Would You Live in a Castle?:

 RHYS BOWEN: My new baby book, THE CASTLE IN THE GLEN,  is now two days old. I’ve had some lovely feedback already including a review that says “Rhys Bowen knocks it out of the park again.” Not bad, huh?

This story centers around a castle on a lake shore on the island of Skye off the West Coast of Scotland.  A young writer is sent there when she agrees to complete the final novel of a very famous writer, now suffering from dementia. But is the fictitious murder really fiction? The more she digs into the story, the more she finds real clues and a family who might do anything to keep her from finding out more.

Atmospheric. Suspenseful. Romantic. These are three adjectives that have described the book by those who have read it.

So the story is about a family who has lived in a grim castle on a remote shore for many generations. This made me think: who would want to live in a place like this? Would the dark, oppressive atmosphere of such a building not shape your outlook on life? 

It's based on a real castle, or actually several real castles that families in Scotland still live in: They are grim and cold and dark and gloomy. this makes me wonder who would want to live there?

On social media I sometimes see some pictures of various houses and am asked which one I would choose (and thus reveal my true personality).  A cottage, a mansion, a lakeshore cabin, a mountain retreat, or a modern home on the sea shore. I find it hard to decide: I love being at the coast, watching the waves and smelling the salt air, but I also sense that coastside living is dangerous with climate change (ever practical as usual). I love the mountains but would I want to find myself snowed in? Avalanches? Lakeside cabin? Again beautiful setting but remote… what about bears and if I needed to get to a hospital emergency room? You see, my true personality is being revealed. Practical. Sensible. So I’d probably choose the cottage because the mansion would be too much to clean and heat. And the cottage would be in an English village which would suit me just fine.

To tell the truth I woud happiy live in my sister-in-law's manor house in Cornwall. Or in any cottage in Cornwall for that matter!

What about you, Reds. Which would you choose? And would you ever live in a real castle like the one on the island of Skye?

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Absolutely no on the castle, Rhys. Ditto mansions. It may be fun to watch those restoration shows where people do up crumbling villas, but I've never had any desire to do that in real life. I am cottage all the way. In an English village, of course, so maybe we could go in together and do a time share!

But I have also always been fascinated by tiny living spaces. I have no idea why, as I live in a fairly big rambling house. My latest obsession is the Kris Atomic YouTube channel, where a couple give up their London life to live on a 70 foot narrowboat. I would do that, in an alternate universe.

RHYS: I'm obsessed with tiny houses. I'd like to see if I could live in one.

LUCY BURDETTE: I’ll do the cottage too, but not as a timeshare–I want to be in the village at the same time as you guys! Debs, when Hayley Snow and her hub were renovating a little houseboat, I had the most fun searching around online, including Pinterest, to find exactly the right features. The litter box was always going to be a problem…

Rhys, the new book is wonderful, but you sure did make that castle sound grim. And ditto for the little writer’s cottage! It was lovely to visit Skye and I am always in awe of your plot twists!

DEBS: Okay, we’ll just buy the whole village!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I have dreams,  and I can describe them completely, about living in a very very modern glass-walled house in the mountains on a lake. (Hey, it’s a dream, and that’s how it is.) I’m not sure what that means, but the house is amazing, so gorgeous, and I could draw every bit of it. Where did it come from? No idea, I have never been anywhere like that. So–talk  about a dream house, there it literally is!

Living on a houseboat or narrowboat? Or in a tiny house?  Yikes, no. Living in the Jungle Red village? In a heartbeat. What would we call it? Redlands?

HALLIE EPHRON: No castles for me, either. I’d be thinking about the house in the Sherlock Holmes story, The Speckled Band. Or more specifically, the snake’s head that descends from its fake bell-pull by the bed. Not a glass-walled house, either, thank you very much. 

But I love taking a “trip” to Rhys’s castle and letting my imagination run wild, just not a sleepover. Writers have fertile imaginations.

