Am I mad to be thinking of ripping it up and starting again?

[Jennifer Thomson]

I had a Eureka moment with my in progress crime novel Vile City today. I looked at the novels that are out there and thought that if I wanted to get it published that I needed a new angle. One that would make my book stand out.

Alas, this will mean almost ripping up what I've written 100,000 words and almost starting from scratch. Am I mad? My book won an award for its opening chapters.

I'd appreciate anyone's thoughts on this. How do you know when to act on a hunch about your own work?