Character Interview: Hattie Davish, A March to Remember

Traveling secretary Hattie Davish is taking her singular talents to Washington, D.C., to help Sir Arthur Windom-Greene research his next book. But in the winding halls of the nation’s capital, searching for the truth can sometimes lead to murder. 


Hattie is in her element, digging through dusty basements, attics, and abandoned buildings, not to be denied until she fishes out that elusive fact. But her delightful explorations are dampened when she witnesses a carriage crash into a carp pond beneath the shadow of the Washington Monument. Alarmingly, one of the passengers flees the scene, leaving the other to drown. The incident only heightens tensions brought on by the much publicized arrival of “Coxey’s Army,” thousands of unemployed men converging on the capital for the first ever organized “march” on Washington. When one of the marchers is found murdered in the ensuing chaos, Hattie begins to suspect a sinister conspiracy is at hand. As she expands her investigations into the motives of murder and closes in on the trail of a killer, she is surprised and distraught to learn that her research will lead her straight to the highest levels of government . . .


 
Q: Miss Davish, thank you for coming by. Tell our readers a little bit about yourself–maybe something readers might not guess?
Yes, Sir Arthur said that you would like to be introduced. I have to admit I’m not in the habit of exchanging personal information with complete strangers but since you are readers, Sir Arthur deemed it not too improper.  So, I will do my best to indulge your curiosity. First of all, of course, I’m Miss Hattie Davish. I grew up a good Catholic in St. Joseph, Missouri, where my father owned the city’s most successful men’s hat store- hence my name. I adore hats, my father taught me well, and although I usually have little appetite, I have never let a slice of cake (or sweet of any kind) go uneaten.  I fancy myself an amateur botanist, my collection being quite extensive and my knowledge coming in handy when solving a crime or two.  I thrive on a good hike.  I rarely sleep well so I often hike early before the day’s work begins. I was trained at Mrs. Chaplin’s School for Women to be a secretary and lady typewriter.  After both my parents died, my training and my typewriter were all that kept me from destitution.  As you must already know, I’m currently the historian Sir Arthur Windom-Greene’s private secretary.  I’ve worked for Sir Arthur, off-and-on, for several years now, accompanying him wherever his research of the Civil War takes him. I have also worked for several of his rich and influential friends, traveling to wherever they may be.  One might not guess that I am an avid baseball fan.  My father taught the local boys team and followed the St. Louis Browns religiously, though they were called the Brown Stockings then. I couldn’t help but be a fan.
Q: Who’s the character you get along with the best? 
Of course, Sir Arthur would expect me to mention him as we have a very good working relationship.  But since I’m being so bold to reveal other details about myself without proper introductions, I will tell you that there is another character I get along with, quite well in fact. His name is Dr. Walter Grice and he is the most handsome, caring, witty and clever man I have ever met.  We met in Eureka Spring, Arkansas when I was working for Mrs. Edwina Trevelyan, the temperance leader.  Walter, I mean, Dr. Grice has his practice there.   Despite my distrust of physicians (they treated my father terribly), Dr. Grice’s charm won my heart.  And perhaps, may I dare dream, he’ll win my hand one day as well.
Q:  Which other character do you have a conflict with?
Oh my, I must admit, I have had my share of conflicts over the past few years, especially with policemen and high society ladies.  As a working woman, I must guard my position carefully. However, when someone threatens that position, I have been known to hold my ground, if not my tongue.  And of course, I have increasingly indulged my curiosity of late, which has not won me favors or friends, except maybe Miss Lucy Shaw, an elderly lady that befriended me and relies upon me for her gossip.  Must I name them all?
Q:  Just between you and me: What do you really think of your author?
Must you ask? I think Mrs. Loan-Wilsey is quite a competent lady.  Sir Arthur is my mentor, but she is my creator.  And, although I wouldn’t admit it to her, she has done right by me, forcing me out of my sheltered existence and setting me on the path to adventure.  Without her, I wouldn’t have overcome my deepest fears, I wouldn’t have grown in confidence, I wouldn’t have met Walter, I mean, Dr. Grice.  Of course, I could’ve done without the murders she insisted I involve myself in, but alas, that is what you enjoyed the most, is it not, dear reader?
Q: It’s the reason you’re here. Miss Davish, what’s next for you?
Oh, I was afraid you were going to ask that.  May I simply reply, “I don’t know?”  The end of this current adventure, called A March to Remember, set me on an adventure of quite a different nature, both unpredictable and thrilling.  It also marked an end point, at least for now, for many of my current associations, including dear Mrs. Loan-Wilsey.  She and I must part for now.  Whether we met again for another adventure, I can only say, “I do hope so.”
 


