Interview with K.H. Saxton, Author of The Fairfleet Affair

 

Thanks for joining us at Smack Dab! Give us a quick idea of what TheFairfleet Affair is about:

Thank you for having me! The A&A Detective Agency: The FairfleetAffair is about twelve-year-old detectives Alex Foster and Asha Singh, whohave their own established agency but no worthy cases… yet. Their primarybenefactor is the eccentric millionaire Dr. Alistair Fairfleet, chairman of theFairfleet Institute and its world-famous museums. When Dr. Fairfleet disappearsunder mysterious circumstances, he leaves behind a complicated trail of cluesand puzzles for Asha and Alex to follow. But The Fairfleet Affair ismore than a missing person case; as the detectives crack codes and make theirway through the different museums, they uncover art clues, archaeologicalmysteries, and Fairfleet family skeletons—secrets from the past that test theirpartnership and force them to confront the complicated legacies of the peopleand places they admire most.

I love a good mystery. This one’s so complex, with so many twists andturns–you’ve got to be a lifelong mystery lover yourself. Did you just gobbleup mysteries as a young reader? Or come to them later on in life?

I have a working theory that all narratives are mysteries at their core.No matter the genre, something has to hook us at the start of a story, and weare driven to keep reading as the author feeds us hints and new information toanswer our questions and help us to form a full picture of the characters andtheir conflicts. That said, I’ve always had a soft spot for classic detectivestories and cozy mysteries! I remember checking out every Nancy Drew book at mylocal library when I was in elementary school, and I moved on to prolificauthors like Agatha Christie not long after. I also took a fantastic detectivefiction course in college. Writing in this genre certainly feels familiar,satisfying, and nostalgic for me.

I love the fact that this starts off with a solar eclipse. Why did youchoose that event to kick the novel into gear?

As I’ve mentioned, there are many different kinds of mysteries at play inthis book. Some mysteries are solved by detectives, others are explored in artor curated in museums. It felt appropriate to start the story with a solareclipse to set the right sort of enigmatic tone and, at the same time, toinvite readers to think about some scientific, astronomical mysteries and thewonders of our natural world.

Mystery readers (and writers!) are all puzzle enthusiasts, I think. Thisone really has that puzzle feel, with so many moving pieces. Can you tell us abit about the drafting process? How did it all come together? I generally thinkyou have to know everything you can about a crime before writing how it getssolved. How did you approach a mystery?

I am a huge fan of puzzles—everything from crosswords to jigsaws—and Ican attest that creating codes and riddles is just as much of a puzzlingchallenge as solving them! I generally need to have the solution to a puzzlefirst, and I can build backward from there. Similarly, when crafting a mystery,I always know the answers to the most important questions (who are theculprits? what are their motives?) from the start so that I can placeappropriate clues and red herrings. I’ve heard of mystery writers who use thewriting process to figure out “whodunit” alongside their detectives, but Iwould worry about writing myself into a corner. Through writing and revising,however, I often discover unexpected moments or scenes, and I learn a lot aboutmy characters and their relationships that I didn’t know when starting out.

There’s a diverse cast here, which addresses some issues of historykeeping and culture. Can you speak to that a bit?

I believe that literature for young people should reflect the diversityof our world. Writing characters with backgrounds and experiences that differfrom our own, however, always carries with it the serious responsibility toresearch thoroughly, listen with humility, and proceed with care and respect. Ifelt this duty to my characters and their perspectives quite keenly in thesections of The Fairfleet Affair that focus on museum artifacts. Thebook asks readers to consider questions about museum curation: Whose culturalheritage is represented by the artwork and artifacts in museums? How do museumsacquire these objects? Where do we draw the line between appreciatinghumanity’s rich history and appropriation or outright theft? The characters in TheFairfleet Affair all approach these questions differently because of theirunique identities. Asha and Alex do not share exactly the same viewpoint;neither do their adult mentors. I hope that readers will bring their owncultures, family histories, and life experiences to the table when they read ortalk about the book.

I love the fact that the detective agency is Fairfleet’s own pet project.It gives credence to the agency, but it also immediately makes the reader thinkthat Fairfleet is imparting a message on the young detectives, as soon as thatletter arrives. Immediately, the puzzle solving begins! I always feel likemystery reading is such good training for life–life problems are puzzles,really. Do you often feel like you’re training young readers to be life problemsolvers?

Children are naturally adept at problem solving; it’s how we humanslearn, develop, and move through the world. As we grow older, the incentivestructures that we encounter—in school or in the workplace, for instance—cansometimes discourage risk-taking and creative thinking. Alex and Asha craveindependence; they want to be taken seriously. Dr. Fairfleet’s letter invitesthem to exercise their problem-solving skills, and his disappearance removestheir detective training wheels. They have to take risks and think creativelybecause no one else is going to solve the case for them. Reading a mystery inyour favorite book nook might not have the same high stakes as solving one inreal life, but I think a good mystery novel can present young readers withsimilar opportunities to test out theories, embrace difficulty, and ponder bigquestions on their own terms. And, of course, nothing builds confidence quitelike figuring out a piece of the puzzle before the big denouement!

 I love a good detective book–I have fond Nancy Drew /Encyclopedia Brown memories (though that dates me). How does the FairfleetAgency fit in with the history of young detectives? How is it similar ordifferent?

It’s safe to say that The Fairfleet Affair would not exist withoutclassic middle-grade mysteries like The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin andFrom the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg.I drew inspiration from these personal favorites throughout my writing process.Of course, the genre is alive and thriving today, and readers hoping to gettheir fill of puzzles and cryptic clues have so many great authors to choose from:Margaret Peterson Haddix, Varian Johnson, Jennifer Chambliss Bertman, and KateMilford, to name just a few. I like to think that The Fairfleet Affair benefitsfrom the nostalgia of a beloved tradition while still feeling up-to-date andaccessible for young readers. Asha and Alex want to be great detectives likethe characters they read about; they also grapple with some complex currentissues and work to build an equal friendship and partnership in a contemporarycontext.

You tackle some Shakespeare, etc., which helps introduce readers to somehistorical and cultural tidbits. Did you also want to light a fire in them,regarding history or research? (Research can be exciting, not dusty.)

Research can be exciting even when it is a bit dusty! But it isdefinitely the case that readers today have lightning-fast and dust-freeresearch tools at their disposal. When I was young, I learned so much abouthistory, literature, and art from allusions in the books that I loved; italways felt like the best kind of challenge to encounter unknown,intellectually invigorating details. If this book inspires some readers toGoogle the Nabataeans or watch scenes from King Lear online, I’d feelboth delighted and accomplished as an author!

What’s next for the detective agency?

In the second book of the series, the A&A Detective Agencyinvestigates a historical mystery related to the Northbrook witch trials alongwith a series of present-day break-ins at the local cemetery. The story is setin October, so the atmosphere is all about autumn and Halloween—one of myfavorite times of the year! Alex and Asha are also back in school; theirfriendship and the agency itself will experience some growing pains with theintroduction of a new cast of supporting characters. I can’t wait to share thisnext book with readers!

Where can we find you?

You can follow me on Instagram at khsaxton, and look for The A&A Detective Agency:The Fairfleet Affair at your favorite bookstore or onlinevendor!