Death at High Tide by Hannah Dennison

Jenn McKinlay: I am absolutely thrilled to have one of my very favorite wine drinking pals, um, writing mates visiting all the way from the gorgeous Devon countryside to celebrate her latest release DEATH AT HIGH TIDE. Hannah and I have been friends for many years and many series now, and I am always pleased to see her even if it’s mostly on Facetime these days when we do one of our marathon catchups. Hi, Hannah! Welcome to the blog!

Available Now!

Hannah Dennison: Thanks so much for inviting me to Jungle Red Writers today. I have been a guest on this amazing blog a few times now and I feel very honored to have been invited back!

Eighteen months ago my domestic situation changed in a way that I could never have imagined. After twenty-five years of living in California followed by a short stint in Oregon, I found myself moving back home with my two Hungarian Vizslas, for good.  

My daughter picked me up at Heathrow airport and drove the two hundred miles to a tiny hamlet in south Devon where my sister Lesley was waiting in what would become my new home—a beautiful barn conversion that she had found for me to rent—along with a bottle of celebratory champagne. 

Although we’d been super close growing up, Lesley and I had drifted apart as the years passed, especially after my move overseas. As the oldest, I used to be the bossy one but I discovered that it was Lesley now who ruled the proverbial roost. As my mother, (a feisty ninety-year-old), said, “Your sister holds the rolling pin.”  

Lesley is a force of nature and has to be one of the most optimistic people I know. As a single mother of three grown-up sons, her life hadn’t been easy. She’s been an Avon rep, Brown Owl for the local Brownie pack and was a Weightwatchers lecturer for two decades. These days she works as an estate manager for a country house that was the location for the recent remake of My Cousin Rachel that starred Rachel Weisz. 

A relationship with a sister is like no other. Who else can I belt out songs from Queen, Genesis and David Bowie with or drive our mother to distraction with our signature—and disgusting—Hot Snot Bogey Pie schoolyard rhyme?

Sisterhood can be both wonderful and challenging. I find that being labeled Eeyore to her Tigger is still extremely irritating. “That was fifty years ago,” I’d grumble, sounding very Eeyore-like. If I were any character in the Pooh stories it would have to be Kanga. 

That’s the thing about sisters. They have a knack of telling it like it is. They also have an amazing ability to recall embarrassing moments that we’d much rather forget. But it was Lesley who insisted that I’d always wanted to be a writer—something I hotly denied. 

But six weeks ago, whilst going through old photo albums and storage boxes my sister presented me with a few handwritten pages with the words First Draft scrawled in pencil. “You see,” she said triumphantly. “You always wanted to be a writer.”

This First Draft was a murder-mystery story about two sisters, “one scatterbrained and one practical” that find a dead gamekeeper in the forest. I must have been twelve when I wrote it and even though it was, literally, just a first draft I was surprised that I had actually plotted the whole story out with bullet points. I honestly couldn’t remember writing it. Of course after that first rush of excitement Lesley presented me with another envelope. “Oh, and here’s that rejection letter from Woman’s Own magazine.” And it was at that moment I knew why I’d buried my writing dream. 

It concerned a love story that my twelve-year old innocent self (who had never been kissed) had sent off to a woman’s magazine. The return of my short story with NO, written in big red letters across the generic buck slip promptly stopped me picking up my pen again for a very long time.

Hannah and Leslie in a helicopter on a research trip 

So it seems fitting that my new series is about those two sisters but Death at High Tide was already in production when we found First Draft in that storage box. It must have been percolating in my sub-conscious for decades. In Death at High Tide there is no gamekeeper in the forest but there is plenty of murder. But most of all it’s about sisterhood. 

There is a saying, “Sisters by blood, best friends by choice,” and to that I shout Amen!

What about you, Reds and Readers, any sister stories out there to share?  

What's being said: 
"Winning...Two murders and a high tide cutting off the police heighten the suspense. Intriguing characters and an intricate plot lift this twist on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. Cozy fans will look forward to further skullduggery on Tregarrick." ―Publishers Weekly

"Thrilling....Vividly described setting, effective plot twists, and a strong portrayal of sisterly love distinguish this 'locked island' mystery." ―Booklist

DEATH AT HIGH TIDE released on Aug 18th! 

