Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 115

Guest Peggy Ehrhart plus #giveaway

Edith here, happy to welcome Peggy Ehrhart as our to guest. Be sure to read down for a triple giveaway!

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The ABCs of Cooking

Like my sleuth Pamela Paterson, I’m an enthusiastic cook. And like enthusiastic cooks everywhere, I collect recipes: from newspapers and magazines, friends, and—lately—the internet. For decades they accumulated in careless stacks, and locating any given recipe required a hunt. Then I acquired an accordion file with a pocket for each letter of the alphabet, or most anyway. P and Q share a pocket, as do UV and XYZ.

            Now I was organized! Starting with a New Year’s resolution in 2019 I began the fun task of cooking something new or forgotten every week, working through my accordion file one letter at a time.

            Choosing a recipe can be a journey into the past. The very oldest is Strawberry Jello Pie, sent on a postcard by a friend so I could make it for a college heart-throb. The next oldest is A Man’s Barbecued Chicken, from my mom and destined for a different beloved.

            Exploring my alphabetical pockets is enlightening. Apparently I love baked things with apples, so over the years I’ve collected multiple recipes for apple pie, a recipe for apple trifle (from a neighbor in grad school), one for apple cobbler, and many for apple cakes, including Norwegian (with almonds!) and German. I included an apple cake I named “Autumn Apple Cake” in the first Knit & Nibble Mystery, Murder, She Knit. Tucked in among all the apple recipes, however, are dishes like Artichoke Salad and Lemony White Beans with Anchovy and Parmesan.

            As you can see, sometimes I file recipes based on a key ingredient, other times on the recipe title. That’s how Utica Greens, from the New York Times, ended up in the U pocket, rather than under G for “Greens.” The Times food section included the recipe’s backstory: it is served in Italian-American restaurants from Albany to Syracuse, but is not actually called Utica Greens in Utica. The name is welcome, however, because it’s my only U recipe.

            Some recipes don’t need to wait till their letter of the alphabet comes up. I make fruit cobbler every summer, and Peach Cobbler is such a favorite that it appears in Knit One, Die Two. I make Guinness Chocolate Cake every February for my husband’s birthday, and Carrot Cake every November for my son’s birthday. He will be 41 this year and I first made it when he was two. The recipe is on a card I picked up at Zum Zum, a long-gone restaurant chain where I often ate lunch in the late seventies when I was doing research at the 42nd Street library in Manhattan.

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            During that same era I clipped from the Times an ambitious Danish Christmas feast, which my husband and I duplicated in 1978 in our humble newlywed kitchen.  

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            After 45 years of marriage, my husband’s and my palates are pretty much in harmony. But tucked in the M pocket is a recipe for menudo, the Mexican tripe stew that he adores. He’s also been fascinated by buckwheat ever since we picked up a bag at a mill where it was ground. So the B pocket includes Buckwheat Pancakes, Buckwheat Galette, and Buckwheat Popovers. The eel recipe in the E pocket recalls the time a friend gave him a fresh-caught eel.     

            The winner for the fullest pocket is PQ, and not only because it contains two letters. There are just so many P possibilities: pork, potatoes, pistachios, pineapple . . . I could go on, but one picture is worth a thousand words.

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Readers: What’s the first recipe you recall making? What’s one of your recipes that fills you with nostalgia? I’ll choose three winners for the book giveaway (US only) with a choice among four books: Murder, She Knit; Knit One, Die Two; Knit of the Living Dead, or an ARC of Christmas Card Murder (a November release). I’m including the two older books because they include recipes that I mention in “The ABCs of Cooking.” Here are blurbs for the books: Murder, She Knit is the first in the Knit & Nibble series and features the recipe for Autumn Apple Cake. Knit One, Die Two is the third in the Knit & Nibble series and features the recipe for Peach Cobbler. Knit of the Living Dead, Knit & Nibble #6, was just released. It contains two recipes. Christmas Card Murder is Kensington’s Christmas 2020 anthology, featuring novellas by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and me. My story contains a recipe. I will pick the winners on Friday.

