotel, which is the lowest rung on the detective ladder as far as he’s concerned. Bishop wakes on the floor of his hotel room one afternoon after a five-day bender and remembers nothing. Two shots have been fired from his gun, there’s a one-eyed, female dog named Jake in his room, and the cops want to question him about missing lounge singer Pearl DuGaye, who was last seen leaving the Chez Amis nightclub with him. Bishop needs to piece together those missing five days and figure out what the hell happened before the cops, the mob, or home-grown Nazis get their mitts on him…all while trying to stay sober. It’s not easy being Nicholas Bishop.
Why did you want to write a “classic noir” and did you have any specific writers - or movies - in mind?
I was interested in the idea of creating a tough private eye that really wasn’t that tough. I wanted a character that was flawed physically, emotionally, and morally. What would happen if I put a character like that in a hardboiled world? And what if his assistant was no femme fatale but a tough feminist about thirty years ahead of her time who wanted to be a private eye? How would it work if I draped it all in classic noir tropes and dialogue? It was a hell of a lot of fun writing to find out. I’m sure I was thinking about Hammett and Bogart while drafting the book. I read aloud as I write and would often find myself reading in Bogart’s voice. I guess that’s better than reading in Peter Lorre’s voice.
After Pearl takes place in 1942, during World War 2. How did you go about researching the era?
My parents grew up in that era. My dad was a wonderful storyteller. I loved his stories of growing up on Genesee Street, the characters that frequented my grandfather’s restaurant, and his experiences during the war. That’s probably why I fell in love with the movies, music, and history from that era. So, I had read and learned a lot about that time starting at an early age. The formal research prior to starting After Pearl was mostly spent reading local newspapers from 1942 at the public library. I was fascinated how the news from eighty years ago was the same as today—war, racism, anti-Semitism, the rise of fascism. Same shit, different century. To round things out, I read Don’t You Know There’s A War On? by Richard Lingeman, The Hotel Dick by Axel Brandt, and I Was A House Detective by Dev Collans. Many of the locations described in my novel are still there and operational—The Hotel Lafayette; The Albright Art Gallery, now known as the AKG; The Kitty Kat, now known as Eddie Brady’s. I could go to those places and take notes and photographs or just sit at the bar or in the lobby and daydream. That was the fun part of the research.
Bishop is on the run - from the cops, mobsters and even American Nazis. How does he survive and set out to clear his name?
Bishop can’t do it alone. He needs his tough former secretary, who is now his driver since he can’t find his car, to help him. In many ways Gia’s the stronger of the two characters and maybe even the better detective. Bishop also needs Benny The Junkman’s help. Benny is a WWI vet with PTSD who sometimes helps Bishop by being his eyes and ears on the street. But most of all, Bishop needs to stay sober. As he dries out, his detective skills return. Of course, Bishop’s only one drink away from disaster. It’s tough running from cops, mobsters, and Nazis when you’re on a tightrope.
How much is your hometown of Buffalo, NY, an inspiration for your fiction?
A huge part. After I wrote my first novel, Rook, I realized I enjoyed writing about the city and its shady past. Plus, my own family history is anchored here. I decided that Buffalo would be the literary turf that I’d carve out for myself, much the way William Kennedy made Albany his own. It’s the place I know best, and I wanted to explore it more. I did a local radio interview a few weeks ago with the great crime novelist Lissa Marie Redmond. She’s organizing the city’s first Noir At The Bar event. She said during the interview that Buffalo is noir. I loved that quote. I wish I said it. And I think she’s right. The city, its people, their attitude, and the architecture are all noir. It’s a great place to live if you write crime fiction.
Why is it important for novels and other fiction to be grounded in local knowledge and history?
For a historical fiction writer, it’s essential. It brings authenticity and believability to the work. John Gardner said writing fiction is creating a vivid and continuous dream for the reader. That local knowledge and those historical details are what creates the vividness. I want my readers to feel like they are in 1942 Buffalo when they read After Pearl. The details and descriptions make that happen.