Death at High Tide is the delightful first installment in the Island Sisters series by Hannah Dennison, featuring two sisters who inherit an old hotel in the remote Isles of Scilly off the coast of Cornwall and find it full of intrigue, danger, and romance.

When Evie Mead’s husband, Robert, suddenly drops dead of a heart attack, a mysterious note is found among his possessions. It indicates that Evie may own the rights to an old hotel on Tregarrick Rock, one of the Isles of Scilly. 

Still grieving, Evie is inclined to leave the matter to the accountant to sort out. Her sister Margot, however, flown in from her glamorous career in LA, has other plans. Envisioning a luxurious weekend getaway, she goes right ahead and buys two tickets—one way—to Tregarrick.

Once at the hotel—used in its heyday to house detective novelists, and more fixer-upper than spa resort, after all—Evie and Margot attempt to get to the bottom of things. But the foul-tempered hotel owner claims he's never met the late Robert, even after Evie finds framed photos of them—alongside Robert's first wife—in his office. The rest of the island inhabitants, ranging from an ex-con receptionist to a vicar who communicates with cats, aren't any easier to read.

But when a murder occurs at the hotel, and then another soon follows, frustration turns to desperation. There’s no getting off the island at high tide. And Evie and Margot, the only current visitors to Tregarrick, are suspects one and two. It falls to them to unravel secrets spanning generations—and several of their own—if they want to make it back alive.

Most Anticipated Spring Reads

Jenn McKinlay: I am an eclectic reader, meaning I read everything. There is no genre I won't read. So, while looking at my most anticipated reads for spring, I was unsurprised to see a nice mix of genre there. Show of hands, who reads ALL the genres?

Because I like to share (librarian), here's my short list -- in no particular order -- of my most anticipated spring reads. Believe me, the actual list is much, much, much longer!

I discovered Abby Jimenez when she was a Food Network champ of Cupcake Wars - no, not kidding. She co-owns Nadia Cakes and since I write the Cupcake Bakery mysteries, I was an instant fan. Imagine my delight when she published her first book, The Friend Zone, and it was EXCELLENT! Naturally, I've been waiting for book two and was thrilled when she endorsed my upcoming summer book and then sent me an ARC of The Happy Ever After Playlist, which I just finished and let me just say -- it is FANTASTIC!

One of the cozy mysteries I have been most eager for is Death at High Tide, the start of a new series by my dear friend Hannah Dennison. If you love a good British mystery with delightful wit and a divine setting, Hannah's your writer! The series is about two sisters who inadvertently inherit a crumbling Art Deco hotel on a fictional tidal islet called Tregarrick Rock in the Isles of Scilly. Perfect, right? I've just started it and am loving it! 

Freakin' Scalzi. I straight up love this guy. Smart and funny, he's a writer's writer. Plus his Twitter feed features his cat Smudge, so we were simpatico even before I found this series, which I love. The Last Emperox is book three of the of The Interdependency Trilogy, and I am here for it. Not for nothing, but Scalzi pens a heck of a heroine and this space opera is a supercharged rocket of a ride. Strap in!

Lori Wilde has been a friend and mentor to me for years. When we met up at Bouchercon in Dallas, we had a lot to share as we'd both been moved into women's fiction by our publishers. I have been anticipating The Moonglow Sisters ever since. Three sisters raised by their grandmother, inseparable until a betrayal cuts their close ties. How will it play out for Maddie, Shelley, and Gia? No one writes better complicated family dynamics with warmth and wit than Lori. Her book arrived on my doorstep yesterday and I can't wait to dig in!

Okay, there's anticipation, and then there's ANTICIPATION! No eager-to-read-list would be complete without mentioning our Julia. At long last, number nine in her series drops this spring and I am over the moon.

I have loved Claire Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne from book one and I can't wait to have them back in my life. Seriously, I am clearing my calendar and booking a long reading sesh with Hid From Our Eyes on it's release day, April 7th, and I suggest you do the same!

So, tell me, Reds and Readers, what are your most anticipated books this spring? And do you read all genres or no?