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Peggy Ehrhart is a former English professor with a doctorate in Medieval Literature. Her Maxx Maxwell blues-singer mysteries were published by Five Star. Peggy now writes the Knit & Nibble mysteries for Kensington. Her sleuth, Pamela Paterson, is the founder of the Knit & Nibble knitting club in the charming town of Arborville, New Jersey. Visit her at http://www.PeggyEhrhart.com

The Moment of Inspiration and a #giveaway

by Barb in Portland, Maine on a beautiful fall day

There are big inspirations for books–the stories you want to tell, the characters and themes you want to explore. But there are also inspirations for the little moments–things that have happened to you, stories you’ve been told by friends and family.

There is one such little inspiration in the second Jane Darrowfield book, Jane Darrowfield and the Madwoman Next Door, coming October 27, 2021, exclusively from Barnes & Noble. I’m giving away one Advance Reader Copy of the book to a lucky commenter on this blog. (If you want to up your odds, you can also enter the Goodreads Giveaway for one of these ARCs here.)

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There’s a moment in the book when Jane gets a call from her friend, Detective Tony Alvarez of the Cambridge, Massachusetts Police Department. He’s next door at Jane’s neighbor’s house. A work colleague is with the detective and is insisting something is very wrong. The neighbor, Megan Larsen, an attorney on the partner track at a big Boston law firm, has failed to show up for an important client meeting. She’s not at her house, though her phone and laptop are there. The colleague swears something terrible has happened to Megan.

Alvarez calls Jane not because she lives next door (which she does) or because they have worked together on two previous cases (which they have). He calls because Jane’s name and phone number are written on the blackboard above the built-in desk in Megan’s shiny, white kitchen.

This is the moment that has echoes in my own experience. One day, probably twenty-five years ago, I was sitting at my desk when our landline rang. I answered and a man’s voice said. “This is Detective So-and-So with the Brookline Police Department. Do you know xxxx?”

I searched my memory. The woman’s name he mentioned sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place it. “I don’t think so,” I answered.

“She’s a hypnotherapist in Brookline,” he continued. “She’s been missing for three days. No one has seen her and she hasn’t been in contact with her family or friends. I’m in her office now and your name is written on a pad of paper. It’s the only thing on her desk.”

My heart skipped a beat. When he said hypnotherapist, the penny dropped. In those olden days before the internet, professionals advertised services in the classified section of the weekly local papers. I had seen the woman’s ad–the usual hypnotherapy thing for quitting smoking, weight loss, help with sleep problems. I had read the ad many times, weekly probably, as I skimmed the classifieds, and had been intrigued by it. But I had never, ever called her.

I assured the detective I wasn’t the Barbara Ross he was looking for. As I’ve written on this blog before, it’s a common name. I pointed him in the direction of a few other Barbara Rosses. He thanked me and hung up.

Of course I was curious. I scoured The Boston Globe for weeks looking for some followup about the hypnotherapist who had disappeared. Nothing ever appeared. I had to assume she turned up or, in any case, there was no evidence of foul play.

But I’ll never forget the feeling of picking up the phone. Of hearing the detective introduce himself and ask if I knew anything about this woman who was missing. Many times, I have pictured that pad of paper, the only thing on her desk, my name scrawled across it.

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In Jane Darrowfield and the Madwoman Next Door, Jane knows exactly why her name is on Megan Larsen’s blackboard. Jane runs a small business as a professional busybody. Megan has hired Jane to figure out if she’s paranoid or if someone really is out to get her. “I want you to figure out if I’m crazy,” Megan said.

I had to imagine how Jane felt when, awakened from sleep, only two days after she took the case, Detective Alvarez says her client is missing. Jane knows Alvarez and knows Megan–feels responsible for her, even. But I didn’t have to imagine how it would feel to pick up the phone and have a detective tell you the one piece of evidence a missing person left pointed him in your direction. That bit of the story I’ve lived.

Readers: Have you ever received a mysterious phone call? Tell us about it! Or simply say, “hi,” to be entered to win an Advance Reader Copy of Jane Darrowfield and the Madwoman Next Door.

Haunting with Ellen Byron, plus #Giveaway

Edith/Maddie here, thrilled to share a release date earlier this week with my buddy Ellen Byron, who has a new Cajun Country mystery out – set at Halloween! She’s giving away a copy of Murder in the Bayou Boneyard to one lucky commenter, too. I just finished reading it, and you’re going to love this story.

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Ellen: Louisiana proudly bills itself as the most haunted state in America. Whether or not you believe this, it’s certainly a state rife with unique customs surrounding death and the afterlife, as I learned when I took the Creole Mourning Tour at St. Joseph Plantation. St. Joseph was so happy with the post I wrote about the experience, they added it to their website.

