Mesdames of Mayhem

The following post has been reprinted with the kind permission of its author, Duncan Armstrong. Originally posted on March 21, 2015 by topoet, in Let’s talk, Photographs, reviews, writing. ·

There was Mayhem at the Jones Ave. Library thanks to Mesdames Rosemary Aubert, M. H. Callway, Rosemary McCracken and D. J. McIntosh. It was an opportunity for me to see these familiar faces as working authors, not as lunch dates, fellow work-shoppers or teachers. Besides discussing the challenges for women authors in today’s publishing world they each read from their recent work. Some were already familiar with the writers & asked questions that went beyond ‘where do you get your ideas from.’

the moon was obscured by clouds

Each of the Mesdames brought a very different aspect of ‘mystery’ writing to the event. During q&a the difference between a thriller & a mystery was discussed, also what a ‘cozy’ is – was almost defined. Lost Girl was mentioned several times & it appears to have brought many new readers to the mystery fold.

Rosemary Aubert, representing the mystery in mystery genre, read from her new book, Don’t Forget You Love Me, the long-awaited follow-up to her award-winning Ellis Portal mystery series. http://wp.me/p1RtxU-157. Set in Toronto, and spanning many decades, this series makes use of Toronto, its history and many neighbourhoods more effectively than many I’ve read.

he was egged on to do it

Rosemary McCracken was next with a sample of her popular Pat Tierney mysteries, which represent the domestic mystery with elements of thriller tossed in. If you thought investment counselling was all profit and loss, Pat Tierney will show you otherwise.

D. J. McIntosh gave us a taste of her upcoming novel, The Angel of Eden, to be published by Penguin in May. She specializes in antiquity mysteries – similar to Dan Brown (but better written). A complex weaving of the past and present make her books an educating and, at the same time, fun read.

the body in the wardrobe

Finally, facilitator M. H. Callway read from her newly published debut novel, Windigo Fire. http://wp.me/p1RtxU-Wi. Her novel is of the wild out-doors adventure mystery genre. Each of the readers were confident, practiced, and picked the right moments to represent their work – moments that had enough cliff-hanger to make you want to read their books, in M.H.’s case it was literally a cliffhanger.

It’s been sometime since I’ve been to a reading event of this type and was happy to see it attracted a full house of clearly interested & invested mystery readers. Proof, to me, that the physical book is not becoming an antiquity.

This February, Mmes Joan O’Callaghan and M. H. Callway will be representing the Mesdames and their books at West End Studio Theatre’s production of The Mumberley Inheritance. Do join us for a fun evening out at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts!

Here is the blurb from West End Studio: http://www.the-west.ca/

“The traditional melodrama themes are re-worked in a fast paced entertainment romp through the trials and tribulations of Mumberley Manor.  England in 1900 – Brother Jack is in Canada trying to find the secret of the Mumberley fortune – father’s gambling debts are in the hands of villainous Marmaduke Mayhem – so what can poor daughter Daphne do but marry Mayhem, leaving Rodney Stoutheart and his stiff upper lip at the vestry door?  Rodney disguises himself as Jack – returned from Canada – at the same moment as Jack actually returns.  Thus the villain’s attempts to dispose of Jack invariably lead to unfortunate experiences for Rodney.  All ends well once the villain has played his death scene (with encores). 

PS  – Great show to bring children to – there is audience participation booing, hissing and cheering!!”

On February 3rd, Mme Vicki Delany launched the first book in her new cozy series, By Book or By Crook. Set in the Outer Banks of Northern Carolina, in a charming lighthouse library on Bodie Island, our heroine Lucy must recover the priceless first edition of a Jane Austen novel. And solve the murder of the chairman of the library board with the help of her clever cat, Charles Dickens.

Mme Vicki has taken a turn to light side with this her seventeenth novel, writing under the pen name of Eva Gates to distinguish the new series from her police procedurals, Klondike adventure series and gothic thrillers. This is the first of the four – yes, four! – books she will publish this year.

By Book or by Crook, published by Penguin Obsidian, is already getting very positive reviews. It is one of Marian’s Picks in the Sleuth of Baker Street newsletter and Krista Davis, bestselling author of the Domestic Diva Mysteries, praised it in the New York Times, calling Lucy “a delightful and engaging sleuth surrounded by a cast of intriguing characters in an original and unique setting.”

For more reviews and info about the series, do check out the webpage: http://www.lighthouselibrarymysteries.com/

Today Mme Vicki set off on a whirlwind tour of the U.S.A. to promote the series. She will be back in Canada for a reading on Tuesday, February 10th, 7 pm at the Picton Public Library. (Snow date Feb 12th!) For a complete listing of Vicki’s travels, check her website: http://vickidelany.blogspot.ca/

Booked for Trouble, the second book in the Lighthouse Library Series, will be released this coming September.