Hannah Dennison's Deadly Desires in the English Counryside

RHYS: I am so delighted to welcome fellow Brit Hannah Dennison today as I am currently living the life she writes about in her wonderful Honeychurch Hall mystery novels. The beauties and quirks of the English countryside, and to be more specific, the West Country.  Hannah has a new Honeychurch Hall mystery out and will be giving away two copies, so read on:

 

HANNAH DENNISON: “O To Be in England.  Now that April’s here.” Well … it’s actually May, but I think Robert Browning’s “Home Thoughts From Abroad” sums up my feelings perfectly.

After twenty-two years as an ex-pat, I find I’ve become more English rather than less. Perhaps that’s because both my mystery series—The Vicky Hill Mysteries and The Honeychurch Hall Mysteries—are set in Devon. So you could say that physically, although I pen my novels in Oregon where I now live, mentally, I’m always in England.

I’ve never lived in London. In fact, the first taste I had of life in the big city was when I moved Los Angeles way back in 1993. It was a culture shock of such magnitude—rather like my first earthquake—that it needs a post all of it’s own. In a way, writing about England helps cure my acute homesickness especially as I discovered wonderful Anglophiles eager to hear about the charming—and often strange—customs and quirky oddities that we like to think make Britain great and that I often take for granted.

It’s not just the cream teas we Brits are famous for, but also the village flower shows, amateur dramatic performances in freezing cold parish halls, church fetes or the odd Morris dancing festival or two. These things you just won’t find in London. So I thought I’d share a few photos from last summer’s Diptford Garden Show in Devon. Competition was fierce, feelings ran high, lamas ran rampant and feathers were definitely ruffled.

 

 

The charming thing about village life is that in some places milk is still delivered to the front door. My mother lives on a country estate where “Malcolm the Meat” comes on Mondays and “Fred the Fish” on Fridays. Walk through any village and you’ll come across empty jam jars full of freshly cut flowers or punnets of raspberries or tomatoes alongside a little honesty box. That would never happen in Los Angeles!

RHYS: I should add that when it was suggested that Hannah's mother's house was maybe too much for her and she should look for another, simpler place to live, instead she went and bought a wing of a stately home!

 

HANNAH:

I feel lucky to be able to write about a place I love so much. In fact, we’re giving away two copies of “Deadly Desires at Honeychurch Hall” in a free raffle so you can read about it too.

 

 

 RHYS:All you need to do is to visit Hannah's website, www.hannahdennison.com, and find out in which English county Honeychurch Hall is set, then leave a comment guessing the correct location Your location options are: Shropshire, Kent, Devon, Cumbria or Surrey. Hannah will select two winners at the end of the day. And if you want a vicarious trip to England, then just read her books!

 HANNAH: Rhys, thanks so much again for hosting me on Jungle Red, one of my absolute favorite blogs.

 

 

Rhys chats with Hannah Dennison

RHYS BOWEN: Hannah Dennison is one of my favorite people in the universe so when I knew she had a new book coming out, I had to snag her for my Jungle Red week. She writes with that wonderful understated British wit about a British countryside we all long to visit. Her new book, HONEYCHURCH HALL is coming out on May 13th and I urge you all to rush to your pre-order buttons. You're in for a fun, delightful treat.
And I am delighted to have Hannah here today:

Rhys: Honeychurch Hall is a new departure for you—where did the inspiration come

from? I get a distinct Downton Abbey feel—are you a big fan?

Hannah: I was inspired by my mother’s rash purchase of a wing in a country house in Devon at age 76. When most widows of her advanced years would be heading off to a retirement village, Mum decided that at last she had the freedom to do what she jolly well wanted and there was nothing any of us could do to stop her! She completely reinvented her life and now, at 85, is in robust health, working as a docent at Greenway (Agatha Christie’s summer home) and has never been happier. As for Downton Abbey, who does not love that show! The chance to weave in a contemporary upstairs-downstairs take with “Murder at Honeychurch Hall” was the icing on the cake.

Rhys: Your heroine is an antiques expert—how about you? Do you collect antiques? Do you own antique stuffed mice?