 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anna Loan-Wilsey, biologist, librarian, and author, writes the historical Hattie Davish Mystery series featuring a Victorian traveling secretary who solves crimes in every historic town she visits. The first in the series, A Lack of Temperance, set in 1890’s Eureka Springs, Arkansas, (an Amazon #1 bestseller) was followed by Anything But Civil (set in Galena, IL), A Sense of Entitlement (an iBook #1 bestseller set in Newport, RI), and A Deceptive Homecoming (set in St. Joseph, MO, Hattie’s hometown). A March to Remember finds Hattie caught up in the political intrigues surrounding Coxey’s Army and the first “march” on Washington, D.C. Anna lives in a Victorian farmhouse near Ames, Iowa with her family where she is happily working on new mystery adventures.

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#Giveaway and Character Interview: Lee Alvarez of The CEO Came DOA

>>>Win all three Lee Alvarez e-books<<<

Lee Alvarez takes a job ferreting out the saboteur of a start-up company’s Initial Public Offering in the heart of Silicon Valley. Little does she know early one morning she will find the CEO hanging by the neck in the boardroom wearing nothing but his baby blue boxer shorts.

Was it suicide? Was it murder by one of the many people who loathed the man on sight, such as his business partner? Or maybe one of the many women in his life, including his famous rock singer ex-? The bodies start piling up while Lee is planning her very own Christmas wedding. Ho, ho, ho.


 
Lee Alvarez, protagonist of the humorous Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries, speaks out, much to her mother’s dismay.
Q: Aloha Lee, and welcome to Island Confidential. Why don’t we start by telling our readers a little bit about you?
A: Here’s something few people know. I love the sound of a ukulele.  I bought one and tried to play, but it’s harder than it looks. After several minutes, the tips of my fingers were raw. A musician friend heard me and said maybe if I practiced every day for a year, I could advance from ‘horrible’ to ‘amusingly bad’. Lovely idea, but I don’t have the time for such a commitment. So the instrument is gathering dust under my bed. Now and then I pull it out and twang on it, just for laughs.
On a more serious note, I’ve come to terms with the fact I don’t have the talent to be a prima ballerina. At best, I am a mediocre dancer no matter how hard I work at it, and I do a barre nearly every single morning. It doesn’t help that I’m 5’8” tall, either. A good ballerina is usually around 5’4” in height. When I turned sixteen I had to face facts. I’d never advance to anything other than the chorus of a second-rate ballet company.
What I am, however, is a crackerjack ferret. I’m good a putting together past scenarios and coming up with the right answers.  Before Dad’s sudden death two years ago due to an aneurism, he taught me everything he knew about the detective business, hoping I would follow in his footsteps. Our little family has built a thriving investigative service, Discretionary Inquiries. We’re Silicon Valley’s answer to software, hardware, and intellectual property thefts. But I have noticed it seems like I’m always falling over dead bodies, especially when I’m not looking.
And those are my two secrets, a hidden uke and dusty toe shoes. I guess we all have our ‘what if’ things. But I’m smart enough to know that not being able to do a first-rate glissade arabesque is probably one of life’s better regrets to have. It’s not in on the uke yet.
Q: Who’s the character in the book you get along with the best? 
A: A year ago, I would have said my kid brother, Richard. He’s a computer geek – actually, a genius – and the main reason why Discretionary Inquiries leads the pack in technologically driven Silicon Valley. You may remember Richard. He’s the one who showed up twenty minutes late to the annual board meeting eating a sauerkraut and peanut butter sandwich. It stunk up the boardroom for a week. He’s a little on the weird side, but I love him to pieces. These days the person I get along with best is my fella, Gurn Hanson. Let’s face it, I’m in love. We manage to get married in the latest Alvarez book, The CEO Came DOA, in between assorted chaos, villainy, and laughs. He’s quite a guy!
Q: Which other character do you have a conflict with? 
A: Okay, let’s talk about my mother, Lila Hamilton Alvarez, she who can crack an oyster shell with a single glance. Here’s an excerpt from The CEO Came DOA which I think best describes our differences:

I studied my mother as objectively as possible. She was so loving this. I was right not to try to take the wedding away from her. Besides, soon she would have a new grandchild and leave me alone.
Whoops! Did I say that out loud? No, no, I was just thinking it. I used my inside voice. I’m good.
I relaxed a little and reflected. Yes, here sat the woman who was the Rolls Royce to my Chevy, the conservative to my liberal, the haute couture to my thrift shop, but fate had still seen to throw us together. Chalk it up to one of life’s ironies.
Whoops! Did I just get philosophical on me? Go away, inside voice. Time for a martini.