After Pearl was a Claymore Award Finalist. What can you tell us about the Claymore Awards and how you came to take part?
The Claymore Awards was founded about fifteen years ago by Clay Stafford to help crime fiction writers find agents and publishers for their unpublished work. It’s one of the awards handed out at The Killer Nashville writers conference. After Pearl didn’t win, but I was thrilled to be a finalist.
Of your earlier works, Rook was a Silver Falchion Finalist, and Yesteryear was awarded the 2021 International Eyelands Award for Best Historical Novel. How does After Pearl stand in relation to those books?
I’ve been very fortunate when it comes to writing contests and awards. Hopefully, After Pearl will continue that streak. Pearl doesn’t drop until May 1, but early reviews have been strong so far. May will be very busy in terms of live appearances and media hits. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that all that work will create enough buzz to carry over to awards season. Readers can help generate that buzz by leaving positive reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Just a few kind sentences can go a long way.
What made you decide to become a writer?
I come from a family of readers, and I was no different. I loved reading, especially The Hardy Boys mysteries when I was a kid. I’d save money and ride my bike to Ulbrich’s to buy one when I’d scraped together enough. In high school, I read John Irving’s The Hotel New Hampshire. When I finished it, I knew I wanted to write a book like that--a novel that made you laugh until you realized how sad it truly was. I took my first creative writing class at SUNY Buffalo a few years later, and I was hooked. I knew I wanted to write. I’ve been pushing words around on the page ever since. For a long time, they pushed back. It took me thirty years to get my first book published.
How did you set about planning promotion for After Pearl and what can you tell us about your schedule and where to find out more?
I’ve learned a great deal about marketing and promotion since my first book, Muscle Cars, was published in 2015. That’s almost entirely due to my publisher, Andrew Gifford at SFWP. For After Pearl, I’ve planned a mix of podcast interviews, in-person events, and supporting non-fiction pieces. You can find my upcoming schedule and links to past events and interviews at www.sgeoannou.com. I always tell people the last page on my site is the most important. It’s the contact page. I love hearing from readers and other writers. Email me from there. I answer all of them.
How important is it to move beyond traditional media, to include podcasts, social media, and other forums?
I think you have to do it all. I tried to create a marketing strategy for After Pearl that’s a mix of traditional media and newer platforms. There’s no such thing as bad publicity, so you need to get your name out there and score those media hits. Having said that, I think you need to identify your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to book promotion. For instance, I’m pretty good in front of people, so interviews, public readings, moderating and being on panels are my strengths. I need to improve at writing and submitting non-fiction support pieces. You need to find what works best for you.
Will there be a sequel to After Pearl?
Yes! The Falling Woman is the second in The Nicholas Bishop Mystery Series and will be published in 2027 by SFWP. Bishop, his partner Gia, and his little one-eyed dog Jake will, of course, be back. Some minor characters from After Pearl will have larger roles in this second novel, so expect to see more of Joey Bones and Lucky Teddy Thurston. Even Bishop’s estranged mother returns. The bourbon will be back, too, and that’s always a problem.
What are you working on at the moment?
I’ve started the third book in the Bishop series. It has the working title of The Fifth Rose, but that might change. It’s December 1942 and the anniversaries of Pearl Harbor and Bishop’s “accident” are fast approaching. Bishop and Gia are hired to find a missing wife but nothing in Bishop’s world is as straightforward as that.
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About Stephen G. Eoannou:
Stephen G. Eoannou is the author of the novels After Pearl (SFWP 2025), Yesteryear (SFWP 2023), Rook (Unsolicited Press 2022), and the short story collection Muscle Cars (SFWP 2015). He has been awarded an Honor Certificate from The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, the Best Short Screenplay Award at the 36th Starz Denver Film Festival, and the 2021 International Eyelands Award for Best Historical Novel. Eoannou holds an MFA from Queens University of Charlotte and an MA from Miami University. He lives and writes in his hometown of Buffalo, New York, the setting and inspiration for much of his work.
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