GARDEN OF LAMENTATIONS is out today!

A huge congratulations to Jungle Red's own Deborah Crombie!  Today marks the release of the 17th (!!) installment in her critically acclaimed Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James series.  I had the pleasure of reading the book, and it's fantastic.  Readers old and new will not be disappointed; as the Minneapolis Star Tribune says "betrayal, sacrifice, and forgiveness.  It's all here."

The Reds posed some questions to Deb, but first, here's a brief synopsis to get you up to speed:

On a beautiful morning in mid-May, the body of a young woman is found in one of Notting Hill’s private gardens. To passersby, the pretty girl in the white dress looks as if she’s sleeping. But Reagan Keating has been murdered, and the lead detective turns to Gemma James for help. Gemma has a personal connection to the case: Reagan was the nanny of a child who attends the same dance studio as Toby, Gemma and Kincaid’s son.

Gemma soon discovers that Reagan's death is not the first tragedy in the exclusive London park, and when still another of the garden's residents meets with violence, it becomes clear that there are more sinister forces at play.

While his wife is consumed with her new case, Kincaid finds himself plagued by disturbing questions about several previous—and seemingly unrelated—cases involving members of the force. If his suspicions are correct and the crimes are linked, are his family and friends in mortal danger as well? Kincaid’s hunch turns to certainty when a Metropolitan Police officer close to him is brutally attacked. There’s a traitor in the ranks, and now Kincaid wonders if he can trust anyone.

As Gemma begins to see a solution to her case, she realizes she holds a child’s fate in her hands. Can she do the right thing? And can Kincaid rely on his friends, both inside and outside the Yard, to stand beside him as he faces the deadliest challenge of his career?

On to the questions!

HALLIE EPHRON: Debs, this one grabbed me by the throat, really. Your characters are real and sympathetic, so much so that when they're in danger I really feel for them. This book is really complex. It's got (at least!) three separate plots swirling around one another, all of them exploring trust. Do you write them separately or alternate, the way it lays out in the novel? And do they all come to you at once?

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Hallie, this book gave me a headache, I have to say. (A long headache!) I started out with a very rough idea, then did my usual outline/story-boarding. I eventually ended up outlining three separate timelines because I had to make sure that all the pieces of the puzzle fit together in the right order. The actual writing I did pretty much in the sequence it appears in the book. And of course things changed from the outline a good bit along the way. For instance, I had no idea when I started Denis Childs' backstory exactly what had happened to him in the past. But I was very aware that all the stories dealt with trust in one way or another.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: We know you do a lot of on-site research in England (lucky you!) to get the details of Duncan and Gemma's world right. Where did you go and what did you explore to get the real feel of Notting Hill?

DEBS: Julia, I've stayed in flats in Notting Hill for extended periods over the years, and no matter where I'm staying, I always spend time there. And I ALWAYS go to Portobello Market on Saturdays. I have a huge sentimental attachment to the market. I suppose it sort of embodies London for me. I usually try to visit all of Duncan's and Gemma's usual spots, too, and in this case I peeked into as many private gardens as I could!

JENN MCKINLAY: This series has had a special place in my heart, like its setting Notting Hill, since the very first book. Because I adore Gemma and Duncan, I have to ask what have been some of the challenges of writing about two lead characters, both detectives, who are married with children? Also, have you ever considered killing either of them off (please say no or lie to me)?

DEBS: I was told that if I married off my characters, it would kill the series. Boy, did that make me nervous. But, I thought it would be really tiresome to put Gemma and Duncan in a perpetual will they/won't they situation, and I've always tried to be more true to real life than that. And I thought that a married couple with their jobs and a family would present endlessly interesting and dramatic possibilities. I think that's been true so far, and it has certainly been fun for me to write about.

And, no, don't worry dear Jenn! I have no intention of doing away with any of my major characters. I couldn't bear it.

HALLIE EPHRON: One of my favorite characters is Jess, a boy who's an aspiring dancer. He felt so authentic, I have to ask is he based on anyone?

