A perfect Sunday with...Tim Major
Eggs Benedict, Tintin and uninterrupted, unfragmented thoughts
Every week, a top writer, artist, actor or creator reveals how they’d fill their perfect Sunday, sharing their favourite comfort reads, movies, food… anything that would make their weekend great.
Today, it's the turn of Tim Major, writer of Jekyll & Hyde: Consulting Detectives!
Tim's perfect Sunday… brunch
Eggs Benedict, please. I’ll never make good eggs Benedict, and neither do I want to. Some meals should be reserved for when you eat out, for when you’re indulging yourself. So if in this scenario I’m supposed to remain in my own home, I’m afraid you’ll have to send a personal chef.
Tim's perfect Sunday… read
I rarely reread novels, but this scenario requires it, surely. The novel I most often consider rereading is The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon. It’s one of those novels you can tell was the product of every one of the author’s obsessions at the time: superheroes and the origins of comics, the Prague Golem, 1930s New York, historical figures such as Salvador Dali and Orson Welles. I first read it during a brief period when I was working and travelling in the US and feeling quite alone, and the novel was a huge comfort. I don’t remember much about the plot, but I’d love to spend time with the central characters again.
Tim's perfect Sunday… comic
During lockdown, my kids were the perfect age to be introduced to Asterix and Tintin, and we worked our way through every single book in each series, reading them together in a huddle, day after day. Since then I’ve become a bit of a Tintin obsessive. One of the later books, The Castafiore Emerald, is surprisingly meta and experimental, and it’s also become one of my central reference points when I plan murder-mystery novels. I think it’s perfect.
Tim's perfect Sunday… movie
My wife and I have settled on The Godfather as our go-to rainy-afternoon comfort viewing, and I also find horror films oddly relaxing, and if I was with my kids we’d certainly watch Buster Keaton’s The Electric House – but on this occasion I’ll plump for The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960). Bleakness and despair is what’s lacking in most romantic comedies, I think. As well as being poignant and constantly funny, it’s a beautifully designed film, a far greater technical achievement than its audience might expect or deserve. And I’ll never tire of watching Jack Lemmon strain spaghetti with a tennis racket. (“Wait till you see me serve the meatballs!”)
Tim's perfect Sunday... TV binge
Realistically, it’s probably Peep Show, which is still underestimated as one of the most insightful and funny British comedies of all time. But if I wanted to slow the pace and really get stuck into some comfort viewing, I’ll opt for Twin Peaks. The first few episodes are unimprovable, and once you’re in the flow then even the weaker second season becomes a happy indulgence, a chance to spend time with characters you love. I still haven’t rewatched Twin Peaks: The Return since it was broadcast, because I’ve been slightly afraid to try and recreate one of the most mind-altering TV experiences I’ve had. Maybe today’s the day?
Tim's perfect Sunday… podcast
Since I went freelance seven years ago, which meant ridding myself of a commute along with everything else, my podcast listening has fallen off a cliff. So I’ll pick a favourite from back then: The Infinite Monkey Cage. It’s great fun, of course, but it also has a great track record of providing useful starting points for my work. It inadvertently provided the inspiration for lots of my short stories and even an entire novel, Snakeskins.
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Tim's perfect Sunday… album
There’s a lot of nuances to picking the right album, especially if I’m going to sit and listen to it properly, which I rarely do. I listen to music constantly as a background to work, which almost always means drone or dour instrumentals – for my current project it’s been nothing but Rausch by Gas and Aerial M’s 1997 self-titled album, every day. So for Sunday listening I’ll veer away from mere background music. Some Chet Baker or Hoagy Carmichael, maybe? Karen Dalton? Or for more recent stuff, Papa’s Ear by Tenniscoats, or Not So Deep As a Well by Myriam Gendron, or I get along without you very well by Ellen Arkbro and Johan Graden, or Nyt Alfabet by Vessel. The sunlight’s streaming through the window and I’m dozing happily.
Tim's perfect Sunday… treat
I am terrible at taking proper time out. I’m not saying I work constantly – the hundreds of hours I’ve put into Slay the Spire attest to my ability to distract myself. But I find it very hard to get out and do anything purely leisurely, particularly if it’s time-consuming, and certainly when I’m on my own. So let’s say I drive to a woodland and walk around, and it’s autumnal and crisp and bright and I’m really there, observing my surroundings and thinking uninterrupted, unfragmented thoughts.
Wouldn’t that be something?
Jekyll & Hyde: Consulting Detectives is out now from Titan Books.
Dr Jekyll and his monstrous alter-ego join forces with his ex-fiancée to solve a series of disappearances across Victorian London in this thrilling mystery, perfect for readers of Stuart Turton and James Lovegrove.
When Muriel Carew attends a lavish society party, the last person she expects to bump into is her ex-fiancée Henry Jekyll, a man she’s not seen for many years. When Jekyll turns out to be investigating a series of missing persons in London, Muriel is intrigued. But Jekyll is not working alone, and if Muriel wants to aid in the investigation, she must work with both Henry and his partner, the monstrous and uncouth Mr Hyde.
As their search takes a dark turn and a missing persons case becomes a murder investigation, Muriel finds herself deep in a mystery involving a nefarious group exploring their own hidden alter-egos within the beating heart of London’s high society.
To solve the case and bring those responsible to justice, Muriel must find a way to place her trust in Mr Hyde, which might mean uncovering secrets about her own life she never dreamed of discovering.
Tim Major is a writer and freelance editor from York. His books include Jekyll & Hyde: Consulting Detectives, Snakeskins, Hope Island, three Sherlock Holmes novels, short story collection And the House Lights Dim and a monograph about the 1915 silent crime film, Les Vampires. Tim’s short fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, and has been selected for Best of British Science Fiction, Best of British Fantasy and The Best Horror of the Year.