Rhys Bowen's Blog, page 4

The Author Who Came in From the Cold

Sorry that I haven't been blogging here as much as I used to. Frankly my Facebook page has taken over my day to day musings. Do come on over to Facebook and LIKE RhysBowenAuthor if you want to stay current.

I spent most of last week in Colorado where I realize why I live in California and Arizona. It snowed. And it snowed. And it was 24 degrees with a wind chill making it 6! Thank heavens I took my fake fur coat (that everyone thinks is real).

First I attended Twist Phelan's wedding to the adorable Jack Chapple. What a fun wedding with the holy book being The Velveteen Rabbit and Twists vows written in Doctor Seuss. Then on to Left Coast Crime convention in Colorado Springs. Fabulous mountain resort and I looked forward to some hikes... until it started to snow. And snow. And we heard about the interstates around us being closed.

So I worried a little about getting home but luckily the sun shone on Sunday morning and we made a dash for it between storms and managed to get on an earlier flight. Pfew. But the convention was great fun. I was part of a concealed weapons fashion show (wearing genuine 1930s outfit) and I moderated the celebrity Truth or Dare panel which everyone loved. My panelists were such good sports. I had them do things like be blindfolded and then identify a famous mystery author entirely by feel!

We had a terrific banquet with actor Lou Diamond Phillips who stars in Craig Johnson's Longmire series. Lou was so funny, so over-the-top energetic that everyone loved him.
And then we had the scary drive back to Denver, noticing the accidents along the way and praying we'd get out before it snowed again.

We did AND I got home to find that my Amazon Rank was #27. Not #27 in mystery but overall. Up there with James Patterson and Stephanie Meyer etc. All because of wonderful Audible! They have put my Royal Spyness series on sale until tonight and thus bumped me to the top of the tree. Jump in and get them while they are hot!

Catching up, Vintage clothing and more

I realize I've been silent on Rhys's Pieces, but my time has been fully occupied with hosting Jungle Red Writers last week, doing all the promo for the new Molly book, THE FAMILY WAY, and with trying to finish the first draft of the next Molly book before we close up the condo and leave Arizona for California on Monday morning.

I've also had some fun excursions this week: I went to visit a friend who collects vintage clothing. I'm going to be in a fashion show, dressed as my character Lady Georgie, so my friend Dinah let me try on wonderful real 1930s dresses. I turned down the really dainty and fragile ones, scared of what might happen if I sat down wrongly. But I did accept a fabulous apricot color evening cape in soft velvet, and a pair of real 1930s shoes. I'll wear these with navy silk palazzo pants and my blond flapper wig. (I'll post pix after the show.)

But here are some pictures I took at Dinah's house.

I also took my grandkids to a ghost town, did a tour of an old mine and let them pan for gold. What a fun day.

So now it's packing up and making sure the fridge is clean and empty and everything I need for six months is taken with me. And all I really want to do is finish the darned book.
Then off to Colorado on Wednesday for Left Coast Crime in Colorado Springs, then home to the Bay Area for several book signings with Cara Black.
Orinda Books March 28
Books Inc Laurel Village, April 17
Bay Books, April 22

Hope to see you at one of them.
AND this weekend, St Patricks Day, March 17, I'll be signing at The Poisoned Pen, Scottsdale AZ at 2 p.m. Fun St Paddy's day party.

Big Week for Rhys

Tomorrow marks the publication of THE FAMILY WAY--my 15th Molly book.
And all this week I'm hosting Jungle Red Writers-www.jungeredwriters.com so please come on over and join in the discussion.

I'm particularly pleased with the title THE FAMILY WAY as it resonates on so many levels. What is family? What happens when the family structure is not there? As well as focusing on pregnancy and birth. The plot deals with kidnapped babies, a missing girl, a very creepy convent...it's one of the more suspenseful Molly books.

And on Jungle Reds we're discussing the importance of titles, title mistakes and a fun look at title suggestions for my next Molly book that takes place in Paris.

Tuesday we'll be celebrating my pub date with some of the things I can't put in my books.

Wednesday I'll be having a fun interview with Cara Black

Thursday Mary Jane Maffini does a guest post on writing a book with her daughter.

Friday Brad Parks does a naughty post on sex in mysteries

Saturday we're talking about colors

and Sunday I'm sharing my favorite new knitting pattern.

So a busy week. Spread the word about the new Molly book and drink a glass of virtual champagne with me.

Exactly one week until THE FAMILY WAY is in stores, and A...