DEBS: I have a good friend whose middle son was the inspiration for both Toby and Jess, at least in part. He was a very active and very athletic kid without much impulse control. When he was about Jess's age (Jess is almost eleven in the book) he visited a ballet class and he was instantly hooked. He went on to become a very talented and accomplished dancer, although he eventually had to give it up due to knee problems. It's a punishing discipline, and it takes great dedication to achieve success. I think I'm always fascinated by people who are driven to do something difficult.

LUCY BURDETTE: Debs, I have not finished and I refuse to rush through! But  really admiring your seamless transitions between Point of View characters. But that's a more technical discussion--maybe Hallie can lead us through us one day? I'll ask this instead...the title GARDEN OF LAMENTATIONS is so fabulous and elegant. And then as I read, I notice that everyone is gardening! So I wonder, did the title come first and then you worked the gardens in, or, were you writing about all these gardens and their meaning for each character and the story, and the title followed?

DEBS: Lucy, that is so funny. That's the first time it's ever even occurred to me that everyone is gardening! It must have been subliminal... And I'm not even sure I could tell you now where the title came from. I don't want to make the book sound gloomy, but for me the all the intertwined stories were permeated with a sense of loss, and "lamentations" seemed to echo that.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  I must know--How do you juggle all the characters' lives? Do you have a timeline,  or a history, or an incredible list of lists? There are so many wonderful puzzle pieces that you put together so beautifully… What is your thought process and procedure for doing that?

DEBS: Oh, heavens. I do have timelines and lists of characters and scads of notes. The viewpoint thing is especially tricky, to keep from repeating information when you are seeing roughly the same situation from different characters' perspectives. And trying to make the different timelines end up at the same place! But I want it to be seamless for readers, so that they are just carried along and don't think about those things--at least until the end.

HANK: And before I knew you, I really expected you were British! And even when we first met, I was so surprised that you did not have a British accent.  How does your brain work? How do you switch on "American "when you come back home?

DEBS: It's a very weird thing, and something I don't really have answer for. I've not only lived in England and Scotland and spent a lot of time there over the years, but I've read British books as long as I can remember (and watched British TV as long as we've been getting it in the US.)  So my brain just clicks over to British voice, and I'm not really conscious of it. Split personality! Or maybe Jekyll and Hyde!

If it's a gift, I'm very grateful for it, because it's given me an enormous amount of joy over the years.

INGRID THOFT:  Gemma and Duncan were navigating some difficult terrain in their relationship this time around, because of professional and family demands.  Did you enjoy writing that tension or do you prefer when it’s smooth sailing on the home front?

DEBS: I did enjoy writing it.  I think the fact that everyone—not just Duncan and Gemma, but Duncan and Doug, Gemma and Melody, and Melody and Doug—were all at cross purposes through most of the book really increased the story tension.  That said, for the next book, I want to put everyone together, working on the same case!

INGRID: I love the supporting characters in the series, and this time around, Doug and Melody played important roles.  Have you ever considered doing a spin-off with your secondary characters?

DEBS: I ADORE writing about Doug and Melody.  And it has been suggested to me that I write a spin-off series with them, but I really like the dynamic of all the characters together.  And as slow as I am, I don't thinking writing more than one series is on my horizon.  Especially as this book was original 650 pages in manuscript...

What do you say readers?  Any questions for Debs on the new release?

 

(And if you want to ask her in person, click here for her tour schedule!)

Deborah Crombie is a native Texan who has lived in both England and Scotland.  She lives in McKinney, Texas, sharing a house that is more than one hundred years old with her husband, three cats, and two German shepards.

CHARLES TODD--THE NEW BESS CRAWFORD MYSTERY

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Two of my very favorite writers are the mother/son writing team of Charles and Caroline Todd, who write as CHARLES TODD. Their books featuring shell-shocked WW1 veteran and Scotland Yard policeman Ian Rutledge have been enormously popular and have received every critical accolade.