JENN McKINLAY: I’ll take the castle! When I traveled in Ireland, we stayed in Ballyseede Castle near Tralee and I loved, loved, loved it. Castle life is definitely for me – so long as it’s fully staffed and I don’t have to pay the bills. Otherwise, move me into a cottage in Redlands forthwith!

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I’ll take the castle as well, Jenn, or an English Country House, and since we’re dreaming, I’m imagining I have SO much money I can pay for all the heating, upkeep, and a small staff consisting of a butler, housekeeper, cook, laundress, gardener, two garden assistants, two maids. I’m not fancy, I don’t need footmen or a chauffeur. 

I feel I’ve read about a group of either friends or relations who bought up a bunch of wonderful old houses in a French village and brought them back to life. Maybe that could be our JRW settlement! Terre Rouge if it’s in France, and if in England or Scotland, Redstow, because -stow (I looked this up!) means a gathering place in Old English!

RHYS: Leave it to Julia to come up with the perfect solution... of course we need staff to take care of the big house. But the idea of a Reds commune sounds so appealing to me. Restow, in the Cotswolds, right?

Or maybe Chateau Rouge and we'll take a floor or a wing each?

It's lovely to dream, isn't it?

But what about you, dear Reddies? What is your dream home? Are you living in it?  I have to say that I'd find it hard to beat my view right now...

Oh, and a request... If you read my new book and enjoy it, please do leave a review on Amazon or Audible. Reviews matter so much . And do let me know too. I love hearing from all of you.

Golden Age Gateway to a Lifetime of Crime Fiction

 

HALLIE EPHRON: Earlier this summer, The New York Times published Sadie Stein's list of her "10 best escapist" mystery novels from the Golden Age (generally the period between the two world wars), capable of getting a reader hooked on the mystery genre.


I was pleased by how many I'd read, but surprised by how many I HADN'T read. Even authors I'd never heard of.

I was expecting the list to include "greats" like Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Josephine Tey, John Dickson Carr, Earl Stanley Gardner... . But I was surprised by some of the authors whose work I've never read.

So, my dears, what do you think of this list? Have you read the books on the list, and what would you add, maybe one that got you started reading crime novels?

Here's Ms. Stein's list…

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
by Agatha Christie (1926)
A mystery featuring her delicious creation, Hercule Poirot, six years after she introduced him to the world in “The Mysterious Affair at Styles” in 1920. Ms. Stein calls it "a master class in red herrings, misdirection and unreliable narration, and it ends with perhaps the greatest twist of all time."

Fer-de-Lance
by Rex Stout (1934)
This is the first novel featuring the massively massive Nero Wolfe with his sidekick (Archie) who channels a Fred Astaire vibe. Wolfe never leaves his office, never mind his chair. Loves orchids and veal cordon bleu, and "gets" women not at all.

The Franchise Affair
by Josephine Tey (1948)
Stein calls this one an "unsettling and acid-tinged nail-biter." In it, an elderly woman and her daughter are accused of kidnapping a teenage orphan, but their defense counsel (Robert Blair) is convinced they are innocent. Based on a real 18th-century case, the novel was and remains as controversial.

The Case of the Lame Canary
by Erle Stanley Gardner (1937)
The 11th novel featuring defense attorney Perry Mason (and published long before the TV show featuring him and the lovely Della Street began), the intrigue begins when a gorgeous broad brings the eponymous injured bird to his office.

The Duke of York’s Steps
by Henry Wade (1929)
In Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Poole's second outing, a banker is found murdered near London’s Duke of York monument. It's known for its great final twist.

Fear Stalks the Village
by Ethel Lina White (1932)
Into an idyllic village comes a series of poison-pen letters. Joan Brook, companion to Lady d’Arcy, receives one. So many suspects, from the vicar to a lady novelist. Paranoia abounds.

The Blank Wall
by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding (1947)
At home in Connecticut while her husband fights in the Pacific, Lucia Holley tries to keep her teenage daughter safe from a creepy older man. Murder and blackmail on the home front, with Mom trying to keep everyone safe.