[image error]Even the dolls went into mourning

The St. Joseph tour inspired me to write MURDER IN THE BAYOU BONEYARD, my new Cajun Country Mystery. It also motivated me to do something I’d never done in all of my many visits to New Orleans: take a ghost tour. Three of them, actually, through a company called Haunted History Tours. (https://hauntedhistorytours.com/) One focused on the French Quarter, another on the Garden District, and the third was a treat to myself: a Haunted Pub Crawl.

As we wandered the old brick sidewalks of the city, I picked up some fascinating facts…

According to one of my guides, New Orleans is a city “Built on dead people. They’re right under your feet.” Here he is, illustrating that creepy fact…



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Some houses have an upside-down keyhole to confuse the spirits and chase them away. I don’t know if this house is one of them, but it wouldn’t surprise me a bit…



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In past centuries, there was always the chance that a patient pronounced dead was actually in a coma, hence bells were installed in some of the city’s famous cemetery crypts in case of a misdiagnosis. In a few crypts that unfortunately lacked bells, researchers have found fingernail scratches on the interior walls. The thought of what prompted that desperate clawing still makes me shudder.



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I learned other, less disturbing facts. You know how funeral second-line participants often wave handkerchiefs as they march? Originally this was seen as a way to confuse and chase off the spirits, much like the upside keyhole. (Confusing the spirits plays a role in a lot of Louisiana superstitions.) And if a ghost walks through a wall, it means the wall wasn’t there when said ghost was alive.

I packed all my tours into one day. By the time night fell and I linked up with the Haunted Pub Crawl, I was ready for a drink. A stiff one. But after an hour listening to sordid tales of vampirism, ax murders, and opium dens, I opted for a palate cleanser of jambalaya and a Pimm’s Cup at a bar with a less sordid history – the Napoleon House, which earned its name when the then-mayor of New Orleans offered his residence to Napoleon in 1821 as a refuge during his exile.

[Edith: I ate there when I was in New Orleans!]

I got so much from these tours, all banked for future writing projects. And I look forward to further ghostly adventures in the Crescent City.

But I think I’ll stay out of the cemeteries. Or at the very least, wear a bell around my neck.

Readers: what are some superstitions you find interesting? Are there any you follow? Who’s not afraid to walk under a ladder? Comment to be entered in a US-only giveaway for a copy of Murder in the Bayou Boneyard.

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Ellen’s Cajun Country Mysteries have won the Agatha award for Best Contemporary Novel and multiple Lefty awards for Best Humorous Mystery. Her new Catering Hall Mystery series, written as Maria DiRico, launched with Here Comes the Body, and was inspired by her real life. Ellen is an award-winning playwright, and non-award-winning TV writer of comedies like WINGS, JUST SHOOT ME, and FAIRLY ODD PARENTS. She has written over two hundred articles for national magazines but considers her most impressive credit working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart.

Newsletter: https://www.ellenbyron.com/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/ellenbyronauthor

https://www.facebook.com/CateringHallMysteries

Following in Footsteps

By Julie, squeezing in as much enjoyment of the summer as I can

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Like many, I love podcasts and have different genres I enjoy at different times. SheDunnit is a recent favorite. Caroline Crampton is a British academic who loved Golden Age mysteries. She covers all sorts of material, from real life cases that inspired writers to the writers themselves.

I catch up with these podcasts when I go out and run errands or take walks, so a recent book mailing post office visit combined with grocery shopping allowed me to binge and catch up. I listened to an episode on E.C.R. Lorac, and I’ve been thinking about it since.

E.C.R. Lorac was the pen name of Edith Caroline Rivett (1894–1958). E.C.R. Lorac was a member of the Detection Club and wrote 48 mystery novels. She also wrote 23 mystery novels under the name of Carol Carnac. She was called Carol, and Lorac is Carol spelled backwards. She published her first novel at 37, so she was quite prolific in a 25 year career.

Dorothy Sayers praised her work, and reportedly was surprised she was a woman when she showed up at a Detection Club dinner. That tells me that she was invited to join because of her craft, instead of who she knew. (The Detection Club fascinates me–a topic for another post.)

