Jo Spain on Never to Be Found, Jōhatsu & the Japanese Art of Vanishing

Philippa sits down with the brilliant Jo Spain — 13 bestselling thrillers already published, translated into 17 languages, TV writer and producer — to talk about her extraordinary new novel Never to Be Found, which sparked a bidding war from some of the biggest names in television before it was even published.

🎙️ Jo Spain on Never to Be Found

In Japan, up to 100,000 people every year voluntarily evaporate from their lives — a phenomenon known as jōhatsu. Entire industries exist to help them do it, providing new identities, documents, and a clean start. Veronica Paige has brought this concept to Britain, running a business disappearing people — until she discovers she's helped a murderer vanish.

Jo and Philippa discuss:

• How a lunchtime article led to the entire concept of the book — and why Jo raced to write it before anyone else could
• The once-in-a-career bidding war: Sam Mendes' production company, Amazon MGM, and The Walking Deadshowrunner Angela Kang all in pursuit of the same book
• Why Jo always writes books for the love of them and scripts for the money — and why those two things are entirely separate
• The three categories people fall into when they hear about jōhatsu: those who want to vanish, those horrified by abandonment, and those who think they'd be brilliant at making people disappear
• How Veronica justifies what she does — and the moral question at the heart of the book
• Why layers matter more than first drafts, and what it looks like from the outside when Jo is deep in the editing stage
• Her dream writing location: the coast path between Moville and Greencastle in Donegal — where the Wi-Fi barely works and the day takes its time
• Her nightmare: a writer's room, surrounded by other writers, expected to create on demand
• The pressure of reader expectations for twists — and why she's made peace with the fact that she can't please everyone
• BookTok: how she joined to keep an eye on her children and ended up addicted, embarrassing them daily, and discovering her last three books there
• What she's reading: The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett, the latest Jane Harper, and London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe

Biscuit answer: A committed biscuit addict who has written an entire novel powered by ginger nuts. Current favourite: shortcake with sultanas, dunked, and firmly classified as healthy eating.

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