In this behind-the-scenes blog series, Sapere Books authors offer an intriguing insight into how, where and why they write.
Today, we are delighted to spotlight Marilyn Todd, author of the Julia McAllister Victorian Mysteries series.
Medieval castle at the bottom of Marilyn’s garden
Living on a French hilltop, with a medieval castle at the bottom of our garden, Roman remains beside a river in the valley, and with the Hennessey Cognac estate on one side, Martell on the other — I couldn’t ask for a lovelier or more tranquil setting.
Okay, there are diggers outside at the moment, replacing water pipes in the very same trenches the electricity people dug (then filled in) exactly one week before. But usually the loudest sound is birdsong, and the mewing of buzzards circling overhead. Just the ticket when you come home bursting with ideas that need to be turned into stories without distractions. From Sicily to Arizona, Sweden to Nova Scotia, I find inspiration everywhere.
Sweden? That was when we were walking a little out-and-back coastal path — worryingly easy to imagine two people going out, but only one of them coming back.
Nova Scotia? Who wouldn’t be inspired by the biggest disaster no one’s ever heard of, when a French ship carrying enough explosives to end the First World War collided with a Norwegian ship coming the wrong way up the channel? The explosion took close to 2,000 lives, injured 9,000 more, destroyed everything in a half-mile radius, spiked a tsunami, and scattered debris several miles inland.
Sicily drew me back to ancient history, inspiring the second book in the Claudia Seferius series, Virgin Territory, as well as Blind Eye — set in Ancient Greece this time, rather than Rome — and debunked the myth of the Cyclops.
As always, Arizona never fails to deliver, especially when my story ‘The Wickedest Town in the West’ scooped an Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine award, of which I am ridiculously proud.
But while we travel a lot, not everything I write is inspired by breathtaking scenery, adventures and legends. My first series with Sapere Books, which kicked off with Snap Shot, was influenced by the emerging science of forensic evidence at the end of the nineteenth century, and the importance of studying crime scenes. Hence Britain’s first crime scene photographer, Julia McAllister.
My new Firefly series, coming soon with Sapere, tackles the inequalities women faced in Edwardian times, especially domestic violence, which was banned between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. because the noise interrupted other people’s sleep. Battling the system is Kitty Sullivan, who runs a gentleman’s club with a fleet of … let’s say exotic dancers, to fund a women’s refuge. Environments that, unsurprisingly, provoke dangerous situations, which Kitty faces down with charm, wit and, of course, a silver Derringer.
After all, there’s no point in having double standards, if you don’t live up to both of them.
Following the success of her Julia McAllister Victorian Mysteries series, we are thrilled to announce that we have signed a new Edwardian series by Marilyn Todd.
Book 1 in the Julia McAllister Victorian Mysteries series
In Marilyn’s words:
“My terrific relationship with Sapere Books continues with the signing of my new series.
“This time it’s crime
In Edwardian time,
With a heroine sharper than lime.
They’re nail-biting thrillers,
And though she catches the killers
She don’t ’arf have a bloody good time.
“The world might have been changing fast back then, but not for women. They still had no rights, no vote, and men could still “chastise” them until 10pm, after which it constituted a noise violation. I wanted to give those women a voice, so I created a character who rips up the rule book by running a refuge for battered wives, funded by a gentleman’s club with a fleet of… Let’s call them exotic dancers. And quite frankly, neither she or I could be in better hands, thanks to the guidance, support and encouragement from this young, dynamic publishing house. Go Sapere!”
Congratulations to Marilyn Todd, whose gripping historical mystery, Dead Drop, is published today!
Dead Drop is the fourth book in the Julia McAllister Victorian Mystery series: thrilling British detective novels with a courageous woman sleuth at the centre.
Seeing an easy way to pay off her debts, Julia McAllister takes in three female lodgers from a travelling show.
With musical halls more popular than ever, Buffalo Buck’s Mild West is the perfect antidote to the noise and smoke belching out of the factories, and the tide of Julia’s fortune quickly turns.
Until one of the three girls is found hanging under a bridge.
Julia doesn’t believe it was suicide. Annie had been excited about the future, not depressed.
And when another body is found on the railway line, a distraught widower, inspired by Julia’s role as crime scene photographer, asks for her help as the police are refusing to give out any details.
When Julia raises the matter with Detective Inspector John Collingwood, he explains that they’re keeping the case close to their chest because the body had ligature marks, showing he’d been chained up. Their fears are that this is just the tip of a particularly nasty iceberg.
Is Annie’s death connected to the body on the railway? Can Julia work with Collingwood to solve the mystery?
Or will the secrets they uncover put their lives in grave danger…?