Recently the British Library has re-released several forgotten mysteries under the British Library Crime Classics imprint. Three of E.C.R. Lorac’s books were included, and I’ve downloaded one of them but haven’t read it yet. When you Google her you’ll find articles that include her, yet somehow she didn’t break through as one of the Queens of Crime: Allingham, Christie, Marsh, and Sayers. According to Wikipedia she did leave an estate of £10,602 in 1958, which is about $270,000 in 2020.

I’ve been wondering about ECR’s writing life. Was she delighted when she first got published? Did she envy the success of Sayers or Christie? Was she satisfied with her own journey? Was the second series her idea, or her publishers? Did she expect to be remembered, or did she not care? She wrote up until the end of her life. Did she have stories untold? Did she have the book she wishes she’d tackled?

When I think about my own writing life, I feel as though I follow in the footsteps of people like ECR Lorac, and I’m grateful for her example. She was prolific, well regarded in her time, and left a body of work. She started in her late thirties, but made up for lost time. She was a writer.

Have any of you read any of her books? What other “forgotten” writers should we all know about, and raise up?

Wicked Wednesday: How much research do you do?

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Wickeds, today we’re helping celebrate the release of Taken Too Soon, the 6th Quaker Midwife mystery by Edith. Historical mysteries are very rooted in research, so this is a great question for Edith and Jessie. I look forward to hearing what the rest of the Wickeds have to say. How much research do you do for your book? Does it depend on the genre? Are you a research junkie?

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Jessie: Super congratulations, Edith! I know these books are close to your heart! Julie, I am a total research junkie! I spend a ton of time just luxuriating in sources! As a matter of fact, I recently indulged my fancy by purchasing a subscription to the British Newspaper Archive! It has already provided hours and hours of fun for me! I think historical novels are definitely research heavy ventures but I would think that any book that the writer needs to rely on information and experiences outside her own requires that piece of the process.

Barb: Congratulations, Edith, on the release of Taken Too Soon. I doubt I do as much research as our two historical mystery authors. My book Sealed Off has a mystery in the past as well as one in the present and even writing that much history freaked me out. But I do research stuff I don’t know about: Oyster farming, mega-yachts, black diamonds, blueberry harvesting, clamming, shoreline property rights in Maine. It’s fun and interesting for me, and I hope it’s interesting for readers.

Sherry: Happy release day, Edith! I have been doing so much research on boats for A Time to Swill! I have sailboats, cigarette boats, center-console boats, and speed boats in this book. I know next to nothing about boats so I’ve been reading about helms, rudders, VHF radios, and on and on. It’s been fun and a bit overwhelming to read about them.

Liz: Congrats, Edith! I’ve done some really fun research in the name of my books – I’ve watched cremations, visited a python (yuck), toured a dairy farm, and heard fascinating stories from ghost hunters. It’s so much fun and you can definitely get lost in it!

Julie: Congratulations, Edith! I do some research, but just enough to get my creative juices flowing. I find it really helpful if I have an idea, but need to figure out how to turn it into a story. A recent example is the plotting work I’d doing for the 5th Garden Squad series. I started with the idea of the Garden Squad spring cleaning the graves in the cemetery, and then I started doing research on cemetery plots and who sells them. After a couple of hours of research I had an idea for the story, the misdeeds of the victim and a healthy list of suspects.

Edith: Thank you so much, dear Wickeds! Jessie’s right, this series is close to my heart. I do some research up front, a little as I go along, and a lot more when I’m resolving all the CHECK THIS notes I leave to myself as I write the first draft. I loved digging into the history of the greater Falmouth area for this book, visiting historical societies and historic homes, and soaking up the flavor. When it comes to research, bring it on!

Writer friends, how much research do you do? Readers, do you ever go down the rabbit hole of research? What sends you there?

Taken Too Soon Bookday!

Edith writing from north of Boston on my twenty-second book birthday! You heard that right, and it’s my third new mystery to release this year (with one more to follow at the end of the month – my alter-ego’s Candy Slain Murder).

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Taken Too Soon is the sixth in the Agatha-winning Quaker Midwife Mysteries series featuring midwife Rose Carroll. Because of all the obstacles she and her beloved David Dodge have faced, for a while fans have been asking, “Are Rose and David ever going to be able to marry?” It’s no spoiler to tell you that yes, the book opens directly after their Quaker marriage ceremony.

