Exclusive interview with author Elizabeth Bailey and a review of her ‘blue-stocking’ Regency sleuth mystery
Rating: 3 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
“I was about two-thirds into the book when I suddenly realized the murderer I had in mind was not the guilty party,” says The Gilded Shroud author Elizabeth Bailey. “I had to rethink the plot to accommodate the new idea, which at once made complete sense in the context. I think this is an example of characters dictating to the author.”
Set in 1789 Regency London, The Gilded Shroud is a mystery with strong romantic elements. The mystery is the catalyst for the romance. The characters are engaging and the details about everyday life in Georgian England add to the story. The mystery is a bit thin, but the romance in the novel is strong. It will be interesting to see Bailey develop as a mystery author. Bailey has written romance novels for Harlequin Mills and Boon.
Lady Polbrook is found dead in her bed and a gem-encrusted fan that is a family heirloom is missing as is the Marquis, Lord Polbrook. Did Lord Polbrook kill his wife because of her lovers?
Before the scandal can get out and ruin them, Ottilia Draycott, temporary companion, to the Marquis’s mother, the Dowager Lady Polbrook, will help the dowagers second son, Lord Francis Fanshawe, try to save the family from scandal.
Bailey got the story idea about ten years ago. “It was intended for a grand historical series, but the market was not there so I shelved it,” says Bailey. “Funnily enough, my brother had suggested it might work as a detective series instead, so when I decided to take the plunge and do a crime novel, this story was the first one I reached for.”
“I’m already very familiar with the period because my historical romances are set in the same era, so most of my research was into the medical side,” says Bailey. “I needed to know what my sleuth would be able to deduce from the corpse, for example, and how much would have been known in the Georgian period. Policing and what happens in a suspicious death was another area, along with the whole business of detection and what it involves.”
For research, Bailey says she considers books to be more reliable than the Internet. “I already had a set of books for crime writers for general use, so I was able to work with those for most of my needs. I used Thieves’ Kitchen by Donald Low, which is about the underworld and policing.“
Bailey says it’s very exciting to find her book available in such far-flung places as China and Japan, due thanks to the Internet. “I find that amazing. But as a writer, it was extraordinary to discover that writing crime was much the same as writing any other type of story, with the added interest of creating clues and ensuring everything dove-tailed in the end.”
Bailey is currently ghostwriting an autobiography and is about to start writing the third book of Ottilia’s stories. “I’m enjoying writing these books,” says Bailey. “With romance, the story has to be closely concentrated around the central characters, and it’s lovely to have the freedom with crime to create a whole cast of interesting people, both upstairs and down, and have fun interweaving their lives. And having a female sleuth in the Georgian era is great because it turns history on its head at a time when women were still regarded as chattels and intelligence in females was in general neither welcomed nor expected.”
The second Ottilia book will be released in April 2012, It’s titled The Deathly Portent (A Lady Fan Mystery).
Bailey currently resides in Sussex. She was born in Westcliff-on-Sea, a small town in Essex. Her website is www.elizabethbailey.co.uk. “I’m very happy to hear from readers via the website,” says Bailey.
The Gilded Shroud (A Lady Fan Mystery) by Elizabeth Bailey.Paperback, 368 pages, Publisher: Berkley Trade; 1 edition (September 6, 2011). Language: English ISBN: 9780425242896 $15.00
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