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HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: You certainly know Deanna Raybourn—right? The brilliantly talented
(and truly gorgeous, not that it matters, but just saying) author of the Lady Julia Grey mysteries, and creator of Veronica Speedwell, the perfectly-named butterfly-seeking Victorian adventuress. And now: an EDGAR nominee!Oh, we are thrilled to have her here today,
beyond thrilled, but we are fretting that we are not well enough prepared. We are..aflutter.
Are
there sufficient raspberry jam sandwiches? Tea and scones and clotted cream?
Our pet falcons have disappeared to where ever falcons go, and the silly
footman has run off with, I fear, the
ladies maid for the visiting Forrestieres, a mysterious family (so they say) the
group has not quite yet decided to embrace. And my velvet cloak is in dire need
of a brushing, and wherever are those pink satin slippers?
I
faint, lugubrious and vexed, on my tufted chaise longue. Perhaps I can bear it if I read. And I know precisely
who and what book will certainly save the day. As always.
DEANNA RAYBOURN: Victorian sleuth Veronica Speedwell is back! A DANGEROUS
COLLABORATION is the fourth adventure for our intrepid butterfly hunter and
amateur detective, and I am so delighted to have the chance to write a series
character as complex and unexpected as Veronica.
But
keeping a series fresh and interesting can be a challenge. The world is already
built; the characters are established. So where do you begin when it’s time to
embark on a new journey?
For
me, the easiest and most enjoyable way to start is to think about what books I
have most enjoyed reading. Mysteries are the first books I remember loving. I
picked up my magnifying glass with Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew.
By the time I
was ten, I had moved on to Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, and I even
wanted my romantic stories to have a puzzle.
I cut my teeth on Gothic romances,
and Victoria Holt was my absolute favorite. Her later books featured more
far-flung settings, but her earliest novels were set in England--several in the
wilds of coastal Cornwall. From THE BRIDE OF PENDORRIC to MENFREYA IN THE
MORNING, Holt made exquisite use of one of England’s most intriguing counties.
With
its rich history and gorgeous landscape, Cornwall is the perfect choice for a
setting. Legends abound—from King Arthur to pixies and mermaids—and stories of
wreckers and smugglers are handed down through the generations. I had a snippet
of an idea about a story featuring a bride gone missing on her wedding day and
a house thick with memories and shadows, a true du Maurier atmosphere to pay
homage to REBECCA, one of my most beloved novels.
A
stately home in Cornwall suggests Manderley, but it also evokes St. Michael’s
Mount, the elegant centerpiece of an island cut off from the mainland when the
tide is high. But I decided to go one better and make my stately home a castle,
one rising from the sea mists on its island perch.
To
thicken the mystery, I gave it a poison garden like the one at Alnwick Castle,
inspired by the Medici in their deadly Florentine groves. Some years ago, I
bought a trio of books written by the Duchess of Northumberland, the chatelaine
of Alnwick and the founder of its legendary poison garden. They were full of
recipes of natural remedies and warnings about dangerous plants—the very plants
I wanted in this novel. Because Veronica is a lepidopterist, I filled my garden
with elusive glasswing butterflies, so named because their wings are
transparent, a gorgeous lure for a butterfly hunter in search of rare specimens
to breed.
To
immerse myself in the mood of my fictional castle, I followed Alnwick Castle
and St. Michael’s Mount on Instagram. I read Daphne du Maurier’s ENCHANTED
CORNWALL and WE BOUGHT AN ISLAND, a curious memoir written by two sisters who
purchased a Cornish island on a whim. (Who wouldn’t?)
Together,
all these little pieces of books I have loved—travel memoirs, poison guides,
Gothic novels, natural history texts on butterflies and gardens—have been
assembled into a new setting, something unique to A DANGEROUS COLLABORATION,
full of secrets and deeply atmospheric, the perfect spot for Veronica’s latest
foray into investigation.
By
their very nature—remote, secluded—islands are the most romantic and mysterious
of settings. If you could have an island home of your own, anywhere in the
world, where would it be?
HANK:
Oh, darling Deanna, it would not matter where, as long as you and Veronica were
there with me!
Reds
and readers, would you love an island of your own? Where--and when? Now, or in
Veronica’s time?
A
bride mysteriously disappears on her wedding day in the newest Veronica
Speedwell adventure by the New York Times bestselling author of the
Lady Julia Grey series.
Lured by the promise of a rare and elusive butterfly, the intrepid Veronica Speedwell is persuaded by Lord Templeton-Vane, the brother of her colleague Stoker, to pose as his fiancée at a house party on a Cornish isle owned by his oldest friend, Malcolm Romilly.
But Veronica soon learns that one question hangs over the party: What happened to Rosamund? Three years ago, Malcolm Romilly’s bride vanished on their wedding day, and no trace of her has ever been found. Now those who were closest to her have gathered, each a possible suspect in her disappearance.
From the poison garden kept by Malcolm’s sister to the high towers of the family castle, the island’s atmosphere is full of shadows, and danger lurks around every corner.
Determined to discover Rosamund’s fate, Veronica and Stoker match wits with a murderer who has already struck once and will not hesitate to kill again.…
Lured by the promise of a rare and elusive butterfly, the intrepid Veronica Speedwell is persuaded by Lord Templeton-Vane, the brother of her colleague Stoker, to pose as his fiancée at a house party on a Cornish isle owned by his oldest friend, Malcolm Romilly.
But Veronica soon learns that one question hangs over the party: What happened to Rosamund? Three years ago, Malcolm Romilly’s bride vanished on their wedding day, and no trace of her has ever been found. Now those who were closest to her have gathered, each a possible suspect in her disappearance.
From the poison garden kept by Malcolm’s sister to the high towers of the family castle, the island’s atmosphere is full of shadows, and danger lurks around every corner.
Determined to discover Rosamund’s fate, Veronica and Stoker match wits with a murderer who has already struck once and will not hesitate to kill again.…
New York Times and USA Today bestselling
novelist Deanna Raybourn is a 6th-generation native Texan. She graduated with a
double major in English and history from the University of Texas at San
Antonio. Married to her college sweetheart and the mother of one, Raybourn
makes her home in Virginia. Her novels have been nominated for numerous awards
including five RITAs, two RT Reviewers’ Choice awards, the Agatha, two Dilys
Winns, a Last Laugh, and three du Mauriers. Her Lady Julia Grey novels are
currently in development as a television series in the UK and she launched a
new Victorian mystery series with the 2015 release of A CURIOUS BEGINNING,
featuring intrepid butterfly-hunter and amateur sleuth, Veronica Speedwell.
Veronica’s most recent adventure is A PERILOUS UNDERTAKING (January 2017), and
book three, A TREACHEROUS CURSE, was published in January 2018. Further books
in the Veronica Speedwell series are contracted through 2020.
You can find her her social media links, blog, contests, and upcoming appearances at deannaraybourn.com.
You can find her her social media links, blog, contests, and upcoming appearances at deannaraybourn.com.