 
Q: Just between you and me: What do you really think of your author?
A: Heather Haven is a nice lady, has a good heart and all that, but frankly, she’s peculiar. She can find the most bizarre ways of murdering someone. And she puts me into some pretty stressful situations. I have a tough time keeping up. Of course, I get to wear a spectacular wardrobe, but that’s small compensation.
Q: What’s next for you, Lee?
A: I have no idea. Right now I’m on my honeymoon in Kauai, with my gorgeous hunk of a husband, Gurn Hanson. Sun, fun, a Mai Tai or two, love, and relaxation. Wait a minute. She’s at it again. That Heather Haven is involving me in something to do with strychnine poisoning. What the… Whoops! Gotta go. A new murder to solve. But at least it’s in the balmy breezes of a Hawaiian island!
Q: Well, if you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and I’ll buy you a Loco Moco. Thanks for visiting Island Confidential!
 



About The Author  
After studying drama at the University of Miami in Florida, Heather went to Manhattan to pursue a career. There she wrote short stories, comedy acts, television treatments, ad copy, commercials, and two one-act plays, which were produced, among other places, at the famed Playwrights Horizon. Once, she even ghostwrote a book on how to run an employment agency. She was unemployed at the time.
 
Her first novel started the Silicon Valley based Alvarez Family Murder Mystery Series.  Murder is a Family Business, Book One, won the Single Titles Reviewers’ Choice Award 2011, followed by the second, A Wedding to Die For, 2012 Global and EPIC finalist for Best eBook Mystery of the Year. Death Runs in the Family won the coveted Global Gold for Best Mystery Novel, 2013. DEAD….If Only won the Global Silver for Best Mystery Novel, 2015. Her fifth novel of the series, The CEO Came DOA, debuts September, 2016. She loves writing this series mainly because she gets to play all of the characters, including the cat!
Heather’s other series, The Persephone Cole Vintage Mystery Series, is set in Manhattan circa 1942, during our country’s entrance into WWII. The Dagger Before Me, Book One, was voted best historical and mystery novel by Amazon readers in October, 2013.  It was followed by Iced Diamonds. Book Three, The Chocolate Kiss-Off, is a 2016 Lefty Award Finalist Best Historical Mystery.
On a personal note, her proudest award is the Silver IPPY (Independent Publisher Book Awards) Best Mystery/thriller 2014 for Death of a Clown. The stand-alone noir mystery is steeped in Heather’s family history. Daughter of real-life Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus folk, her mother was a trapeze artist/performer and father, an elephant trainer. Heather likes to say she brings the daily existence of the Big Top to life during World War II, embellished by her own murderous imagination.
Heather gives lectures, speaks at book clubs, and moderates author panels in the Bay Area, as well as teaching the art of writing. She believes everyone should write something, be it a poem, short story or letter. Then go out and plant a tree. The world will be a better place for it.
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Character Interview: Lily Gayle Lambert from Death of a Wolfman

 Lily Gayle Lambert is a professional seamstress specializing in period dresses for convention attendees and re-enactment groups along with being an amateur genealogist. And a big pain in the butt to the county sheriff…who just happens to be her cousin. 
 Cover
Quicker than she can stitch together the threads of a genealogy project she’s just signed on to research, Lily Gayle finds herself embroiled in investigating the Halloween night murder of a stranger who suffers from ‘wolfman syndrome.  Before she can even get going good on the first murder a member of a prominent family turns up dead too.
Escaping from a trailer in the woods owned by two good ole boys suspected of being involved and a confrontation with the eldest son of the town’s wealthiest family have Lily Gayle hot on the trail of the killer.
With the help of her lifelong best friend, Dixie, Lily Gayle must find the link between the two and solve the mystery before her investigation makes her the next target.


