Blog Archives

A DEATH ALONG THE RIVER FLEET--my fourth book has a title!

2/19/2015

My fourth book has had several different titles, but none that really resonated with me or with my editor.

I've talked before about the image that prompted this novel initially--although, alas, that too has changed somewhat--and about the difficulties I've had with titles generally. But naming a book is a difficult thing--it has to be right!

The new title--A DEATH ALONG THE RIVER FLEET--feels right. (I mean, I also liked Murder at Fleet Ditch, but it was deemed a bit too harsh for my Lucy books, which I can totally see now).

Here is the working premise:

Crossing Holborn Bridge, where it crosses the River Fleet, Lucy Campion—printer’s apprentice--encounters a distraught young woman, barely able to speak and clad only in a blood-spattered nightdress. To the local townspeople, the woman is mad, afflicted with the devil’s tongue, but Lucy, feeling concerned for the woman’s well-being, takes her to a physician. When the woman is shockingly identified as the daughter of a nobleman, Lucy is asked to temporarily give up her bookselling duties to discreetly serve as the woman’s companion while in the physician’s care. As the woman recovers over the month of April 1667, she begins—with Lucy’s help—to reconstruct the terrible event that occurred near the bridge, as well as the disturbing events that preceded it. When the woman is attacked while in her care, Lucy becomes unwillingly privy to a plot with far-reaching social implications.

But, given that I don't like to disclose too much about my work-in-progress, this is all I will say!

2 Comments

Sleuths in Time, Tracking Crime

2/13/2015

2 Comments

I'm delighted to say that recently a group of us--eight authors who write historical mysteries--joined together to form a new collective: Sleuths in Time, Tracking Crime.

We write historical mysteries set in England, Scotland and the United States, ranging in time from the 1660s to the 1930s. Connect with us on Facebook and Pinterest (Sleuths in Time Authors) or follow us on Twitter! (@sleuthsintime).

We've got some great things planned, including some giveaways and a scavenger hunt at Malice Domestic. Stay tuned for details!

Tessa Arlen writes a mysteries series set in the early 1900s featuring amateur sleuth Lady Montfort and her housekeeper, Mrs. Jackson.

Her first book in the series DEATH OF A DISHONORABLE GENTLEMAN was released January 6, 2015. A Party For Winston, the second book in the series, is scheduled to hit the shelves January 2016. www.tessaarlen.com Check out her blog too, The Redoubtable Edwardian.

Susanna Calkins writes the Lucy Campion mysteries set in 17th century England. Her first novel, A Murder at Rosamund's Gate, was shortlisted for the Sue Feder Historical Award (Macavity) and her second, From the Charred Remains, was shortlisted for a Lovey and the Bruce Alexander Historical Mystery Award (Lefty). Her next book will be released April 14, 2015! Counting down the days!

Anna Lee Huber writes the Lady Darby series set in 1830’s Scotland, which features a gifted portrait artist with a macabre past, including instruction in anatomy.

A Study in Death, the fourth book in the series, will be published by Berkley in July 2015. Other titles that follow the detecting exploits of Lady Kiera Darby and inquiry agent Sebastian Gage are The Anatomist’s Wife (nominated for RITA Awards and a Daphne du Maurier in 2013), Mortal Arts (Sept. 2013), and A Grave Matter (July 2014). To learn more, check out my 2013 interview with Anna too!

D.E. Ireland, writes the Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins mystery series in which the celebrated professor of Wimpole Street and the former Cockney flower girl join forces to solve crime in Edwardian London. WOULDN'T IT BE DEADLY has been nominated for the Malice Domestic Agatha Award for Best Historical Novel of 2014.

MOVE YOUR BLOOMING CORPSE will be released on Sept. 22, 2015 and continues the adventures at Ascot racecourse. Check out my interview, where they explain how they manage to write together without killing each other!

Anna Loan-Wilsey writes the Hattie Davish Mystery series set in 1890's America featuring a traveling secretary who solves crimes in every historic town she visits.

The upcoming Hattie Davish book A Deceptive Homecoming will be released by Kensington in July 2015. Earlier books in the series are A Lack of Temperance (Sept. 2012), Anything But Civil (Sept. 2013), and A Sense of Entitlement (June 2014). www.annaloanwilsey.com

Christine Trent writes the LADY OF ASHES series about a Victorian undertaker solving crimes that Scotland Yard cannot.

Full of details about funeral customs in the Victorian era, LADY OF ASHES was a 2014 Daphne du Maurier finalist, and the fourth book in the series, THE MOURNING BELLS, releases on March 31, 2015. Christine's long-suffering husband is very understanding of her need for cats (5), books on shelves (4,000+ and counting), and scrapbooking supplies (don't ask).

Alyssa Maxwell writes The Gilded Newport Mysteries, set in Newport, RI, in the 1890s and featuring Emma Cross, a female society reporter who is a distant cousin of the Vanderbilt family. Kensington will release the next book in the series Murder at Beechwood in May 2015.

Previous series’ titles are Murder at the Breakers (March 2014) and Murder at Marble House (Sept. 2014). She officially became a USA Today Bestseller the week of Sept. 4, 2014.

Ashley Weaver is a Louisiana librarian, unabashed bookworm, and the author of the Amory Ames Mysteries, set in 1930’s England.

The first book in the series, MURDER AT THE BRIGHTWELL, has been nominated for a 2015 Edgar Award for Best First Novel. The second book, DEATH WEARS A MASK, will be released on October 13, 2015.

2 Comments

A DEATH ALONG THE RIVER FLEET--my fourth book has a title!

Sleuths in Time, Tracking Crime

Susanna Calkins

Categories

Archives