Hannah: Following my stint as an obituary writer chronicled in my other series – The Vicky Hill Mysteries – I went to work for Leonard Lassalle, an antique dealer who ran a beautiful shop in The Pantiles in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent. I absolutely loved that job. He was French and specialized in 17^th century English and European furniture, paintings, Delft pottery and treen. Leonard taught me a lot but not about antique toys in which he had no interest at all. In fact, up until I was introduced to the Merrythought Jerry mice by accident (that ended up providing a key clue in the first Honeychurch Hall mystery), I’d never heard of them! On doing some research I subsequently discovered that the Merrythought toy factory in Ironbridge, Shropshire, England produced them in the 1960s and 1970s. The company—eighty years on and still family owned—were licensed to make the MGM Jerry mouse from the Tom and Jerry Show. And honestly, they are really cute and yes, I own two.

Rhys: Your books are set in the English countryside—does this England still exist or are you attempting to recreate the England of your childhood/nostalgia or fantasy?

Hannah: I wish the England of my childhood did still exist but it doesn’t. Having the opportunity to recreate my memory warms my heart. Honeychurch Hall itself is based on two privately owned residences in Devon—my mother’s home near Totnes and Hillersdon House in Cullompton which is currently being restored—literally—to it’s former glory. Mike Lloyd, my friend and the new owner, has unearthed the original plans dating from the mid-seventeen hundreds and he’s following them to the letter—putting back the lakes, introducing deer, and sprucing up the grotto and stumpery.  The ghosts that make an occasional appearance in Honeychurch Hall are all based on those drifting around Hillersdon House.

Rhys: The mother—what a fun and awful character. Where did she come from?

Hannah: Iris Stanford is a mixture of my own lovely Mum (the good bits), an eccentric old spinster who lived in the village where I was born, and myself! Of course, my mother is not a romance writer of steamy bodice-rippers. In fact I have you to thank for suggesting that Iris have that secret, Rhys! I’ve had a lot of fun writing “excerpts” under Iris’s pseudonym of Krystalle Storm.  And if you ask if I share any similarities with my protagonist, the TV celebrity Kat Stanford, I would say a definite no. She’s far too sensible and if anything, reminds me of my own daughter.

Rhys: You now live in the US. What do you miss most about England? What do you do when you go back?  (I have to have cream teas/Cornish pasties/fish and chips and go to friendly local pubs)

Hannah: I miss everything except London and the big cities. I’m still a country girl at heart. I miss the sound of blackbirds singing on a summer’s evening, walking the coastal paths of the West Country, the taste of real Devonshire clotted cream—not the stuff in a jar; Mum’s Sunday Roast Beef and Yorkshire puddings, but most of all the sense of history that exudes from centuries old castles and forests where four hundred year-old oak trees still stand. Most of all, I miss my family but America has been very good to me. It’s where I first got published and where I found true love after years of searching in a barren wasteland of broken dreams … oh sorry … Krystalle Storm just popped out …

RHYS: Thank you, Hannah. And good luck with the new series!

Hannah will be giving away a copy of Honeychurch Hall so make sure you comment today. 

Thanks for inviting me today!

 

Murder at Honeychurch Hall will be published May 13, 2014 (Minotaur)

http://www.hannahdennison.com

 https://www.facebook.com/VickyHillMysteries

 

Oh, to be in England

RHYS: One of the things I miss most about England is its timeless quaintness. As an ex-pat one notices the weird and wonderful quirks of Britishness more than those who live there all the time.

One of the other panelists on my cozy mystery panel last Sunday was Hannah Dennison and she feels that same nostalgia for the silliness of England. Hannah writes the Vicky Hill mysteries set in the fictitious English country village of Gipping on Plym. Vicky is a reporter, supposedly stuck with writing obituaries, but each of the books features one of those quaint and anachronistic pastimes that still abound in the English countryside.

I thought of Hannah last week when I read an article in an English newspaper about the last surviving Mud Sled Fisherman. Okay, so picture this—a long wooden sled on which the fisherman lies, propelling himself over the mud by his feet until he reaches the ocean. He then attaches nets to little posts and strings them along the water’s edge, in the hope of trapping shrimp in them. Several hours later he will propel himself back out to the nets to see what he has caught. As an efficient, twenty-first century method of conducting a business, I think we can all pretty much see that this is sadly lacking. The man’s sons have expressed no interest in following him into the business—a fact that he understands but laments. And so the craft will die with him. In future the shrimp of the Bristol Channel will have to wait to be sucked up by giant Russian factory ships, along with everything else that swims, crawls or lies in the ocean.