Q: Lily Gayle, thanks for stopping by Island Confidential. Would you mind telling us a little bit about yourself, maybe something readers might not know?
A. I’m 48 years old. I left Mercy after high school to attend Ole Miss. I can tell you I had some really good time on that campus (wink wink) and I met my husband while I was there. We had some real good years together. No kids though. It was a sadness for both of us. He’s gone now. Killed in a car wreck coming home from a meeting in Nashville, TN. Once that happened, the only thing I wanted to do was just bury myself under a rock. My old friend, Dixie, showed up at my door one day and started packing up my stuff. Never even asked me. Next thing I knew I was back home in Mercy living in the old house my grandparents left to me a while back. Once Dixie got me to start living again, I got into the business of making gowns for ladies who do re-enactments and attend conferences. I’ve been sewing since I was a little thing. And I had been doing genealogy for years. But not professionally. So I started that up too. Next thing I knew, I was back to living.
Then I stared getting mixed up in some mysteries in town. Mostly minor stuff. Kids getting up to mischief. And found out I like that a lot. My cousin, Ben, is the county Sheriff and I help him solve cases. But he’d tell you I get in his way and stick my nose into things that aren’t my business. But I don’t pay him any mind – even when he calls me a Nancy Drew wanna be. Nope. I just have a knack for this kind of work and I’m gonna help him all I can. My best friend, Dixie, is right there by my side. Why there’s nothing we can’t figure out. And, then Miss Edna, the town busybody, decided to get in on the action. So now there’s three of us.
Something readers might not know about me. Hm. Well….I’m an only child and I always wished I had brothers and sisters. But, I guess that’s why my cousin, Ben, and I get along like we do. He’s an only child too. We fight and make up just like regular siblings. And we were born on the same day. And our Maman’s were twins. So, I reckon that makes the two of us almost twins.
Q: Who’s the character in Death of a Wolfman that you get along with the best? 
A. That would be Dixie. We’ve been best friends ever since we met back when we were in diapers. Think and thin. Best of friends. That’s always been us. She’s always been there for me. Even when I was up to something we both knew we shouldn’t be doing. She’d do it with me and suffer the consequences right by my side. Come to think on it, she still does! LOL.
Q: Which other character do you have a conflict with? 
A. I get along with most everybody. But I sometimes have little spats with my cousin, Ben. He’s really the only one who just finds my last nerve and stands on it with all his weight. Been that way since we were kids. Always thinking he can run th show. Guess that’ why he ended up being sheriff. He can run other people’s shows now. But still can’t run mine.
Q: Just between you and me: What do you really think of your author, Susan Boles?
A. She’s a smart cookie! Got a good head on her shoulders. And the ability to think things through and to spot things that don’t quite makes sense. She makes me look really good. So what else can I say? She loves a great mystery, just like me. And she’s into all the crafts. Sewing, knitting, crocheting and her newest obsession is zoom loom. Not sure what that’s all about but it looks interesting.
Q: What’s next for you?
A. More beautiful gowns for the ladies and more genealogical searches. A girl’s gotta pay the bills, you know. And I’m going to help the town council turn Mitchell Manor into a tourist attraction just in time for the Goobers and Grits festival later this year. Why I bet we’ll get all kinds of new folks coming through here to see that!


Susan
 
About the Author
Susan calls McNairy County, TN her home ground even though she has moved away. It was here, at Bethel Springs Junior High School that she began her writing career with two friends. They formed their own little writers group that was so secret they were the only ones who knew it existed. She still has some of the stories they wrote carefully preserved in a loose leaf binder and tucked away for safety.
She has worked in retail management, briefly for the Census Bureau and for many years in the investment/insurance industry in the regulatory compliance arena. All of which are left brain activities. So she exercises her right brain activity with reading and writing…just to keep both sides even.
Reading has been a passion since she was very young. As a toddler, her mother read to her from her ‘baby books’ and her Mother tells a story about her holding one of them upside-down and ‘reading’ by repeating the story verbatim from memory.
Death of a Wolfman is the first in the Lily Gayle Lambert mystery series. Her previously published romantic suspense novel, Fated Love, is a contemporary paranormal romantic suspense (with a twist of paranormal) set in Memphis, TN. Her first novel, Kate’s Pride, is a historical women’s fiction set in West Tennessee in the aftermath of the Civil War. The novel is loosely based on her own Great Grandmother and published under the pen name Renee Russell.
Life got in the way of writing for many years but now she’s come back to her early love.
Stay in touch for upcoming releases!
Author Links:
www.susanbolesauthor.com
@SusanBAuthor
https://susanbolesauthor.wordpress.com
https://www.facebook.com/people/Susan-Boles-Author/100010974857065
https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-boles-author-a4075484
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14866595.Susan_Boles
 


 

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Character Interview: Maggie Dove

Susan Breen introduces a charming new series heroine in this poignant and absorbing cozy mystery with a bite.