A Man Lay Dead
by Ngaio Marsh (1934)
A frivolous weekend party at an English country house with games that turn all too real. Enter handsome Roderick “Rory” Alleyn, intent on identifying the killer who planted an antique dagger in a guest’s back.

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club
by Dorothy L. Sayers (1928)
Wealthy amateur detective Lord Peter Wimsey solves another (his fourth) murder. An elderly general is found dead in his armchair at his "club" and his sister is found dead at home. Who inherits? Subtle insights into the fallout from the Great War, even for those most cosseted by British society.

The Tiger in the Smoke
by Margery Allingham (1952)
In gentleman detective Albert Campion's 14th case set in postwar London, his supposedly widowed cousin needs him to investigate whether her husband really died on D-Day.

The Hollow Man
by John Dickson Carr (1935) A great locked-room mystery featuring Dr. Gideon Fell (supposedly modeled on G.K. Chesterton.) A body, three Transylvanian brothers, faked deaths, live burials, and a magician keep the reader juggling clues.

RHYS BOWEN: I am also surprised to see names I never knew about! I have read every Christie, Sayers, Marsh and most Allingham but this is a Josephine Tey I’d never heard of before.

I’m trying to remember which was my first Christie. I think it was The Body in the Library.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I just read The Hollow Man for an article on locked room mysteries I wrote, and whoa, it is….dated. But seminal, so there’s that.

Wade, White, and Holding? NO idea! That’s so perplexing. I thought I was tuned in. I think I’ve read the rest, wait, no, not that particular Allingham, which I have to say is SUCH a good idea. And some of the others sound terrific.

My first Christie was Orient Express, still completely fabulous, and definitely got me hooked on the whole genre, but Ackroyd is the best. Got to agree. And oh, I was in LOVE with Roderick Alleyn. And Peter Wimsey.

LUCY BURDETTE: I believe I’ve only read the first two and wouldn’t want to take a quiz on their contents! My gateway drugs were Nancy Drew and the Bobbsey Twins and the Hardy boys and Cherry Ames.

JENN McKINLAY: I’ve read five – Christie, Tey, Gardner, March and Sayers–but that was decades ago when I worked as a page at my local library in high school and my grandmother was addicted to mysteries so we read everything we could get our hands on by those authors.

I’ve never heard of Wade, White, or Holding, but I am absolutely tracking down a copy of White’s Fear Stalks the Village. It sounds fabulous!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I've read the Christie, the Marsh, the Sayers, the Allingham, and the Tey. I remember that while I loved some of Tey's other books (Brat Farrar!!) I didn't particularly like The Franchise Affair but I could not tell you the plot. Three of the authors, Wade, White, and Holding, I'd never even heard of! I I might have to look up Wade's The Duke of York's Steps! 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: As you may recall, I became a mystery writer after trying my hand at my then-reading favorite, science fiction, so I'm late catching up to the founding fathers and mothers. I'm still much more conversant with SF's Golden Age!

I've dipped in and out of several of these authors, but I clearly have a lot more to go. I'm surprised nothing by Mary Roberts Rinehart is included; she was a major American crime writer from the 'teens through the early forties, and she's credited with the (now old) term, "the butler did it!"

Hallie: So, Readers... what about you? Were there any "Golden Age" mystery writers whose work introduced (and hooked you) on the genre? Whose book would you add to this list??

PARIS IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA airs on Hallmark Plus TODAY!!!

Jenn McKinlay: At long last, the release of the adaptation of my book Paris is Always a Good Idea is here. I wish I could find the words to tell you what this means to me, but I've tried for months and I can't. It's just beyond my comprehension that this actually happened. Last summer there were some rumblings of an option, but those happen all the time so I didn't pay any attention. 

Then in the fall, the rumblings became actual conversations. Promising but only 1% of all books published get optioned and only 1% of all options make it to the screen so, again, I ignored it. Then the option contract came and I signed it. I figured that would be the end of it, but a week later, I was informed that the project had been greenlit. My book was going to be a streaming series for the Hallmark+ channel, starring the Queen of Hallmark, Lacey Chabert.

