Kit Maguire -These Friends of Mine

‘Kit is an enigma’

In the second Curly Fan Club novel, one of the other characters says to Kit, “You’re an enigma.”

And she is.

A riddle, a conundrum, a puzzle, a mystery all on her own.

So, who is Katharine Maguire when the lights are off and there’s no one else there to see?

‘She’s a rebel’

Kit doesn’t want to do the same things as everyone else. She’s a rebel. She’s convinced she won’t be happy with the token husband and dribbling children. But having chosen an alternate path, she finds it difficult to get anyone to take her seriously. “You’ll change your mind when you hit twenty-eight and the body clock starts ticking,” they tell her. Kit’s almost thirty and has removed the batteries from her body clock.

‘She’s a Curly’

Having curly hair has been her Achilles heel, right up until the moment she discovered the Curly Method. In her early twenties, overweight and lacking in confidence, Kit soaked up the new way of loving her curls and used the change as a springboard to fix all her other issues. She’s a lighted doorway into a different way of living for us Curlies who spend the first hour of every day taming, persuading and cursing our curls. As soon as we find something that works, our hair rebels and shows us who’s boss. If you have even the slightest wave in your wig, this method is for you. As the writer, I have curls and have also walked Kit’s journey from fat and frizzy to coiffed and curved. She doesn’t carry my story, but she sure does carry my attitude!

‘She’s friends with fanatics’

If you’ve ever known a smoker who’s quit the stick, you’ll understand. One minute, they’re desperately seeking out places to smoke a quick one and the next, turning up their noses at everything involved with the habit. And if they’ve truly quit, they’re not just anti, they’re rabid.

That describes a Curly who’s quit straightening, blow-waving and dousing their curls with harmful products. They know there’s a better way because they’re wearing the results on their head. And if you meet one with a high restorative personality, you’d better clutch that naughty shampoo to your breast and run for the exit. They will come after you and prise it from your clawed hand and march you to the nearest bathroom.

Imagine yourself in a room filled with women who consider themselves the guardians of the curl and the sworn enemy of sulphates and silicones. Meet the Women with Curls Guild. These groups actually exist, although they’re mainly online and are called something different. The WWC is pure invention but contains elements of personalities I met online when I first embarked on my curl journey. These women are Curl Crazy and having seen the difference in their own lives, are desperate to spread the good news. Once they get you in their curly clutches, they’ll be searching your bathroom for banned substances of the shampoo kind and sniffing your hair for harmful gels.

The thing to remember about the WWC is this; they mean well. That will be important when they’re confiscating your straighteners.

‘She’s a crime magnet’

In the first novel, Dead Straight, the lovely Mr Roy is found dead at his successful garage on a main road in Hamilton. When the security cameras film a woman with curly hair sneaking in after hours; Kit finds herself in the frame for murder. Add to that a crew of rather gorgeous male friends; two hot vicars, a cop and a car mechanic, plus a healthy dollop of Kit’s favourite curl tamer – purple-willy-shaped lube – and you have a recipe for something, but it’s probably not crime solving.

In the second novel, Bad Hair Day, Kit’s delightful flatmate is missing. He went to check on something at the university laboratory and said he’d be back in time for dinner. No one has seen him since. When Kit’s mother tries to marry her off to a local masseur, it’s time for drastic action. But it seems Raki’s disappearance and the desperate Kasouf might be connected.

Kit is one of my favourites

Yeah, I admit it. Kit Maguire is a sweetheart and one of my favourite characters. Of all the people in my head, she provides the hilarious bright spots. Clumsy, full of energy and fixated on her hair, she’s all the things I’m not. But we do share something; our flaw.

We don’t trust easily.

I trust few people, but Kit has blacklisted everyone. Daughter of Hamilton’s best criminal defence lawyer, she’s seen the very worst of human nature. Add to that a bad experience in love and she’s closed herself off to relationships for good. She’s surrounded by handsome and eligible bachelors, but she’s slammed and double locked that door forever.

Who will find the key and to be honest, should anyone?

Dead Straight is available on all platforms and you can grab that HERE
Bad Hair Day will be out soon. You can find out when by joining my mailing list HERE

Stay in touch for more character assassinations introductions.
Who would you like me to pick next?
Let me know in the comments.