Exactly one week until THE FAMILY WAY is in stores, and Amazon seems to have dropped the price again. Good news if you haven't snagged your copy yet.

So to whet your appetite here is another little sneak peek....


It couldn’t be true. For a second I wondered if my eyes were playing tricks on me, but the sunlight was falling directly onto that flame-red hair, making it glow brighter even than my own and the way he swung his arms in that rolling, jaunty way when he walked was so familiar to me. The last time I had seen him was two years ago, when we’d had to flee together from Ireland after a failed prison break that had killed my other brother Joseph. I’d left Liam hiding out in France, wanted by the English. So what on earth was he doing walking down a busy street in New York in broad daylight?
            “Liam!” I exclaimed in delight and moved forward to throw my arms around him.
Instead he took a backward step. He looked startled, afraid, and for a moment I thought he was going to bolt on me. But his eyes lit up and he managed the ghost of a smile. “Molly. It’s good to see you. How are you?”
            “Well, thank you.”
            His eyes traveled over my person and reacted when he noticed my belly. “It’s a little one you’re carrying, is it? Does that mean that—“ He broke off, trying to phrase the question correctly. I could see he was trying to catch a glimpse of my left hand.
            I read his meaning and laughed. “Yes, Liam, in case you’re wondering. I’m rightly and properly married. To a captain in the police force no less. I’m Mrs. Daniel Sullivan.”
I saw his glance become wary. “A captain of police. Well, well.”
“I would have written to tell you the news, but I had no way to contact you.”
He nodded. “It’s better that way.”
He looked thinner than when I’d last seen him and he never had had more than an ounce of meat on those bones. And older too. A grown man and not a boy. A man who had seen too much suffering for his years.
“Holy Mother of God, Liam,” I said. “It’s grand to see you. How long have you been in the city?”
 “A week or so.”
“Why didn’t you let me know?” 
He shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. “It’s a big city, Molly. How would I have found you?”
“I left my address with you, didn’t I?” I felt frustration rising inside me. This was my brother, whom I hadn’t seen for years, and he was treating me like a causal acquaintance, almost like a stranger.
“You might have done so. But I destroyed all the papers I had; everything, just in case we got caught. No sense in involving other people in our struggles. That’s why I didn’t try to seek you out, Molly. It’s better if no one knows I’m here.”
“What are you doing here, for God’s sake?” I demanded.
He looked around warily, although nobody on the street seemed to be paying either of us any attention. “I can’t tell you that, Molly.”
“Look, why don’t you come back to my place for a meal?” I said. “Then we can have a grand old chat.”
Again that guarded look. “I’d rather not, if you don’t mind. Better for both of us that way.”
I touched his arm lightly. “Liam, are you in trouble?”
At this he laughed. “Trouble? Me? Oh no, only a price on my head from the English and me in this country with false papers. Otherwise everything’s just grand.”  He shifted uneasily again. “I shouldn’t be standing out here, for anyone to see.”
“Then come and have a cup of tea. There are plenty of little cafes on the Bowery.”
He shook his head again. “I’d rather not, if you don’t mind.” He must have seen my face fall. “Look, I don’t want to involve you in anything, Molly. Far better if you’ve not seen me and don’t know that I’m here.”
“But I’d like to help if I can,” I said. “Is it on Brotherhood business that you’re here?”
“Of course, but I can’t tell you about it so don’t ask me.” He glanced past me up the street. “I should be going. It was lovely to see you. I just wish I could stay and have a ‘grand old chat.’” THE FAMILY WAY by Rhys Bowen, Minotaur Books hardcover and Kindle in stores March 5, 2013

Wot no Downton?

I feel lost without Downton to gripe about on Monday mornings. Of course there was the Oscars last night, (or should that be there WERE the Oscars??) Liked Seth. He was genuinely funny and quick and could sing really well. Loved the sock puppets. Daniel Day-Lewis obviously expected to win as he had a great speech prepared. Jennifer Lawrence obviously didn't expect to win as she had nothing prepared. Hated Michelle Obama's bangs--made her look like a wannabe teenager.

And the gowns. Almost all of them were really classy. Hallie Berry has about a six inch waist. Ann Hathaway is too thin now but still looked gorgeous. But apart from her win, I can't say I was thrilled with any of the winners. Especially not Argo for best picture over Les Mis. No comparison in my book. And I would have liked that adorable little girl to win for Beasts of the Southern Wild.