Marilyn Todd is the author of the Julia McAllister Victorian Mystery series: historical murder mysteries with a courageous woman sleuth embarking on traditional British private investigations in nineteenth-century London.
The case of the Lindbergh baby is infamous. In March 1932, he was snatched from his nursery, a ransom note left in his place, and although the money was paid, two agonising months passed without news. It was pure chance that his body was found, thrown or dumped just off the highway, suggesting he was killed almost immediately after his abduction.
I don’t know if it was because Charles Lindbergh was famous — the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic — but it struck me that all the sympathy for this horrific crime went to the father, rather than both parents. I desperately wanted to change that.
In Bad Blood — the third book in the Julia McAllister series — baby Thomas Forbes is also snatched from his nursery, and a ransom demand is left on the pillow. The difference here is that the money is never collected, and the baby never found. When, eight years later, his father is murdered, Julia’s heart breaks for the woman brought to her knees by these two tragedies. As an amateur sleuth, Julia determines to do whatever it takes to find Thomas.
But as I plotted the novel, I was drawn into other injustices of the era. Not just the social inequalities — class, race and religious divides feature regularly in my books — but also the impact of being a pawn in the marriage game among the powerful and the wealthy. I wanted to explore the misery that comes from being a strong woman trapped in a weak man’s world.
Click here to pre-order BAD BLOOD
Click here to learn more about the Julia McAllister Victorian Mystery Series
Marilyn Todd’s witty and atmospheric Julia McAllister Victorian Mysteries follow a courageous female photographer-cum-sleuth as she investigates London’s shadiest characters.
The first two books in the series — SNAP SHOT and CAST IRON — are already published, and we are delighted to have signed up the next two instalments.
In Marilyn’s words:
“I’m thrilled to be continuing Julia’s story, and quite frankly, having this series in the hands of a dynamic publishing team like Sapere is the icing on the cake!
“The third instalment, BAD BLOOD, sees Julia tasked with photographing the scene of a factory owner’s murder. A man who treated his workers like dirt, and his wife even worse. It’s not so much a question of who’d want him dead — more who wouldn’t. But eight years earlier, his son was abducted, and Julia soon realises that the kidnap and murder are connected. The trouble is, knowing who’s responsible is one thing, proving it is quite another. Especially when the killer knows she’s on to them.
“This is followed by DEAD DROP. Music halls were a popular antidote to the noise and smoke belching out of the Industrial Revolution, but the lives of the entertainers were gruelling. When a young showgirl is found hanged, Julia doesn’t believe it was suicide. Too late, she discovers that the truth hurts, but secrets kill, putting her own life on the line…”
Click here to find out more about the Julia McAllister Victorian Mysteries
This Christmas, we’ve put together an anthology of festive crime fiction that is sure to give you the chills! Here’s a taste of what to expect from MIDWINTER MYSTERIES…
In Graham Brack’s AWAY IN A MANGER, a decidedly non-festive Lieutenant Josef Slonský investigates a string of thefts amid Prague’s bustling Christmas market.
At a Christmas Eve gathering, Charles Dickens weaves a gory, atmospheric ghost story that becomes a little too real in J C Briggs’ FOOTPRINTS IN THE SNOW.
Keith Moray’s LOST AND FOUND follows the residents of West Uist as they merrily prepare for their New Year’s Eve traditions – until one of them is found dead…
While trying to provide for his family, young Alfie finds himself investigating the disappearance of gold bars from a bullion store – which have vanished along with his beloved dog, Mutsy – in Cora Harrison’s THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS.
In Seán Gibbons’ THE STOLEN SANTA SACK, unlucky driver Ben Miller is stuck with a dead Santa Claus and a sackful of cash in the back of his cab…
While hurrying to develop her clients’ portraits in time for Christmas, photographer Julia McAllister is landed with a drunken newlywed and a photograph of a ghost in Marilyn Todd’s WILL POWER.
Gaynor Torrance’s CHRISTMAS SPIRITS follows headstrong Detective Inspector Jemima Huxley as she finds herself caught up in an armed robbery while doing her Christmas shopping.
In David Field’s THE ESSEX NATIVITY, Detective Sergeant Jack Enright discovers a destitute couple expecting their first child in the shelter of a barn.
When one of her clients is stalked by a mysterious figure, Private Investigator Eden Grey attempts to uncover the unwelcome follower in Kim Fleet’s SECRET SANTA.
Major Thankful and Thomazine Russell investigate the theft of a scandalous manuscript written by the king in M J Logue’s STIR UP SUNDAY.
In Linda Stratmann’s THE CHRISTMAS GHOST, wilful sleuth Mina Scarletti attempts to bring peace to a woman haunted by the spirit of her dead son.