But a few years ago, deciding that they weren't content to write one book a year, the Todds began a second series featuring WW1 battlefield nurse Bess Crawford, and the latest Bess book, An Unmarked Grave, will be out in just a few weeks.

As the Todds and I share a publisher (William Morrow,) I've been fortunate to have done a number of book events with them these past few months, and I've been fascinated not only by the books themselves, but by listening to Caroline and Charles talk about how they work and what inspires them.

Here they share some thoughts with us at Jungle Red. (And I have to say that I just love this photo--Charles looking moodily and mysteriously into the camera, and Caroline looking so like Caroline!)

DEBS:  The Rutledge books, which are set just after the Great War and which deal with the ongoing consequences of Detective Inspector Ian Rutledge's experiences in the war, particularly his shell shock, have been very successful.  So what inspired you to write about Bess, a nurse and  amateur sleuth, and to go back to the war itself?

CAROLINE:  We’d talked about Bess for ages, but wanted to wait until we were sure that Rutledge was well established before tying up time and energy for another series.  In her case, we had two goals, to show how women coped with the war, and also to give people a chance to understand why Rutledge had come home damaged, to see what he’d faced in the trenches.   What surprised us about Bess is that she practically wrote herself. She's such an interesting person, and is such fun to work with.  This must have come across to the reader because Bess became popular almost overnight.  What’s more, we were looking forward to her second adventure before the first one even hit the bookshelves.   

CHARLES:  English women have always stepped up when they were needed, even running the castles during the crusades.  They've also traveled widely and independently, which gave us a great background for Bess.  Her father was a career army officer, and so she knows about weapons. Her childhood was spent at Army cantonments around the world, and so she has a different upbringing from that of the average Victorian woman. All this gives her an outlook on life shaped by a sense of duty and a sense of service.  It's not surprising that when war broke out she wanted to serve as a nurse, just as her father's son--if he'd had one--would have served on the battlefield.  Yes, it was going back to the war, but it was going forward to peace as well.

DEBS: Can you tell us a bit about the story in An Unmarked Grave?

CAROLINE and CHARLES:  Bess is in France, dealing with the wounded and now the influx of patients with the Spanish flu. That’s what they called the terrible Influenza pandemic that killed so many people all over the world, including members of our own families.   Among the dead awaiting burial is a body that shouldn't be there--he wasn't a victim of war wounds or of the flu.  He was murdered.  But before Bess can report his death, she herself succumbs to the flu and nearly dies.  By the time she is fully recovered, the discovery of the body seems to be a distant troubling dream. But as she tries to convince herself of that, she finds that the only other witness to the discovery has hanged himself--or has he?  As Bess delves deeper into memory and tries to pin down facts, she begins to realize that the dead man in the shed was not the first to die by an unknown hand, nor the last.  And it’s likely that she’ll be next, if she doesn’t watch her back.  That danger could well touch all those she loves most dearly, and now Bess must race a killer to his final target. 

DEBS:  One of the many things I love about the Bess books is their sense of immediacy.  As a reader, I feel Bess's experiences so vividly.  Some of this is due to the first-person narrative style, but I wondered about your research.  Have you visited the sites of the Allied lines in France, where, as a nurse, Bess would have been stationed?

CAROLINE:  We’ve made an effort to visit French museums and French battlefields, and we've got a copy of a Physician's Reference for 1908, which helps with the medical details. So the research is there.  Nurses write that they respond to her sense of dedication.  What we discovered was that first person really makes Bess come alive for the reader.    Rutledge is definitely third person as the professional detective, but for Bess, we needed to be a part of what she was seeing and feeling and doing.  Amazing, really, because characters seem to know what's best for them.  From Chapter 1 in first person, she literally leapt off the page.  Writers like to talk about Voice, too, and Bess found her own.  She’s fresh and different and intensely involved in her life, and whether you’re twenty of sixty, you have to respond to that.  

CHARLES:  Much of the research we've done for the Rutledge series has given us a good feeling for the period in which Bess works.  And so one series builds on the other.  We'd had strong women in the Rutledge books, so we weren't surprised to find we could write a strong woman on her own.  And she's as riveting to write about as she is to read.  Still, a story has to come down to setting and plot, and we have a drawer full for Bess to draw on.