But soon enough, things take a turn. Even at the lavish reception David’s mother insisted on, Rose’s maiden aunt summons Rose to Cape Cod with her new husband when Tillie’s teenage ward is found dead. Rose and David’s modest honeymoon turns into a murder investigation, with suspects including a close friend of the victim who may have harbored secret resentments, David’s estranged brother who has an unsavory reputation, the son of a Native American midwife who supposedly led the young woman astray, and a rich local Quaker. As Rose grows closer to identifying the perpetrator, the solution rattles her assumptions about her own family and faith. With the help of the local detective, Rose digs in the shifting sands of the case until the murderer is revealed.

I decided to take Rose and David down to the Cape after I discovered that the hamlet of West Falmouth was a virtual hotbed of Quakers in the latter half of the nineteenth century.

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I often go on a solo writing retreat in the Quaker retreat cottage behind the Friends Meetinghouse’ graveyard, with the Meetinghouse (pictured on the book cover but oddly reclocated to the beach) and the graveyard nearly identical today to what they were then.

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I researched Falmouth and Woods Hole, too, and loved poking into the history of the area.

[image error]Picture snapped of a map in the Book of Falmouth, an invaluable resource for my research

The old West Falmouth post office is now a hair salon, but the owner preserved the history.

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I doubt the marshes have changed much, with the exception of the motor on the boat at the left.

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And I expect the sunsets over Buzzard’s Bay haven’t, either. (By the way, this Southern California native loves to see the sun set over water – as it should.)

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I hope you adore this next installment of Rose’s life. I certainly had a lovely time writing it. Today is also my friend Ellen Byron’s book birthday, and you can catch the two of us live (virtually) on the ‘Ellen and Edith Show’ at the famous Mystery Lovers’ Bookshop tomorrow night, September 9, at 7 pm Eastern. Register here.

Readers: Cape Cod? Historical fiction? Old maps? What catches your fancy? I’ll send one commenter an e-copy of Taken Too Soon!

A Wicked Welcome to Alyssa Maxwell **plus a giveaway**

by Julie, enjoying the waning days of summer in Somerville

We’re talking about research on the blog this month, so Alyssa Maxwell’s post is perfect. Who’s up to a field trip to Newport once all this is over? Welcome back to the blog, Alyssa!

Good morning Julie, Wickeds, and Readers! It’s such a pleasure to be talking to all of you, especially since I’m just now coming up for air after finishing up my ninth Gilded Newport Mystery. It’s called Murder at Wakehurst and it’ll be out next summer. Before I jump into things, I want to let you know I’ll be doing a giveaway with this post, open to U.S. residents. Answer the question at the end in the comments section to be entered for a chance to win a signed copy of Murder at Kingscote.

[image error]The Breakers, Newport RI

Anyway . . . I’m often asked how I choose each house I write about. My reasons vary, actually. Sometimes I choose the house itself, while other times I choose the family who lived in it. The most famous of all the Newport “cottages” is The Breakers, and the most famous name from the Gilded Age is Vanderbilt, so starting off the series with the Vanderbilts and The Breakers was an easy decision. Now, for Murder at Crossways, I very much wanted to explore the character of the owner’s wife, Mamie Fish, who was `known for her irreverent sense of humor and extravagant personality. Crossways isn’t one of my favorite houses, but I knew Mamie would be a fun sidekick for Emma Cross in that story. Mamie didn’t disappoint.

Such was not the case in Murder at Kingscote. The widowed owner, Ella King, was quiet, intelligent, thoughtful, dignified, and a dedicated philanthropist. Kingscote itself is one of the smallest of Newport’s cottages, nowhere near on a scale with The Breakers or Ochre Court. So why did I write about it? Simply because I love this house, as do most people who have ever visited it. I love its Gothic Revival-fairytale exterior, and the delightful mingling of design styles inside. I felt compelled to include this jewel of a house, but at the same time I wondered if I would have trouble finding enough details about the family to make them appealing characters.

Boy, did I worry for nothing! Through the Preservation Society of Newport County, I discovered a treasure trove of letters and journal entries written by the King family—and suddenly I was off and running. Through those documents and further research, I discovered Eugenia Webster-Ross, a woman who cast a legal shadow over the King family for years with her claims of being the true heir to the King fortune and Kingscote itself. I discovered that Ella King’s son, Philip, was a near-do-well who drank too much. I discovered that William Henry King, Ella’s husband’s uncle who had first purchased Kingscote, was committed to an insane asylum due to his “reckless lifestyle.” And I discovered that Newport held its first-ever automobile parade in the year I set the story, 1899.