But overall what a good year for movies and amazingly a year in which I'd seen most of them!
But what was Meryl doing last year? No picture? Come on, lady. You're only 70. Get moving.

So do share your Oscar thoughts.

Women Trailblazers

It's twelve days to go until The Family Way is published, so I'm getting excited.

I'm also gearing up to respond to more people who tell me Molly could never have been a detective in her time. So I've been thinking more about what women actually achieved in Molly's time. Of course the expectation was the women stay home and raise a family. But in spite of this women were doing amazing things.

Do you remember that wonderful TV series called The Duchess of Duke Street? It was about a woman from very humble beginnings who goes on to found one of the best hotels in London. And it was based on a real woman who founded Brown's Hotel (still going strong--the hotel, not the woman).

Then there is Coco Chanel, whom I have written about. She came from an orphanage, learned to sew, started designing hats for ladies, then their outfits and went on to create a fashion house and perfumerie known all over the world. Not only did she start a fashion house but she designed business suits for women, and chic trousers long before anyone else in the world dared to wear them. Hooray for Coco.

And we mustn't leave out the scientists and inventors. Madame Curie who won the Novel Prize for science. Alice Hamilton was a distinguished physician who was the first woman on the medical faculty at Harvard. And Augusta Ada King, the Countess of Lovelace worked with Charles Babbage on the first mechanical computer in the mid 1800s, writing was has come to be accepted as the first computer program.

So Molly--feel free to be brave, adventurous, ambitious.  Molly is married now, so it will be interesting to see whether being a married woman restricts her from carrying on a professional career, won't it? Somehow I don't think she'll stay home and have tea parties.

Final Thoughts on Downton, Season 3

Overall impression--I didn't enjoy this season as much as the two that preceded it. Several reasons why--it was hard to handle Sibyl's death and then to know that Matthew wasn't going to make it past the final episode.

But also I think the driving force behind the two first seasons was the Mary/Matthew story. Will they ever get together and find happiness. My favorite episode ever was when Matthew was reported missing. They hold a concert at Downton and Matthew appears in the middle of it when Mary is singing. Corny but so romantic.

I'm not thrilled about the way it's turning into gothic melodrama/soap opera. The man with the mad wife, a la Jane Eyre? Surely there would be a provision in the courts that if someone was no longer able to recognize their husband the marriage could be terminated?

And I never felt the whole Bates story was properly explained. She made a pie with arsenic to poison herself? I don't believe it. She was the worlds most selfish, heartless woman. She made a pie wanting to poison Bates when he came to tea. I think she was taking a little arsenic herself to build up tolerance and took too much but that is never made clear.

I also found it hard to go along with Thomas being promoted, given the feeling on homosexuality at the time. And the fresh and flirty maid was too much. So there was a lot I didn't like. But i did like the way Sibyl's death brought the family together. I liked Edith becoming her own woman, to the point of deciding to be someone's mistress knowing they can't marry. I liked the way Branson is adapting to a new life and is being accepted for his good qualities (and the fact that he can catch a cricket ball).

I just wish they hadn't had to kill off Matthew. Couldn't he have been disfigured in the accident and a new actor could have taken over (having had a face operation)? Or have been in a coma for a couple of seasons and wake up when Mary is about to marry someone else? Or gone to check on land he inherited in India and make the occasional cameo appearances? Someone suggested his death was Julian Fellowes vengeance. Maybe it was.

But will I watch it next year? Heck yes. And if you can't survive until next January in the US, then I have a new book out in August called Heirs and Graces that is about the unlikely heir to a dukedom, a home even statelier than Downton, three weird sisters, two strange children and one horrible duke. (and Georgie doesn't find out that Darcy has a wife in an insane institution and nobody eats a pie with arsenic in it!)

So what are your final thoughts on the season?

Dishing on Downton, Final Week.

Spoiler alert. Don't read on if you haven't watched the final episode yet.

For those of you who have--what a roller coaster, wasn't it? So much covered in one episode. And all the time waiting for doom to strike. Since I had read that the actor who plays Matthew was leaving the show I knew that something bad was about to happen to him. So when he went out with a gun, got on a train I was sitting on the edge of my seat. And then when he and Mary and the baby were so happy together I knew he'd never make it home alive.

Now I wonder how successful a new season can be. Wasn't the whole glue that kept us watching the love story between Mary and Matthew? The family is going to get naughty Rose, but she won't make up for the ones we have lost.