Fortunately not all crazy pastimes are dying in England. In fact some are thriving as Hannah has found out when she researches her books. Snail racing is still going great guns, for one thing. As is stuffing a ferret down your trousers and seeing who is man enough to endure it longest. In East Anglia, that flat area of dykes, and waterways, there is the sport of ditch jumping. The participants run at a dyke, plant a pole and vault across. If they don’t make it, they get wet and muddy.

But that is marginally better than the sport of hedge jumping, which Hannah featured in her first Vicky Hill novel. Competitors leap over all kinds of hedges ranging from privet (easy) to hawthorn (spiky). She met one man who preferred to fling himself over backward in what he called “The Crucifixion Position.”
There was an attempt at synchronized hedge jumping but it proved too destructive to hedges. And I promise I’m not making this up.

Various villages have all kinds of races. The egg and spoon race is fairly normal, as is the pancake race on Shrove Tuesday. But most dangerous so far is the tar barrel racing in which competitors sprint through the village holding aloft in one hand a barrel of burning tar and hoping that they don’t spill it all over themselves.

So you see why I love writing about the UK, even if I choose to live in the US. I prefer a life style in which things run smoothly and efficiently but sometimes I wish that the city of Phoenix Arizona would conduct the occasional snail race….

Kate Carlisle and the State of the Cozy

I've got good news for many of our Jungle Red devotees--the cozy is alive and well. Flourishing, in fact. I got proof of this the other day at Poisoned Pen bookstore in Scottsdale AZ where I moderated a panel of three fabulous cozy writers: Kate Carlisle, Hannah Dennison and Jen McKinlay.

And we had an audience of over 50 on a glorious sunny Sunday afternoon. The three women had three things in common: they write cozies, they are all attractive AND they are funny.

One of the questions I asked the writers was about the term "cozy" and how they felt about being dubbed "cozy writers." Kate was the first to respond. She said, "I also write romances and they are so looked down upon that anything else is a step up." This was typical of her dry, self deprecating humor.

So I had to spend more time over a cup of tea with her and conduct a little interview.

RHYS: Tell me how you came to be a writer

KATE: I used to tell outlandish stories as a child, as a result of which I was sent to be educated by the nuns. But I've come to writing after twenty years in TV.

RHYS: TV? How glamorous. Were you writing for Law and Order?

KATE: Actually I was an assistant on the Gong Show, performing strange and silly stunts. I was also sent all over the world as a chaperon on The Dating Game.

RHYS: Lots of good material for future murder mysteries there, I suspect. So what made you decide to leave the glamor of the Gong Show and write books?

KATE: I tried toiling in a vinyard, selling fried chicken, joining a commune, modeling clothes, but it was when I spent a year in law school that I finally thought about killing my professors.

RHYS: Tell us about your mystery series.

KATE: My heroine is Brooklyn Wainwright, a restorer of rare books in San Francisco, which I chose because it's a city I love and I now get to go there for research. The latest book is called The Lies that Bind and this time Brooklyn's boyfriend seems to be involved in the murder she is solving.

RHYS: Are you a restorer of rare books yourself?

KATE: I am. It's one of my interests, but I'm not as expert as Brooklyn.

RHYS: All three of the Bibliophile mysteries have appeared on the New York Times extended bestseller list, and you've also won a Golden Heart and a Daphne du Maurier award so you've risen to the top very quickly.

KATE: If you think I'm an overnight success, then read the real story on my website, http://www.katecarlisle.com/. I talk about my struggles with bad hair and an overactive imagination.

RHYS: Yes, do read it, it is hilarious and gives you some idea why this lady's mysteries have become popular so quickly. And Kate's romances are also flourishing. Since her next Brooklyn book will have to do with a rare copy of the Karma Sutra, we suspect that Kate is meticulous in her research for those books too.

But back to Cozies. I have a problem with the name myself, especially when it is stretched to include all non-violent, non-noir mysteries. Under the terminology Julia and Deborah write cozies. My historical mysteries are classed as cozy (of course Georgie is, but Molly?) So all you cozy writers out there--do you think the label makes us the Rodney Dangerfield of mystery writing? Do you mind being thus labeled? Can you come up with a better term?

