with Anne Cleeland
We are delighted to welcome mystery author Anne Cleeland to Omnimystery News.
Anne's second mystery in her New Scotland Yard series is Murder in Retribution (Kensington Books; July 2014 hardcover, audiobook and ebook formats and available to pre-order) and when we asked her why she chose to set her series in England, she replied with, "Write What You Know — Or Maybe Don't: When Americans Write About British Detectives".
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Photo provided courtesy of
Anne Cleeland
I write a mystery series about British detectives, even though I am neither British nor a detective. As a matter of fact, so does Elizabeth George, Martha Grimes, and Deborah Crombie. When you consider that the basic rule of writing is that you should write what you know, this may seem a little strange.
But there's a rich history of British detective stories — going all the way back to the golden age of detective fiction — so perhaps it's not so strange after all. Ngaio Marsh gave us Chief Inspector Alleyn, P.D. James gave us Inspector Dagleish, and Ruth Rendell gave us Chief Inspector Wexford; between them, the reader comes away with a very definite sense of how the understated British detective handles murder and mayhem — in contrast to the conspicuous American detective, with his sharp elbows and brash confidence.
Then there's the allure of Scotland Yard — probably the most iconic headquarters in terms of detective fiction — where all these larger-than-life characters solve crimes. Throw in an aristocrat or two, and you have the perfect formula for a story — I certainly thought so, and if you can judge from the popularity of the Masterpiece Mystery series, a lot of other people think so, too.
And even though you have to try to get the protocols right, law enforcement everywhere follows a certain pattern, no matter what the setting; even Scotland Yard has cubicle-folk who are completing for real offices, and rookies who are hungry to be assigned to major crimes — not to mention love and lust, percolating just below the surface. Of course, an author has to add twists to the tried-and-true formula to keep it interesting; in my series, the Chief Inspector is breaking bad, and his Irish rookie partner is trying to be his moral compass, with only limited success.
So write what you know — but don't be afraid to write what you love, too.
Editor's note: Murder in Thrall, the first mystery in this series, was published in hardcover by Kensington Books in June 2013; the paperback will be available July 1st, 2014.
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Anne Cleeland holds a degree in English from UCLA as well as a degree in law from Pepperdine University, and is a member of the California State Bar. She writes a historical series set in the Regency period as well as a contemporary mystery series set in New Scotland Yard. A member of Romance Writers of America, The Historical Novel Society and Mystery Writers of America, she lives in California and has four children.
For more information about the author, please visit her website at AnneCleeland.com or find her on Facebook and Twitter.
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Murder in Retribution
Anne Cleeland
A New Scotland Yard Mystery
Despite their investigative prowess, Chief Inspector Michael Sinclair, Lord Acton, and rookie detective Kathleen Doyle stir more than a few feathers at CID Headquarters when their relationship comes to light. But office politics quickly become trivial when a rash of underworld murders shatters London's normally austere façade. With a growing list of successfully solved cases to her name, the ever-dauntless Doyle shakes off the gossip and sets out to investigate the escalating turf war.
As the body count climbs, Doyle uncovers a seedy world where fractious members of the Russian mafia and an Irish terrorist group are fighting for control of a lucrative underground business. But their crooked deals and volleying acts of revenge are almost too much for Scotland Yard to keep up with, and when Doyle notices that Acton seems unusually troubled by the crimes, she begins to wonder what sparked the conflict in the first place.
Perhaps there's nothing more to the murders than under-the-table business dealings gone awry. Or perhaps a single act of vigilante justice fanned the flames that ignited a vicious turf war. As Doyle and Acton fight not to become the next victims, they'll find that the truth may be best left unspoken, and retribution may be best left to fate.
Click on the Amazon button to see also the special Whispersync offer associated with this title.