[image error]Alva Vanderbilt Belmont driving in the Automobile Parade



[image error]Butler Hospital, Providence RI

Insanity. Drunkenness. Rival claimants to the inheritance. And reckless drivers. I’d struck gold with this one! And it led me to some new places and themes for Emma. But just to make things a more difficult, I gave her a real moral dilemma near the end of the story. What if someone committed a crime for a very good reason? Do you still turn them in and let the justice system decide—even if innocent people will suffer as a result? Poor Emma also faces a career crisis. I’m not going to give anything away, but suffice it to say she has her hands full in Murder at Kingscote!

Question for giveaway:

I was recently asked this question myself. What kind of mystery reader are you? Do you like to figure out who done it and why before the end of the book? If so, are you usually right? Or are you along for the ride, happy to live the events along with the characters until the big reveal near the end? Can you guess what kind of reader I am? Answer in the comments for a chance to win a signed, hardcover copy of Murder at Kingscote.

About Murder at Kingscote

In late nineteenth-century Newport, Rhode Island, journalist Emma Cross discovers the newest form of transportation has become the newest type of murder weapon . . .

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On a clear July day in 1899, the salty ocean breeze along Bellevue Avenue carries new smells of gasoline and exhaust as Emma, now editor-in-chief of the Newport Messenger, covers Newport’s first-ever automobile parade. But the festive atmosphere soon turns to shock as young Philip King drunkenly swerves his motorcar into a wooden figure of a nanny pushing a pram on the obstacle course.

That evening, at a dinner party hosted by Ella King at her magnificent Gothic-inspired “cottage,” Kingscote, Emma and her beau Derrick Andrews are enjoying the food and the company when Ella’s son staggers in, obviously still inebriated. But the disruption is nothing compared to the urgent shouts of the coachman. Rushing out, they find the family’s butler pinned against a tree beneath the front wheels of Philip’s motorcar, close to death.

At first, the tragic tableau appears to be a reckless accident—one which could ruin Philip’s reputation. But when Emma later receives a message informing her that the butler bullied his staff and took advantage of young maids, she begins to suspect the scene may have been staged and steers the police toward a murder investigation. But while Emma investigates the connections between a competing heir for the King fortune, a mysterious child, an inmate of an insane asylum, and the brutal boxing rings of Providence, a killer remains at large—with unfinished business to attend to . . .

To see where you can buy Murder at Kingscote, visit the Kensington Publishing Corp site.

About Alyssa Maxwell



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Alyssa Maxwell began a love affair with the city of Newport years ago. Time and again the colonial neighborhoods and grand mansions drew her to return, and on one of those later visits she met the man who would become her husband. Always a lover of history, Maxwell found that marrying into a large, generations–old Newport family opened up an exciting new world of historical discovery. Today, she and her husband reside in Florida, but part of her heart remains firmly in that small New England city of great historical significance. For more info please visit www.alyssamaxwell.com.

A Wicked Welcome to Christin Brecher

By Julie, surviving September in Somerville

I met Christin last summer when we did a book event together (remember book events?) in Connecticut. We shared a book birthday in August, and I’m delighted to welcome her to the blog today to celebrate.

Everyday (Power) Women



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As a good friend of mine always says, “it’s amazing how much you can accomplish when you have to”.

In 15 Minutes of Flame, the third book in the Nantucket Candle Maker Mysteries series, Stella Wright accomplishes quite a lot when she finds herself on the path of two murderers, one from the past and one from the present, all while helping to organize the Girl Scout’s Halloween Haunts.  In her search for answers to a 19th century murder, she also connects with the history of Nantucket women who ran businesses on what was then popularly referred to as the town’s Petticoat Row.

In a town where the men embarked on whaling voyages that would last months and even years, and where a Quaker work ethic pervaded, Nantucket women of the era had a big job – and an unusual opportunity for their time.  They ran businesses, assumed leadership roles in the community, and even led the household’s investment decisions when necessary, all, of course, while managing homes and raising children.  By rising to the occasion of having to do it all, these women left a legacy that extended well beyond their skillful efficiency and ingenuity.  Even today, the island’s organization to support its women in commerce calls itself Petticoat Row. 