Getting the Scoop from Hannah Dennison

Rhys: Today I’m delighted to welcome my good friend and fellow Brit Hannah Dennison to JRW. Hannah is the author of the Vicky Hill Mysteries featuring an obituary reporter desperate for a front-page scoop. Hannah began her writing career doing just that—writing obits for the local newspaper deep in the English countryside. Eager to live a more “adventurous life”, she spent a decade working as a flight attendant on private jets before moving to Los Angeles as a single mother with her daughter and two cats. After several years as a story analyst in the entertainment industry, Hannah switched to long form narrative and enrolled in the UCLA Writer’s Program. Her third book, Expose! (Berkley Prime Crime/Penguin USA), is out this month.

Rhys:: It's great fun to have a fellow Brit on Jungle Red. Tell me how you came to wind up in California like me.

I’ve lived in Los Angeles for 16 years now but it was the one place in the entire world, I never wanted to be. One Friday night, after a particularly brutal week—I lost my job, my home and also ended an unsatisfactory relationship (revenge to come in a future book)—I was drowning my sorrows with a bottle of red wine and wondering who I could call at midnight to share my pain. It just so happened that during a recent vacation to Disneyland, I’d been casually introduced to a certain Melissa in HR (who was later fired, but hopefully not because of me), at New Line Cinema who had gaily said, “You should come and work for us!” Fortified by wine and remembering it was 4 pm in Los Angeles, I did a “drink and dial.” Recalling our conversation in the cold light of day I realized I’d agreed to take a receptionist position in Hollywood and start “On Monday.” To cut a long story short, I emigrated 3 weeks later, miraculously armed with a J1 Trainee visa (I still have no idea how I qualified) and ultimately got my green card thanks to my knowledge of Pitman Shorthand—a defunct form of speedwriting.

Rhys: So you've made the choice to live in California and yet your books are set in a charming English village. Is this nostalgia for the old country or do you just think murders are more fun in England?



It’s a mixture of both. I’ve never lived in a city. I’m a country girl at heart (which is why Los Angeles is such a strange place for me). I grew up in a small village where the shenanigans of country living make Hollywood celebrity scandals dull in comparison. For the Vicky Hill mysteries it was a case of “write what you know” but it also gave me the chance to exploit the eccentricities of my fellow countrymen. Everyone knows the British are mad as hatters so perhaps that’s why I can get away with unusual backdrops and quirky murder scenarios.

Me: We met Vicky Hill, budding journalist stuck in the obituaries but looking for a big break in Scoop! Now she has a new adventure out this month. Can you tell us about it?

Vicky fantasizes about being the next Christiane Amanpour of CNN fame but she’s more like Lucy Ricardo. Her adventures have found her dealing with hedge jumping in A VICKY HILL EXCLUSIVE!—no, it is not an Olympic sport—and hedgelaying in SCOOP! Feel free to google the National Hedgelaying Society for more information. In EXPOSE! Vicky is determined to solve the mystery surrounding a dead local celebrity during snail racing season—my friend’s ancestors lost their entire family fortune on snail racing in the late nineteenth century.

Rhys: So what's next for Hannah Dennison and Vicky Hill?

I am currently writing THIEVES!, the fourth Vicky Hill which features Morris dancing. Hopefully the series will continue since poor Vicky’s worst nightmare is dying a virgin. It would be such a tragedy if she were to end her life, literally, on the shelf.

I’m also working on an idea for another series that is set in the world of executive flying—writing what I know!

Rhys: What do you miss most about England? For me it's that sense of continuity, that feeling that everything has been there for ages and will continue in the same way. The pubs. Sitting outside with a Pimms on summer evenings--oh, now I'm getting too nostalgic. Over to you.

Top of my list is the English countryside, walking in the woods, tramping through muddy fields and visiting Stately Homes—as you say, it’s that sense of continuity. I listen to a tape of English songbirds when I write—which confuses my cat. I still subscribe to Country Life and Devon Life. I absolutely adore our Queen. However, I definitely don’t miss the weather.
But, America has been very good to me. I got published—and I met and married my soul-mate. I’d never have imagined in a million years that I’d be happy here. My mum was right when she said you just never know what’s around the corner.

Rhys: Expose will be in stores this week. Makes a great stocking stuffer, hint hint.