Research Challenges & A New Release | Guest Post by Erica Vetsch

Thank you to Julie Klassen for kindly inviting me to share about my newest release here and a little of the research that went into it.

A Thieving at Carlton House is the first book in the Of Cloaks & Daggers series. Here’s a bit about the book:

The Home Office has asked Sir Bertrand Thorndike to head an investigation into stolen royal jewels. It’s the perfect chance for Bertie to step out of his brother’s long shadow. His superior, The Duke of Haverly, has a plan that makes him balk: in order to sell his cover, Bertie must play the part of a man looking for love, ready to reform his rakish ways. The duke is willing to let Bertie name his own investigative team, but his recommendation that the team include Philippa Cashel has Bertie on his guard. Does the duke-known for his behind-the-scenes machinations-have an ulterior motive?

Philippa Cashel escaped her life as one of society’s best-known courtesans, devoting her life to helping other women in dire straits. So when Sir Bertrand Thorndike approaches her about joining his team as an agent of the Crown, she is skeptical. She’s focused on getting her school for underprivileged women up and running, not in cloak-and-dagger skullduggery. Her hope is that if she labors hard enough at her charity work, she might begin to feel worthy of God’s forgiveness. When one of Philippa’s rescued girls is arrested for stealing the royal jewels and another is murdered, Philippa will risk partnering with Bertie to find the loot and stop the killer. Two brilliant minds-with two wary hearts-and one cunning deceiver are on a collision course in Regency England.

One of the things I found most challenging about writing this book, is that I set the crimes in a real historical place…that no longer exists.

Carlton House was best known as the London residence of the Prince Regent, and was lavish in every extreme. The Prince Regent was granted the house (and a renovation budget of over 60K pounds – nearly 5.2 million pounds today) in 1783 and lived there until his ascension to the throne in 1820.

He considered Carlton House unacceptable as a royal residence for a king and moved to Buckingham palace. Carlton House was demolished in 1826.

I relied heavily on the book Carlton House: The Past Glories of George IV’s Palace published by The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace in 1991. This book is full of colored drawings of the most opulent rooms of Carlton House and some of the artifacts that still remain today. I used the floor plans from the book to map out my bad guy’s paths and escapes.

I stuck to the information I could find, but if I couldn’t find it, I tried to rely upon what I could find from houses that were contemporary to Carlton House during the Regency, and if that didn’t work, I used literary license and made something up! Such is the life of a writer.

Do you enjoy learning while you read? Do you ever investigate further something you’ve learned about reading fiction?