I liked the storyline with the servants this week, didn't you? And I like the way they have become people we know and care about. Mrs. Patmore and her suitor, Mrs. Hughes showing such a caring nature, and Thomas and Jimmy sorting things out. All good. And Daisy now seems to be friends with the new kitchen maid.

But sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Bates--too syrupy for words. I want them to be happy... but...enough already.

I wonder if anything will become of Isobel and the doctor? That was a nice little cameo too, wasn't it?

And one thing I loved personally was the whole Scottish environment. The castle, the piper, the stalking and the clouds over the green Scottish hills are exactly like Lady Georgie's home at Castle Rannoch in my Royal Spyness books. And the great hall with all the weapons and stag's heads. And the piper waking them each morning. All so familiar. It was almost as if my books had come to life.

So what did you think? Satisfactory or not? Did you know that Matthew was going to leave and thus had to be written out? Was this season a let-down? Do you think it can still go on successfully?Will you still watch next year? I expect I will.

Sneak Preview of The Family Way

Only three weeks now until THE FAMILY WAY, my 12th Molly Murphy mystery, is published. If you haven't yet pre-ordered your copy yet, it's showing up on Amazon today at a greatly reduced price, so I recommend snapping it up before the price rises again.

And if you have already read THE FACE IN THE MIRROR, the Molly short story on Amazon, and would like your appetite whetted even more, here's a sneak preview at The Family Way:



“I must say she gave a most favorable…” I started to say. The rest of my sentence was cut off by a terrible shriek. “My baby! Someone has taken my baby!”
We spun around to see a young woman, fair-haired and attired in the usual white shirt waist and cotton skirt of the Lower East Side, looking around desperately, her light eyes wide with terror.             “My baby!” She screamed again. “She was here. In her carriage. I left her for a second while I went into the butcher’s and now she’s gone.”            Instantly there was chaos as the crowd closed in around her. We were caught up in them and swept across the street to the young woman.. She was gesturing to a battered baby carriage that was now empty, apart from a crudely made cloth rabbit and one knitted bootie.             Older women had already come to her side to calm her screams. One of the nuns we had seen was first to reach her, patting her shoulder with a comforting meaty hand. “Don’t fret, my dear,” she said in a strong Irish accent. “Perhaps someone from your family picked the baby up. Perhaps she was crying and one of your other children is carrying her around.”            “I don’t have other children. She’s my only child.” Her eyes continued to dart up and down the street. “Who can have done this? Where have they taken her? My baby. Somebody find my baby for me.”            I felt a wave of terror, of almost physical sickness, come over me and as if in response my own baby gave an almighty kick. I clutched at a lamp post to steady myself. Sarah had gone ahead of me, pushing through to the center of the little group. “Somebody go and find the constable,” she said, “And you children—spread out. Go and look on the adjoining streets and see if you can spot anyone carrying a baby in their arms. They can’t have gone too far with her.”            “Does anyone have smelling salts?” The nun demanded. “This poor woman is about to pass out.”            Sarah rummaged in her delicate little purse and produced hers. The nun proceeded to wave them under the woman’s nose. For once I could almost have used them myself. But I got a grip on myself and stepped forward. “Did anybody see a person near the baby carriage? Did anyone see someone carrying a baby away?”            Heads were shaken.            “You see people carrying babies all the time,” a small girl answered. She spoke with a trace of Italian accent and had the black hair and big dark eyes that betrayed her ancestry and the fact that this quarter was known as Little Italy. She looked no older than seven or eight but she herself had a squirming toddler on her hip. “We have to take the babies out and look after them so mother can clean up the apartment.  Stop it, Guido,” she added as the toddler wriggled even harder. “You’re not getting down.”            The woman was no longer screaming but sobbing, her thin body shaking with great gulps.            “It’s another of those kidnappings they’re talking about,” a woman next to me muttered.             I turned to ask her what she meant when the crowd parted and two constables pushed their way toward the distraught woman.             “Stand aside please,” one of them bellowed. “Move back now. Go on, about your business, all of you.” The crowd backed up a little as his billy club was brought out. He reached the woman. “Now what’s happened here?”            Fifty people tried to talk at once, shouting in various accents with much hand waving. If the circumstances hadn’t been so terrible, it would have been a comical scene. The constable held up his hands. “Ladies. Quiet. One at a time.”            I glanced at Sarah, then decided it was about time I helped. I stepped forward. “This woman’s baby has been stolen from the baby carriage,” I said.            He looked at me, determining immediately from the way I was dressed that I was not a resident here. “Did you witness it, ma’am?” he asked.            “No. I had just come out of the building across the street when I heard her screams. We have asked, but it seems that nobody actually witnessed it.”            He nodded. “It’s easy enough to lift a baby from a buggy around here without anyone seeing,” he said.  He looked across at his fellow constable. “You’d better let them know at HQ. We might be looking at another one.“            The younger policeman nodded, fought his way back through the crowd then disappeared down the street at a great rate. The constable turned back to the young woman, who was visibly shaking, hugging her arms to herself as if she was cold. “Now then, what’s your name, my dear?”“It’s  Martha, sir. Martha Wagner.” “So tell me exactly what happened, Mrs. Wagner,” he said.            The young woman fought to control her sobs. “I was shopping for my man’s dinner, the way I always do. I went into the butcher’s for sausages and I left the baby outside because there’s no room for a buggy in the shop. I was only in there a moment. Not more than a minute or two and when I came out…” she paused and gulped. “She was gone!” Her voice rose in a hysterical scream again.            “You were alone? No other kids to guard the buggy?”            “She’s my first. We’ve only been married a year,” the woman said. “We just moved here from Pennsylvania. My man has just found a job on a river steamer.”            The nun was patting her arm again. “We’ll pray for you, my dear, and for your dear child that the dear Lord watch over her and deliver her safely back to you.”            The young woman shook her head furiously. “I want her back now,” she said.            “We’ll do what we can,” the constable said, “and these things usually turn out well. So give us a description of the child.”            “They say she talks after me,” she said. “She’s three months old, real dainty like a little china doll with big blue eyes. Just a tiny amount of light hair like mine. Everyone says she’s like a little angel. Her name is Florrie. Florence after my mother who passed away last year.”            The constable duly wrote this down. He shifted uncomfortably as unsure what to do next.             “I heard that there have been other kidnappings,” I said. “Does this fit the pattern?”            He looked at me as if I was speaking a strange tongue. “That’s not my job, ma’am,” he said. “I couldn’t say.”            “But surely the police must have some ideas? Haven’t you been asked to be extra vigilant?”            Sarah tugged at my sleeve. “Molly, we shouldn’t get involved in this. I need the help of these men. I don’t want to antagonize them. I’m sure they’re doing all they can.”            “They don’t seem to be,” I said angrily. “He doesn’t seem overly concerned. If it were my baby…” I stopped short as that awful vision flashed through my mind. My baby.If somebody stole my baby.            “The good sisters here will keep an eye open for your child,” the constable said, nodding to the nuns. “We will indeed. And we can alert the sisters at the Foundlings Hospital to be on the lookout as well.” She looked at her fellow nun for confirmation.“But who can have taken her? Why would anyone do this?” The words came out as gulping sobs.“I’m sure the baby will turn up again safe and sound,” the constable said. “Now why don’t you give us your address and…”            “Here we are, sir.” The young constable had reappeared, red faced from running. “Another kidnapping, so they are saying.”  He forced his way through the crowd. “Stand aside ladies and let the captain through.”            And to my horror Daniel materialized between the heads of the crowd. 