When Sunday School teacher Maggie Dove finds her hateful next-door neighbor Marcus Bender lying dead under her beloved oak tree—the one he demanded she cut down—she figures the man dropped dead of a mean heart. But Marcus was murdered, and the prime suspect is a young man Maggie loves like a son. Peter Nelson was the worst of Maggie’s Sunday School students; he was also her late daughter’s fiancé, and he’s been a devoted friend to Maggie in the years since her daughter’s death.
Maggie can’t lose Peter, too. So she sets out to find the real murderer. To do that, she must move past the grief that has immobilized her all these years. She must probe the hidden corners of her little village on the Hudson River. And, when another death strikes even closer to home, Maggie must find the courage to defend the people and the town she loves—even if it kills her.
 


Q: Aloha Maggie, thanks for stopping by the blog. Why don’t you tell our readers a little bit about yourself–maybe something they might not guess?
            My name is Maggie Dove. I’m a 62-year-old Sunday School teacher, and the worst trouble I ever got into was when I accidentally set off the church fire alarm while baking pretzels with my class. So you wouldn’t think I’d be investigating a murder, but someone I love was accused of the crime and I knew I couldn’t just stand by. I live in a pretty, old house in a small village on the Hudson River. There’s a small hiding place in the house that my abolitionist ancestors used to hide runaway slaves escaping to Canada. I drive a bright red Audi TT, which is a little florid, but I used to be a mystery writer and my detective drove that type of car. I love it.  My husband was a professor of Russian, so although I’m not an expert, my house is full of books and maps about Russia, and it looks like one of the people in my village works for the CIA.
Q: Who’s the character you get along with the best? 
There are many people I love in my small village of Darby-on-Hudson. In fact, that’s what made my murder investigation so difficult. The more questions I asked, the more I came to realize that the murderer must be someone I love. If I were to pick one person I’m especially fond of, I’d say it’s 6-year-old Edgar Blake, who is the worst of my Sunday School students. Edgar’s a handful, but he has a warm heart, and I feel like I connect with him. Maybe because I’ve always followed the rules, I’m intrigued by people who don’t. Some of my favorite people are the kind who get into a lot of trouble.
Q:  Which other character do you have a conflict with? 
The character who I have the worst conflict with is my neighbor, Marcus Bender. We had a huge argument over the oak tree on my front lawn. You wouldn’t think anyone would have a quarrel with a tree, but Bender did. He wanted me to cut it down because he said it blocked his view of the Hudson River. I love that tree. My father planted it when I was a girl, my late daughter played on it. Its gentle branches have brought me a great deal of comfort and joy. Bender offered me money to buy a new one, and put it somewhere else. I turned him down. Then one morning I went outside and smelled lye in the tree’s dirt. My neighbor was poisoning my tree. I was furious, pounded on his door, told him to stay off my lawn or I’d kill him. The next morning, I found his corpse under that tree.
Q:  Just between you and me: What do you really think of your author?
I love my author, Susan Breen. Or as I think of her, the Boss. She knows lots of fun jokes. She and I share a love of bread pudding. My only quarrel with her is that she’s awfully bossy. She insists I get up and do things when I’d be happiest sitting by the Hudson River, looking at the boats go by.
Q: What’s next for you?
I enjoyed this adventure so much, even though at times my life was in jeopardy, that I decided, with some friends, to set up a detective agency. Of course, it takes a lot of skill and training to be a detective, so right now I’m involved in studying to get my detective license.


 
About The Author  

 
Susan Breen is the author of The Fiction Class, her debut novel that won the Washington Irving Book Award. Her stories and articles have appeared in many magazines, among them The Best American Nonrequired Reading, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Compose, Writer’s Digest, and The Writer. She teaches at Gotham Writers in Manhattan; is on the faculty of the New York Pitch Conference, South Carolina Writers Workshop, and the Women’s National Book Association; and is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters-in-Crime. Breen lives in a small village on the Hudson River with her husband, two dogs, and one cat. Her three children are flourishing elsewhere.

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