[image error]Courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association

It is no surprise that when Stella discovers a link to these women in her investigations, she takes the challenge of solving a cold case murder of over one hundred years personally.  For one thing, her candle store, the Wick & Flame, is located on Centre Street, which was the actual location of Petticoat Row.  Like her predecessors, Stella runs a business, follows her passions, thoughtfully cares for her friends and family, and isn’t afraid to jump in to the unknown. I always say that she does more in a day than many of us might do in a week.  She is a quintessential cozy mystery heroine, but I also I think of her as a modern-day woman of Petticoat Row.  I love that she is, even if fictionally, part of their sisterhood.

When I look at the grainy, black & white image of these amazing women, I wonder what they were saying to each other as they assembled on Centre Street for their photo?  I am curious if they suspected that their image would inspire others for over a century, or if they were mostly itching to get back to their day’s to-do lists.  Either way, I’m grateful they took a moment to pose for posterity since their everyday accomplishments quietly wove themselves into a tapestry that has given so many others confidence and vision. 

Who are the everyday women who have left a lasting impression to inspire you?

NOTE:  If you are interested in learning more about the strong, smart ladies of Nantucket, I very much enjoyed reading Sometimes Think of Me:  Notable Nantucket Women Through the Centuries by Betsy Tyler & Susan Boardman. And for more information on Petticoat Row, check out https://www.nantucketchronicle.com/nation-nantucket/2014/these-ladies-werent-flouncy-nantuckets-petticoat-row.

BIO



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Christin Brecher lives in NYC and Nantucket, two islands which inspire her imagination at every step. After a career in marketing for the publishing industry, followed by years raising her children, the Nantucket Candle Maker Mysteries mark Christin’s debut as an author. Christin is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America.

WEBSITE:  www.christinbrecher.com

FB:  @christinbrecherbooks

IG:  @christinbrecherbooks

BOOK SUMMARY

When Stella’s friend inherits a creaky, abandoned home in Nantucket, she knows it’s the perfect setting for the town’s annual Halloween fundraiser. A deserted, boarded-up building on the property—once used as a candle-making shop—adds to the creepy ambiance. But as Stella explores the shack’s dilapidated walls, she discovers a terrible secret: the skeleton of a Quaker woman, wrapped in blood-soaked clothing and hidden deep within a stone hearth . . .
 
While police investigate, Stella wastes no time asking for help from friends with long ties to Nantucket’s intricate history. But before the case is solved, another life will be claimed—leaving Stella to wonder who in Nantucket is friend, and who is foe . . .

BUY LINKS

15 MINUTES OF FLAME on sale today
AMAZON: https://amzn.to/36W7iLS
B&N: http://bit.ly/37OxUj6
KOBO: http://bit.ly/2OlWwYH
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Take a Chance

Taking chances is never easy and they don’t always pan out, but when they do amazing things can happen.  

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Years ago—I think in 2003 or 2004—I was checking in at the Malice hotel. Something was screwed up with my reservation and the woman next to me was also having a problem. While the hotel staff was trying to sort things out we struck up a conversation. It turned out the woman was agent Meg Ruley. I told her about my book, Diamond Solitaire. She told me to send it to her. I walked on air the rest of the weekend. I sent off the manuscript when I got home. Since none of you have ever heard of Diamond Solitaire, you guessed correctly that I got a rejection letter. Deservedly so I must add, but I’m always happy I had that opportunity.

[image error]Tori Eldridge’s second book in her Lily Wong series, The Ninja’s Blade, just came out on Tuesday. I met Tori when she stopped me in the hall at Bouchercon in Dallas last year. It was the day I turned over the presidency of Sisters in Crime to Lori Rader-Day. Tori introduced herself, handed me her card, told me a quick bit about her first book, The Ninja’s Daughter, and thanked me for my work with Sisters in Crime.

When I returned home I stuck her card on my desk and glanced at it frequently. One day I decided it was time to buy the book and I loved it. It’s not a cozy, but if you don’t mind something a little darker, I highly recommend The Ninja’s Daughter. Something about that interaction—that Tori took the time to introduce herself—has always impressed me. And I have a wonderful new series to read.

I’ve walked into many meetings and conferences alone over the years and it is never easy. A scary moment for me was when I went to my first meeting of the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime. We’d moved from Massachusetts back to Virginia. I loved belonging to the New England Chapter of Sisters in Crime and I wasn’t quite sure the new chapter would measure up.