Yeah, I still didn't believe it. Then a big check landed and I thought: This might actually happen.

After that, things moved very quickly with Zoom meetings with the screenwriters and producer, a set visit in Spain (OMG!), and lots of press--so much press. I've done more interviews for this show than I have for all of my books combined. I don't mind a bit, but I also won't be sad for that portion of things to pass. It was fun, but I'm ready to go hide in my office now. 

ON SET IN BILBOA, SPAIN

Right now, before I watch the actual show, the highlight of this entire experience for me was the set visit to see the magic happen. Spoiler: it is not magic. It is a lot of hard work by very talented, very dedicated people, giving me a new appreciation for every show or film I watch. 

This wasn’t new information for me as I did a one time stint as an extra on a TV pilot (Moloney back in 1996). We were on set from 6 AM to 11 PM, and it was so incredibly boring (remember this is before cell phones so there was nothing, and I mean nothing, to do). If ever you watch it, I am in the police station scene, sitting at a desk when Peter Strauss walks by, eating pasta out of a plastic container. We did that scene so many times that the words “back to one” still make me a little stabby.

I had forgotten all of this when I went to visit the set. As I watched the super talented Rebecca Hanssen (of Baldur’s Gate and Witcher fame) do her scene over and over with the same dedication and presence, I wasn’t bored at all but rather incredibly impressed with her and every member of the cast and crew working to make what would be 30 seconds of the show the best it could be, especially given the stretch of cold rainy weather they were dealing with. It was so inspiring and, yes, it looked more fun than the revisions and edits I do all alone with a bag of Hersey kisses and a bottomless pot of coffee riding shotgun.

Amazingly, the set for Paris is Always a Good Idea during this filming stretch was in a castle outside of Bilbao, Spain. A castle, y’all! Full disclosure, I wavered about taking this trip because my cat was critically ill, it’s thirteen hours of flying (one way) to Madrid, and I’d have to rent a car and drive or fly again to get to Bilbao in northern Spain. But I kept thinking…if not now, when?

There’s no guarantee that another book of mine will ever be picked up for film. The social media messages I’d exchanged with the cast and the meetings I’d had with the screenwriter and the producer were all so positive that I was able to let go of my Imposter Syndrome (mostly). I hired my Hooligans — one as translator (he’s bilingual) and the other as navigator and photographer (he’s a film school grad) and off we went.

After touring castle Torre Loizaga with the charming owner Patricio and chatting with various crew, I met the delightful director Ed Bazalgette. As a creative who exists in her own bubble, it was quite a moment for me to have Ed express what he loved about the story, the characters, and the book’s messages about grief, love, and choosing happiness. Actresses Lacey Chabert and Barbara Niven also took the time to tell me how much they enjoyed playing their characters and loved the depth of the story. Lacey and I did several interviews and I can testify that, yes, she is the nicest actress in Hollywood. There’s just no way to express how these fellow creatives made me feel seen and understood in ways I never have before. Wow, just wow.

You see, at the time I wrote it, Paris is Always a Good Idea was the book of my heart, coming from a place of grief and loss. Because it was released five months into the pandemic, I never felt like it got the shot it deserved to reach its widest audience. The cast and crew don’t know it, but their kindness and enthusiasm for the story—from the point of view of creative professionals—healed a lot of wounds for me as I realized that this adaptation, the same but also different from the book, would allow my story to reach the audience I’d always hoped it would find. Those moments made the entire trip one hundred percent worth it.

I suppose the takeaway here is to live by the age old advice…order the dessert, buy the shoes, take the trip because…if not now, when? 

And today I'm looking forward to watching the adaptation and seeing my story be told through the eyes of other story tellers. From the scripts I've read and the clips I've seen, they've done an amazing job and I am delighted and so very grateful. Here's to dreams coming true!

What about you, Reds and Readers, how do you feel about book to film/tv adaptations? Do any stand out as particularly good or bad?