New Crime Thriller Book “The Fields” Set in Iowa, Because Of Course

A new crime thriller novel called "The Fields" by British author Erin Young is set in the cornfields of northeastern Iowa.

Young is from Brighton, England and says the idea for the novel came from reading a 2017 newspaper article about the dangers surrounding big agriculture.

“It was a really interesting article and it was quite disturbing as well, and I knew by the end of it that I wanted to tell a story which involved some of the things that this article highlighted and corn growing and production was part of that," Young told Radio Iowa.

The fascination developed into "The Fields", Young's 9th novel and the first in a series.

Set in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls area, it follows Sargeant Riley Fisher, who has just been promoted to the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office. Fisher is called to a cornfield upon discovery of a young woman's body and is shocked to discover that it is someone that she knew from childhood.

Young visited Iowa in 2018 to get a better understanding of the area.

“Having never been there, it was just really important for me to get a sense of the place and the landscape, the food, the people, the atmosphere,” Young told Radio Iowa. “I don’t think I could have written this book in the way that I did write it without having been there, personally. It was really pivotal for me to go there and experience it and hopefully, bring it to life on the page.”

It will likely hit the small screen too, as rights to "The Fields" and Sargeant Fisher's pursuits have been acquired by a production company.

Young has published 8 international bestsellers.