As I walked down the sidewalk I met a couple, Kathryn O’Sullivan and her husband Paul, who were also going to the meeting for the first time. Who knew that down the road Kathryn and I would be on panels and do book events together?! Once I was in the room where the meeting was held, I suddenly felt like I had twelve heads. Fortunately, the Chessie members came to my rescue. Barb Goffman, who is usually an introvert, introduced herself, as did others. What a great support system the Chessie members have become. I’ve meet so many wonderful authors and read so many great books because of attending that meeting.

Readers: Do you take chances? How have they turned out?

Wicked Wednesday: #Inspo

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Wickeds, this month we’re going to talk about research. Let’s talk about how inspiration can inspire us. Have you ever been inspired to write a book or even a series because of some research you’d done? Were you looking for a way into a subject, or was it a surprise?

Edith/Maddie: I love this topic! My Quaker Midwife Mysteries involve lots of research into the late nineteenth century. I’d finished writing Turning the Tide, centering on women’s suffrage and the 1888 presidential election, when I happened on an article about midwife Ann Trow Lohman, dubbed “The Wickedest Woman in New York,” who also gave out abortive drugs and performed abortions. I realized contraception and abortion had to be the theme of my next book in the series and dove into the research. Charity’s Burden won the Agatha Award for Best Historical Novel this year, so listen to your inspirations, kids.

Jessie: I totally agree with Edith that it is a great topic! I love, love, love the research part of the work to the point I almost feel guilty about it! All of my Beryl and Edwina books have sprung from research. I begin all of my historical novels by wandering about in any sources that intrigue me and just see where things go. For Murder Cuts the Mustard I took the tidbit that the Derby results were broadcast for the first time via wireless and the fact that at the same time there was a severe drought as the beginning of that mystery. My upcoming Murder Comes to Call was dreamed up because of the 1921 UK Census and the unfair treatment of Irish soldiers during WWI.

Barb: I love research, too and I love to begin with narrative nonfiction books. For Iced Under, I knew my protagonist Julia Snowden’s mother’s family had made their money in the ice trade. It seemed like such a crazy thing to me that in the 19th century New Englanders shipped ice all over the world. But I didn’t know a thing about it. It turned out two historical characters from the ice trade, Frederic Tudor at the beginning and Charlie Morse at the end, were as colorful in real life as characters can be. I wove their histories and personalities into the mystery. The ninth Maine Clambake book coming in February, Shucked Apart, is about oyster farming and I loved doing that research, too.

Sherry: A couple of years ago my friend Clare (you can read my tribute to her here) handed me a folder full of articles clipped from the Northwest Florida Daily Newspaper. One of the articles was about a ghost ship (an abandon ship) that washed up onto the beach in Destin, Florida. It then went back out to sea and then came back on shore further west. The story fascinated me and set me off researching stories of ghosts ships. I ended up incorporating those stories into the second Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Saloon mystery, A Time to Swill. I’ve also had a lot of fun talking to bartenders and reading books about bar tending.

Liz: Such a fun topic! Years ago in my last reporting job, I got to do a lot of research on an old state hospital in the town I covered. The Norwich State Hospital a psychiatric hospital, closed down in the 80s and basically turned everyone out onto the streets and the property was left abandoned. I was fascinated by this – I had always been fascinated by old asylums, and having one in my midst was so enticing. In the mid-2000s, a developer was trying to buy the property and turn it into an amusement park, which was fodder for a lot of stories. As a result, my interest ramped up and I ended up creating a scenario for a suspense novel based on the abandoned asylum. Hopefully I’ll finish the book someday and you’ll get to read it! In the meantime, here are some photo galleries I found of the hospital and the underground tunnels…creepy but cool.

Julie: What great stories, Wickeds. Liz, I want to read that book! For me, research often helps me figure out my way into a book. I went to the American Clock and Watch Museum when I started the Clock Shop series. Visiting a clock tower completely changed the 3rd book in that series, Chime and Punishment. My Garden Squad series is based in Goosebush, MA which is a fictional version of Duxbury, MA. I’m figuring out the 5th book now, and am going to the town cemetery for inspiration. Who knows what other ideas I’ll come up with during my field trip?

Readers, do you like learning about the research that inspires us?