DEBS: I recently recommended the Bess books on 20SomethingReads, a website librarians use to find suggestions for younger readers.  Bess is strong, independent, adventurous, brave--and sometimes stubborn, all traits that I'd hope contemporary young women and men would identify with.  Were you thinking about the appeal to a younger audience when you conceived the series?

CAROLINE:  Bess offers so much to the younger reader, male and female, because she's young too and she's trying to make a go of her choices in life.   We’d seen the success of Harry Potter, who had such a broad appeal to readers, and we realized that the real wizardry here wasn’t just happening in the story, it was the way the story was told, it reached out and grabbed you and said, here’s great adventure, come and see for yourself.   We try to do the same with our books, and Bess is a woman any woman can relate to.  What’s more, male readers love her.  I don’t quite know how we managed that, but we’re enjoying it.         

CHARLES:   I was told recently by a woman in her twenties, “I bought your latest for my Mom, because she’s a nurse and she loves the series.  The next thing I knew, I was still reading at midnight, and couldn’t put A BITTER TRUTH down.   Now I can’t wait for the next one.”   Remember, Rutledge isn’t quite thirty, he’s an attractive, haunted man who has a job to do and must face it every day, just like the rest of us, even if he’s an Inspector at Scotland Yard.  Bess is in her early twenties, caught up in the middle of a war and trying to do her bit.   You care about these characters because they seem so real, and you want to know what’s happening next.  That’s because the stories are fresh, and the plots involve you.   That’s what reading is all about.   

DEBS: An Unmarked Grave takes place in the spring of 1918.  We know (although Bess does not) that the war will be ending soon.  Can you tell us a little bit about what's in store for Bess?  I feel quite sure she won't be sitting at home knitting  And, the question that fans of both series always have to ask--do you envision Bess and Rutledge meeting after the war?  While I don't think they would be romantically suited (and Bess already has a surfeit of interesting men in her life!) it would be interesting if their paths crossed on a case...

CAROLINE:  When the war ends--as it must, Bess has to learn to live with peace.  She’ll be invited to an Irish wedding, in spite of the Troubles, and she’ll find herself in a very different environment where no one dares to trust his neighbor or his friend.  And Melinda Crawford wants to go back to India, where she had lived for many years.  At her age, such a long journey is very arduous, and so she invites Bess to accompany her. And Colonel Crawford sends Simon with them to protect both of them.  We'll learn more about Simon in this one, and about Bess's childhood. But wherever Bess is, can murder be far behind?  This is just a sampling of what’s ahead.  Will Rutledge and Bess ever meet? We don't know.  Would she pick up on his shell shock?   Interesting idea.  How would he feel about that?  Hmmm.

CHARLES:  Bess is a battlefield nurse.  This is the crucible where she learned to be an independent and engaging young woman, no longer in the shadow of her famous father.   And that's where the end of the war will find her, learning to live with peace, learning to move on. It won't be easy, and as anyone who has survived a war will tell you, it will leave its mark.  And so Bess must make her way into this Brave New World that isn't anything like the dreams people fought to save.   That's why we will take her to Ireland, and then back to her roots in India.    Bess never goes looking for trouble.  It finds her.  So life will never be dull for her—or her readers.    Whoever they are.

DEBS: Thank you both! I've cheated a bit, having been lucky enough to read the galley of An Unmarked Grave, so now I have to join the nagging hoard WHO CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE!

Charles and Caroline will be dropping in today to say "hi" and answer questions. Some of our readers can get a head start on the new book, too, as William Morrow will give galleys of An Unmarked Grave to three of our lucky commenters. (And the book is available for pre-order everywhere books are sold.)

I have to warn you, though, this is a dangerous proposition--if you haven't read one of the Bess books, you will then have to read them all.  And if you haven't read the Rutledge books, you'll have to read those, too.  So clear the decks!