The indefinable Charlotte Grimshaw

It's always tricky to come up with a specific category for the novels of Charlotte Grimshaw. Mazarine, her latest, has elements of a thriller, a mystery and a love story. In it, writer Frances Sinclair heads to Europe to track down her missing daughter, Maya. On the trip she's accompanied by Mazarine - the mother of Maya's boyfriend. Meanwhile two of Charlotte's earlier novels are being filmed for TVNZ under the title of The Bad Seed. Sarah Kate-Lynch is writing the screenplay of the psychological thriller in which a murder suspect has to take on a powerful politician to clear his name and keep his daughter. Lynn Freeman talks with Charlotte Grimshaw about the TV series, but first she wonders what fiction category she'd put Mazarine under in her local bookstore. Mazarine is published by Vintage.