USA Today Bestselling Author of Historical Fiction
Autumn is coming . . .
And so is a NEW Wrexford & Sloane!
As the dog days of summer here in the northern hemisphere are slowly giving way to the first flutters of September, look for my new Wrexford & Sloane mystery, Murder at King’s Crossing, to to hit the bookstores and online retailers on September 24th! Charlotte and Wrexford have a new crime to solve—one that draws them and their inner circle of friends into an investigation filled with dangerous twists and turns—and unexpected personal revelations!
Murder at King’s Crossing is up for pre-order here. And you can read an except here.
Here’s a teaser blurb:
A joyous event brings Wrexford and Charlotte and their inner circle of family and friends together for a long-awaited day of merriment and good cheer.
But when a terrible discovery quickly entangles all of them in a twisted maze of lies and deceit, Wrexford and Charlotte must ask themselves just how far they are willing to go for the sake of Justice . . .
A new Lady Arianna Regency mystery is also available! This latest adventure takes her and Saybrook to Greece, where ancient myths and artifacts collide with murder, treachery and political intrigue that threatens to explode the fragile peace in the region. The Thunder of Stones is now available here! And you can read an excerpt here.
Here’s a teaser blurb:
Athens. A city where the ancient past and present tangle in a web of intrigue. As Saybrook and Arianna seek to unravel the truth about her brother’s disappearance while on a clandestine mission for the Crown, they find themselves threatened by shadowy enemies—and a mysterious ancient talisman . .
I recently recently did an interview with Jenny Wheeler of The Joys of Binge Reading, and had a really fun conversation on what makes the series tick, the craft of writing and making characters and settings come alive. You can listen to it here.
An Inside Peek
You can read more about the backstories to my mysteries and see wonderful images from the Regency era in the DIVERSIONS section of my website. Just click on the drop-down menu of the top navigation bar and start exploring! Be sure to check out the fun real life people and events that add color and texture to the plots, along with the accompanying slideshows of vintage art that illustrate details in the stories.
I recently joined with the fabulous fellow historical mystery authors Anna Lee Huber, Jennifer Ashley and Amanda Flowers to dish on our new books and the craft of writing with the fabulous John Charles of the Poisoned Pen Bookstore. You can see the video interview here on YouTube!
And Team Penrose is happy to report
on other news
The series as a whole has been garnering kudos throughout the book world, including this wonderful review from The New York Public Library: “[Penrose] mixes well-thought out mysteries, early forensic science, great details of the era and a slow burning attraction creating a compulsive read.”
I’m also delighted to announce that it has been included in the New York Public Library’s list of mystery series to get you through any crisis!
Secondly, for all those of you who have been writing and asking about future books in the series, I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve just signed a new contract to continue the adventures of Wrexford and Charlotte (and the Weasels, of course!) They—along with their family of friends—will be solving mysteries for three more books! So stay tuned!
And p.s.— if you’re looking for more reading entertainment to download, all of my Lady Arianna Regency mysteries are priced less than a Starbucks latte—and tickle your taste buds for far longer than 15 minutes! (Hint: there is chocolate involved in the stories!)
You can check them out here and read sample chapters. The swashbuckling adventures take Arianna and Saybrook from England and France to Russia and Greece!
I’ve been having great fun filling my new built-in wall bookshelves, and curating all my quirky research books, vintage editions and assorted novels and non-fiction according to my own esoteric catalogue system. It’s blissfull to have finally liberated boxes of books that were stuffed in closets.
From My Weekly Plotting
I’ll occasionally feature a photo here from my daily plotting walks (that’s how I untangle all the plot knots that I tied myself into while madly typing away all day at my writing desk!) I have an MFA in Graphic Design, so I always have my camera with me, looking to capture a snippet of natural beauty or bit of history. Many turn out to be inspiration for my scenes!)
You can also follow me and my plotting walks on Instagram
I’ll also be posting a snippet each week from current WIPs, so be sure to check in often and take a peek!
Snippet from the daily plotting walk
This summer has been a glorious time for hydrangas in New England. My daily plotting walks though the village lanes down by the harbor have been ablaze with vibrant hues of blue and purple!
Snippet from the current WIP
Thump-thump. The sound of the dowager approaching was growing louder.
“Charlotte! Do stop woolgathering!”
“My apologies.”The Countess of Wrexford was usually practical and pragmatic, but the upcoming nuptials had stirred all sorts of sentimental thoughts about family and friends—and how over the last few years the lines between the two had become blurred beyond recognition. “I was just musing on how Love is an even more elemental bond than ties of blood.”
Alison’s gimlet gaze gave way to a softer twinkle. “True. How else to explain what binds together our exceedingly eccentric group?”
Their eyes met for a moment . . .
And then the dowager cleared her throat with a brusque cough. “Be that as it may, let us return to the subject of flowers. Because despite Hawk’s best efforts, the plans for Kit and Cordelia’s wedding flowers have gone to Hell in a handbasket!”
—Murder at King’s Crossing, coming in September 2024
The Inspiration Behind the
Wrexford & Sloane Series
I confess, given that my academic expertise in science ended in 9th grade biology class (you know, the one with formaldehyde, dead frogs and very sharp knives!) it might strike you as rather strange that science plays a big role in the plots of my Wrexford & Sloane mystery series.
I have an art background, which may seem like the polar opposite of the world of laboratories, microscopes and bubbling chemicals. I thought the same thing until I read a marvelous book called the Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes. In it, he talks about how during the Regency era, the artists and scientists all thought of themselves as kindred souls. Exploration and discovery required imagination and creative thinking—painters, poets, chemists, astronomers—they all pushed themselves to think outside the box.
Hmmm, I thought . . . these are just the same qualities required to unravel diabolical mysteries. So it suddenly struck me that having a scientist and an artist could be a really fun combination. In the Earl of Wrexford and Charlotte Sloane, I’ve sought to create two lead characters who embody the intellectual curiosity—and gritty courage—of the times. They are opposites: a brooding aristocrat whose extraordinary mind runs on the rational new principles of scientific inquiry, paired with a struggling artist whose innate cleverness and intuition are the keys to her survival. Forced to work together, Wrexford and Charlotte find they make a formidable team, despite their differences. (Ah, but as science tells us, opposites often attract!)
Okay, now I have a second confession to make—I may not be a science expert, but I’m a total Regency history geek. So it was great fun researching science during the era. Like in our own times, new discoveries and new technology were changing society. The top scientists were the hot celebrities. All the trendy people flocked to hear the public lectures at the Royal Institution, the leading scientific society in London. And yes, there were science groupies! The charismatic Humphry Davy (he’s pretty dishy, isn’t he?), the most famous chemist of the day, routinely had love letters and invitations for private hanky-panky—often wrapped in frilly undergarments—delivered backstage! (There are several scenes in my book set at the Royal Institution—I hope they will forgive me for creating intrigue and skullduggery within their hallowed halls!) You can read more about some of the real-life scientists of the Regency in the DIVERSIONS section. Just click here.
Now, on to more Regency goodies …
I also hope you’ll enjoy doing more exploring in the Diversions section here, which features some fun background on the Regency
and some of the people and places who appear in my books.
Just a few other things on logistics: The BLOG button in the social media icons will connect you to The Word Wenches, where Mary Jo Putney, Christina Courtenay, Patricia Rice, Anne Gracie, Nicola Cornick, Susan Fraser King and I blog about books, history, the craft of writing, and just about anything else you can think of!
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