Dishing on Downton, Week 6

As usual a spoiler alert: If you haven't seen this week's episode, don't read this! 

There was some real good emotion last night, wasn't there?  I mean the whole episode with Thomas, revealing him as a vulnerable person. But I thought it was all sewn up rather nicely with his lordship smoothing things over, and Carson making him under butler. In fact I felt it was a whole night of easy solutions--the writer is tiring of his subject, methinks.

The tiresomely noble Bates comes home, thank God. I couldn't have stood one more week of him in prison looking noble and woebegone. But Rats--now I'll have to discard my FREE BATES T shirt! And is given a cottage, which is really a stupid idea because a valet has to be on hand to dress and undress his master at all hours and so does Anna. Now they'll have to walk across the estate in the dark and rain at midnight after a dinner party! I grew up in England. I know how often it rains..

And Tom is made land agent, and starts to prove his worth, which we all guessed. And it seemed there was a little something wrong with Mary--a mere tweak needed--so that she can get pregnant. And Ethel is conveniently re-situated where she can see her child.

They had to introduce the really naughty Rose to bring some life into what is now, on the whole, a dreary plot. She was fun but oh so predictable. And poor Edith, now falling for a man who has a wife in an asylum. What's the betting the wife will conveniently die before too long so they can marry after all?

But nothing else matters really because there was a bloody good game of cricket and that's what counts!

So do you also feel it's losing it's sparkle, it's emotional appeal?  Of course I can't stop watching, but....