 I'm so thrilled that my very first short story--The Trial of Madame Pelletier-- was selected for inclusion in Malice Domestic 12: Mystery Most Historical (Wildside Press, 2017). Like my Lucy Campion novels set in 17th century England, this short story stemmed from research I did in graduate school a zillion years ago. (And yeah, that's pretty fun for me to get to use another chunk of this doctoral research in a new way!) I won't say too much about my story other than it features the trial of a presumed poisoner in a small town in France, in 1840. The trial was a cause celebre--a trial of the century--which played out as much in the court of public opinion and in sensationalized newspaper accounts, as it did in the assize court in Limousin. I remember being struck too, not just be the trial itself, but how the woman at the heart of it--the Lady Poisoner--was being tried both as a criminal and as a female. While my story differs dramatically from the trial that inspired it, I did want to convey that same sense of a woman being tried on many levels. Moreover, ever since I read Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution, I have wanted to try my hand at a courtroom drama. So this was such a fun piece for me to write overall. I'm really excited to read the other stories in the volume!!! The selected stories are:
"A One-Pipe Problem" by John Betancourt "The Trial of Madame Pelletier" by Susanna Calkins "Eating Crow" by Carla Coupe "The Lady's Maid Vanishes" by Susan Daly "Judge Lu's Ming Dynasty Case Files-The Unseen Opponent" by P.A. De Voe "Honest John Finds a Way" by Michael Dell "Spirited Death" by Carole Nelson Douglas "The Corpse Candle" by Martin Edwards "Mistress Threadneedle's Quest" by Kathy Lynn Emerson "The Black Hand" by Peter Hayes "Crim Con" by Nancy Herriman "Hand of an Angry God" by KB Inglee "The Barter" by Su Kopil "Tredegar Murders" by Vivian Lawry "The Tragic Death of Mrs. Edna Fogg" by Edith Maxwell "A Butler is Born" by Catriona McPherson "Home Front Homicide" by Liz Milliron "He Done Her Wrong" by Kathryn O'Sullivan "Summons for a Dead Girl" by K.B. Owen "Mr. Nakamura's Garden" by Valerie O Patterson "The Velvet Slippers" by Keenan Powell "The Blackness Before Me" by Mindy Quigley "Death on the Dueling Grounds" by Verena Rose "You Always Hurt the One You Love" by Shawn Reilly Simmons "Night and Fog" by Marcia Talley "The Measured Chest" by Mark Thielman "The Killing Game" by Victoria Thompson "The Cottage" by Charles Todd "The Seven" by Elaine Viets "Strong Enough" by Georgia Wilson
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Well, we've finally reached the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London (Well, sort of. We're on a different calendar now, but I guess it doesn't really matter really). The dome of St. Paul's is all lit up...  AFP: Daniel Leal-Olivas ....and London--or at least a replica-- is about to start burning!  Reuters: Peter Nicholls The Great Fire has served as the main inspiration behind my Lucy Campion mysteries. When I was working as a PIRATE aboard the Golden Hinde in London, I was always so fascinated by the incredible changes wrought by both the plague and the Great Fire. I was even more intrigued by the so-called "Miracle of the Great Fire" too.
My first book, A MURDER AT ROSAMUND'S GATE, ends with London in flames. My second book, FROM THE CHARRED REMAINS, picks up two weeks afterwards, when Londoners are wearily starting the massive clean-up of the City, and the Fire Courts are established. The aftermath of the inferno continues in THE MASQUE OF A MURDERER and A DEATH ALONG THE RIVER FLEET. For those who survived the plague and Fire, London was a very different world--frightening on the one hand, but rife with opportunity for commoners and criminals alike.... |
Susanna CalkinsHistorian. Mystery writer. Researcher. Teacher. Occasional blogger. Categories
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