Category Archives: Book info

Dickens in another language!

Exciting news today! My publisher sold world Polish rights for the first three Dickens titles! It looks like we might have print, audio, and ebook for A Tale of Two Murders, Grave Expectations, and A Christmas Carol Murder in Polish! I can’t wait to see the covers. I have no idea when they will go up for sale. Since one set of my great-grandparents immigrated from Poland to the UK in the 1880s, this is especially exciting for me. They lived in East London during the Jack the Ripper years.

A Tale of Two Murders is Available Today

It’s finally release day for my acclaimed historical mystery, A Tale of Two Murders. My version of Charles Dickens and Kate Hogarth are coming to life! I saw the hardbacks just a few days ago and eagerly called my photographer in Norway to share her photo credit with her, and then showed the book to the special person I dedicated it to. Andy decided that he’s famous now as a result of seeing his name in print. 😉

Having the first book in a series finally available is totally awesome. I’ve had forty plus reviews already, but I’m so eager to hear what people really think before I move into the editing phase on book two…

About the book:

On the eve of the Victorian era, London has a new sleuth . . .

In the winter of 1835, young Charles Dickens is a journalist on the rise at the Evening Chronicle. Invited to dinner at the estate of the newspaper’s co-editor, Charles is smitten with his boss’s daughter, vivacious nineteen-year-old Kate Hogarth. They are having the best of times when a scream shatters the pleasant evening. Charles, Kate, and her father rush to the neighbors’ home, where Miss Christiana Lugoson lies unconscious on the floor. By morning, the poor young woman will be dead.

When Charles hears from a colleague of a very similar mysterious death a year ago to the date, also a young woman, he begins to suspect poisoning and feels compelled to investigate. The lovely Kate offers to help—using her social position to gain access to the members of the upper crust, now suspects in a murder. If Charles can find justice for the victims, it will be a far, far better thing than he has ever done. But with a twist or two in this most peculiar case, he and Kate may be in for the worst of times . . .

A Tale of Two Murders

Holland House, a Castle fit for royalty?

Welcome to Holland House in Kensington! Once called Cope Castle, this magnificent early Jacobean mansion (built 1605) with ties to British royal events and personages, was bombed during WWII and only the East Wing survives today.

I featured it in my upcoming historical mystery, A Tale of Two Murders, multiple times, since the Lord and Lady Holland of 1835 are minor characters in the book. They are two colorful people who desperately need a biography about them! Lady Holland really was a friend of Charles Dickens, which is how the family, and their magnificent home, came to enter my book world.

Of course I had to make up some of the spaces the characters visited, but one I did not was the gilt chamber, which must have been a dazzling space in its time.

Everyone who watches royals has their thoughts centered on Kensington Palace these days, but did you know that Kensington Palace was almost Holland Palace? Yes, William III considered both properties before choosing to purchase Kensington House instead.

You can see more information and depictions at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_House.

 

Starred Review from Kirkus Review: A Tale of Two Murders by Heather Redmond

I’m so excited to announce that my first historical mystery under my new Heather Redmond name has received a coveted Starred Review from Kirkus Reviews!

Here is the complete text:

A TALE OF TWO MURDERS [STARRED REVIEW!]
Author: Heather Redmond

Review Issue Date: May 15, 2018
Online Publish Date: May 1, 2018
Publisher: Kensington
Pages: 320
Price ( Hardcover ): $26.00
Publication Date: July 31, 2018
ISBN ( Hardcover ): 978-1-4967-1715-3
Category: Fiction
Classification: Mystery

A ghastly poisoning sets a young writer on the trail of a killer in Victorian London. January 1835 finds rising journalist Charles Dickens enjoying Epiphany dinner with his editor, George Hogarth, and his family in Brompton when a terrible scream splits the air. Dickens, Hogarth, and Hogarth’s daughter Kate rush next door to Lugoson House. There, Lady Lugoson’s daughter, Christiana, who’s been taken violently ill, dies before her mother’s horrified eyes despite the ministrations of the host of doctors summoned to her bedside. The next day, at the offices of the Evening Chronicle, Charles confides his unease to fellow journalist William Aga. How could Christiana Lugoson have become mortally ill when none of the other dinner guests were affected? William recalls the similar death of another young woman, Marie Rueff, just one year ago at Epiphany. Watching young Charles sniff out the connection between the two deaths is only part of the fun. Readers can also watch the sweet, unsurprising romance between Charles and Kate unfold at a modest but steady pace and can travel through a historical London that’s vivid without being overcrowded with detail. Each character’s voice is distinctive and appropriate to the period, and Redmond’s exposition is as stately and lucid as any contemporary reader could wish. Redmond, who writes romance under the names Heather Hiestand and Anh Leod, adds crime to her portfolio. Mystery fans and history buffs alike should cheer.

Favorite Historical Mysteries, a new Pinterest board

I track most of my reading on Goodreads. Generally I don’t put in the middle grade books I read every day with my 3rd grader (sooo much Geronimo Stilton), but just about everything else is in there. I went through the past six months or so of my reading and started to build a visual representation of my favorite historical mysteries on Pinterest. I’d love to know your favorites, and hope you enjoy my reads! I started writing historical mystery in late 2016, and my first Heather Redmond tale will be out this July…

When Historical Fiction Gets Real: Finding Emotional Truth

greekcomedytragedyThe terrorist attacks in Belgium today settle on me uneasily as an author of historical fiction. As I blithely changed the timeline on my work in progress , I wondered what historical events I might be missing that might distract the characters in my novel, or even affect them. Characters live in larger worlds than our plots. For instance, my current hero is from Sicily. What might have been happening in his hometown during that week I just added to my story because I realized my plot timeline was too tight?

The other issue that concerns me is how I write about circumstances like what happened in Belgium today. My upcoming series (debuts 9/27/16), The Grand Russe Hotel, is concerned with Russian immigrants in England. Most of them are solid citizens trying to restart their lives after the Russian revolution, but some are Bolsheviks hoping to disrupt the British government. There are bombers and bomb threats and even actual bombs. Danger for all, a very real situation. As I writer, I need to make sure to keep the emotion tangible. It’s not just a plot. My characters need to feel the fear that is present in Europe today in the midst of so much sorrow, uncertainty, and despair. I must remember to keep my world of 1925 London three-dimensional. The terrorists of 2016 are different than those of 1925, but the emotions of those living through the experience are the same as those suffering today.

If we want readers to bond with our characters, understanding the mindset of people in crisis is very important. And if we can give our characters happy endings despite the traumas they live through, hopefully it can give readers a feeling of closure and hope that all is not lost, no matter how dark the sky that day.

https://heatherredmond.com/books/if-i-had-you/

IfIHadYou