{"id":16869,"date":"2022-06-22T20:28:40","date_gmt":"2022-06-23T03:28:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.themysteryofwriting.com\/?p=16869"},"modified":"2022-06-22T20:28:00","modified_gmt":"2022-06-23T03:28:00","slug":"death-of-an-heiress-historical-mystery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themysteryofwriting.com\/2022\/06\/22\/death-of-an-heiress-historical-mystery\/","title":{"rendered":"Death of an Heiress: Historical Mystery"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DeathDeath of an Heiress<\/strong> <\/em>by Anne Louise Bannon<\/p>\n

Guest Post + Author and Book Info + Rafflecopter Giveaway!<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Death of an Heiress<\/em><\/h2>\n

\"DeathWhen the unmentionable stalks the pueblo<\/strong><\/p>\n

It starts when the inheritance that Lavina Gaines was to receive is stolen by her brother Timothy. Then an old Indian healing woman is murdered. Winemaker and physician Maddie Wilcox wants to find the person responsible for Mama Jane\u2019s death, but is also occupied with another killer \u2013 the measles.<\/p>\n

When Lavina\u2019s friend Julia Carson dies trying to rid herself of a pregnancy, Lavina asks Maddie\u2019s help finding the man responsible for Julia\u2019s child. Soon after, Lavina is killed and her murder bears an uncanny resemblance to that of Mama Jane\u2019s. The only motive Maddie can find involves Julia\u2019s death, which is not the sort of thing one talks about. Not only that, Lavina\u2019s nether garments are missing.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a difficult challenge, but Maddie rises to it, searching among the many men of the pueblo, including some of her dearest friends.<\/p>\n

How does a proper lady in 1872 get the answers she needs to stop a killer determined to stop her first?<\/p>\n

To purchase Death of an Heiress<\/em>, click on any of the following links: Amazon<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Bookshop<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0VRoman\u2019s Bookstore<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0B&N<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Kobo<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Apple<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Google Books<\/a><\/b><\/h3>\n

Death of an Heiress<\/a><\/b><\/b>
\nHistorical Mystery<\/b>
\n4th in Series (Old Los Angeles)<\/b>
\nSetting \u2013 California<\/b>
\nHealcroft House, Publishers (June 14, 2022)<\/b>
\nPaperback \u200f : \u200e 306 pages<\/b>
\nISBN-10 \u200f : \u200e 1948616211<\/b>
\nISBN-13 \u200f : \u200e 978-1948616218<\/b>
\nDigital ASIN \u200f : \u200e B09W5NLMT8<\/b><\/p>\n

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Guest Post by Anne Louise Bannon<\/h2>\n

MY HISTORY WRITING HISTORICAL MYSTERIES<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve always liked historical stuff. When I first started reading Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers part of what I really liked about them was that they were historical. Not technically in the historical novel genre, because they were written from their contemporary perspective. But for me, they were a part of history.<\/p>\n

Then I got hooked on Ellis Peters and the Brother Cadfael mysteries \u2013 and this was long before Dereck Jacoby took them on. I eventually found my way to Margaret Frazer, Priscilla Royal, Fiona Buckley, and a host of others, far too numerous to mention here. I read and still read contemporary mysteries of all kinds. But there is a special place in my heart for novels set in the past, when there are no friendly coroners setting time of death, fingerprinting, etc.<\/p>\n

My first mystery novels, however, were not historical. They were contemporary. I wrote them in the early 1980s, and never really did anything with them. But later, they became the Operation Quickline series, which I publish as fiction serials on my blog. Book eight, A Little Family Business<\/em>, is currently running. Link to Chapter One<\/a><\/p>\n

A few years later, when I wrote my first historical mystery, Fascinating Rhythm<\/em>, I ended up setting it in the 1920s, December 8, 1924, to be precise. I had recently discovered Dorothy L. Sayers, and Freddie Little, one of the two main characters in Fascinating Rhythm<\/em>, may have just a little in common with Lord Peter. I hope it\u2019s an homage, at any rate. It was not my intent to write a historical mystery, but Freddie and his counterpart, Kathy Briscow, were who spoke to me and that was the world they inhabited.<\/p>\n

For my next two novels, Tyger, Tyger<\/em>, and A Nose for a Niedeman<\/em>, I went back to writing contemporaries, including the start of a sequel for each of them (they\u2019re currently stand-alones).<\/p>\n

You\u2019d think that with my love of Medieval and Renaissance sleuths, that\u2019s when I\u2019d be setting my work. But I suspect my love of those eras plays more into my love of fantasy. I have written a Medieval-style fantasy \u2013 definitely not on the cozy side, though. I wanted to stretch myself by writing grittier and it sure came out that way.<\/p>\n

It’s not that I don\u2019t want to do the research. I love research and I love historical research in particular. I guess the thing is that my characters have to be talking to me in my head before I can write about them, and for some reason, no one from the Medieval or Renaissance eras has talked to me yet.<\/p>\n

There may also be my preference for from my own cultural background. That\u2019s why, when Maddie Wilcox (of the Old Los Angeles series) started coming to life for me, I set her stories in the Los Angeles of the 1870s, not the Mexican era. I\u2019m not Hispanic, and I did not want to tell someone else\u2019s story. I do include characters from other cultures \u2013 don\u2019t get me wrong. It wouldn\u2019t be historically accurate not to. But the stories are from the perspective of someone who shares my ancestry.<\/p>\n

Of course, the Old Los Angeles series has as much to do with my husband being the Archivist for the City of Los Angeles as anything. I\u2019ve told the story so many times of how his talk on the zanja system of irrigating L.A. in the years before Mulholland and the California Aqueduct inspired Death of the Zanjero<\/em>, the first book in the series. But it was delving into the rest of L.A. history that got the next three books written, with book four, Death of an Heiress<\/strong><\/em>, now available.<\/p>\n

I have written a couple contemporaries since then. Rage Issues<\/em> came out last fall. Not to mention the fact that I really hate calling the Operation Quickline series historical, even though I left it in its original 1980s setting. As for my next historical? I still have some Freddie and Kathy stories left to tell, so I\u2019ll be re-reading up on the 1920s really soon. And Maddie isn\u2019t letting go of me, and I\u2019ll be writing another Old Los Angeles book probably this summer. I\u2019ll also keep listening for whatever monk, nun, or lady from Medieval or Renaissance Europe who wants to talk to me.<\/p>\n

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Anne Louise Bannon<\/h2>\n

\"DeathAnne Louise Bannon<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is an author and journalist who wrote her first novel at age 15.<\/p>\n

Her journalistic work has appeared in Ladies\u2019 Home Journal<\/em>, the Los Angeles Times<\/em>, Wines and Vines<\/em>, and in newspapers across the country. She was a TV critic for over 10 years, founded the YourFamilyViewer blog, and created the OddBallGrape.com wine education blog with her husband, Michael Holland.<\/p>\n

She is the co-author of Howdunit: Book of Poisons<\/em>, with Serita Stevens, as well as author of the Freddie and Kathy mystery series, set in the 1920s,\u00a0 the Operation Quickline series and the Old Los Angeles series, set in the 1870s.<\/p>\n

Her most recent title is the current stand-alone, Rage Issues<\/em>. She and her husband live in Southern California with an assortment of critters.<\/p>\n

To learn more about Anne, click on her name, photo, or any of the following links: Blog<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, GoodReads<\/a> & Library Thing<\/a><\/h3>\n
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a Rafflecopter giveaway<\/a><\/h2>\n