Hello my dears! I know it's been far too long since I've posted, but I promise I am still here and doing my best to get back to writing and posting regularly.
In the meantime, allow me to hand over the blog to my very good friend and fellow author Jayne Bamber, so she can tell you about her latest release.
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Hello, Readers! I’m here to make Spooky Season a little spookier with my upcoming release, Clwyd Castle.
Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy, and a horde of other Austen characters find themselves inveigled in a whodunnit inspired by the cult classic film, Clue! A dozen guests – including Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet, and characters from all the other Austen novels – are invited to Clwyd Castle (pronounced “clue-id”) by Henry Tilney, who uses the alias “Mr. Butler.”
Elizabeth Bennet quickly befriends Catherine Morland, Harriet Smith, and Emma Woodhouse, and the ladies take the lead in solving the mystery as the murderer strikes again and again. Catherine has a little extra motivation, as she is determined to clear Henry Tilney’s name – he is far too handsome and agreeable to be guilty!
In the except I’m sharing today, Catherine dives in headfirst to playing investigator, though Elizabeth is still suspicious of Henry Tilney….
In the parlor, Lady Allen and Sir Edward were on the chaise, yawning into their coffee. Mr. Darcy and Mr. Tilney sat opposite them, eating from an ample buffet piled on the table between the two sofas. Emma sat cross-legged on the floor near Cathy, having commandeered a tray of petit fours in her lap.
Cathy had, at first glance, gone insane.
With pins from her sewing basket and paper from the escritoire in the corner, managed to cover a large section of the dilapidated wallpaper on the back wall with an assortment of scrawlings. Elizabeth was happy to ignore the rest of their party and examine the occupation that had engrossed her sister. Cathy turned to her with a bright smile, nearly spilling the mug of coffee in her hand; a little of it spilled onto the tray in Emma’s lap, and Emma devoured the coffee-soaked treats with relish.
“Lizzy, come and see what I have done!” Cathy gestured with another wobble of her mug, and Elizabeth moved closer to examine all the papers pinned to the wall. There were four columns of pages, and at the top of each a placard was pinned, with elegant cursive: Definitely Innocent, Probably Innocent, Unsure, Suspicious.
Beneath each placard, the subsequent pages were titled with the name of one of their party, with various notes of Cathy’s observations, and the facts that were known of them written below. The first one under the Definitely Innocent column bore Elizabeth’s name and cited her absence from the room when Fred died, as well as questioned the possibility of a previous acquaintance with Mr. Wickham.
Elizabeth examined the other pages. Mr. Darcy, Cathy, Lady Allen, Sir Edward, Emma, and Harriet were all listed beneath Elizabeth. Mr. Tilney, Mr. Bertram, Mr. Rushworth, and Sir Walter Elliot were listed under Probably Innocent - the latter two presumably for their stupidity and silliness respectively. Miss Denham, Mr. Parker, and Mr. Willoughby were noted as Unsure, while the remaining guests were ranked Suspicious. Various threads were connected by pins.
“The blue threads signify family, see how many connect to us! The green signifies enmity, and the pink is for romance,” Cathy explained. Elizabeth pointed to the pink string from Cathy’s name to Mr. Tilney’s on the wall, and Cathy blushed. “He put it there,” she whispered with a sly grin.
“That was very bold of him!” Elizabeth could only be relieved that no pink threads connected to her own name, though she noticed a green one, and followed it over to Miss Denham’s name.
“She was horribly rude to you last night,” Cathy said. “And do not to tell me you wish a green one between you and a certain someone.”
Elizabeth managed to suppress the urge to look Mr. Darcy’s way and moved on to examine the list of people Cathy considered most likely to be the culprit. Lady Susan, Mrs. Rushworth, Mr. Crawford, Mrs. Clay, Mrs. Younge - there was not a name amongst them that Elizabeth could disagree with.
“And I suppose you have left empty space at the bottom of each person’s page to continue collecting information?”
“Exactly!”
Emma set aside the empty tray after consuming the last of the petit fours and assumed a more dignified position as she moved to a nearby chair, still staring at Cathy’s work with wonder. “Is Cathy not a genius? I could never have thought of such a thing myself, but I am fascinated by her methods.”
“It is terribly clever,” Mr. Tilney said, coming to join them.
“Yes, well done,” Elizabeth agreed.
Mr. Tilney nodded at Elizabeth and leaned in a little as he whispered rather loudly, “I have told her that she has every right to place me in the Suspicious column, but she will not hear of it.”
“Shall I oblige you in persuading her?”
Mr. Tilney laughed. “See, Miss Morland? She is not so easily won over by generous buffets and inane banter.”
“And it is very circumspect for our host to own to it,” Elizabeth said.
“And has it given you unwavering faith in me?” Mr. Tilney laughed at himself.
Cathy winked at Elizabeth. “I am sorry to say, Lizzy, it rather has.”
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