Suffolk Mystery Conference
Policing in Rees’s World
I have had questions about why Rees doesn’t become a constable or a law enforcement officer himself. Well, At that time, there were few police forces. Boston was one of the first to adopt a police force and that was not until 1837.
Prior to that, the law enforcement structure was a hodgepodge of constables, sheriffs , night watchmen and justices of the peace. As the populations increased, this system was strained until it did not work anymore. Moreover, although they were paid, it was more of a stipend than a salary. All officers had to have another profession that put food on the table. In my series, Rouge runs a tavern.
Other attempts as establishing a police force were tried. The wealthy usually hired their own force to protect themselves and their possessions. A system that paid the men with rewards was also tried. But abuse was rampant. Innocent men were hanged for crimes so the ‘detective’ could collect the reward.
London was the first city to set up a trained, professional force: the Metropolitan Police. As mentioned, that was 1837. So, even if Rees wished to become a full time law enforcement officer, there was no avenue for him to do so.
Suffolk Mystery Conference
The Registration for the Conference is now open BUT you must register.
Suffolk Mystery Convention
Very excited to announce that the Suffolk Mystery Convention will be held on March 6. I will send along information in a week or so.
I will be discussing my new Novel Death in the Great Dismal.
It is an appropriate choice since Suffolk is the town nearest the swamp.
It is an amazing experience to go from the streets of Suffolk and the small peanut farms nearby to the alien environment of the swamp. It is also very buggy!
Murder on Principle – Cover
So excited to reveal the cover for my new Will Rees mystery: Murder on Principle. I am not sure when it will be released. Death in the Great Dismal will be available Jan 5, 2021.
I am guessing sometime this summer. Stay tuned for more information!
Death in the Great Dismal -Goodreads Giveaway
I am so excited to announce a giveaway for my new book: Death in the Great Dismal. Will and Lydia travel south, to the Great Dismal swamp, They have been asked to rescue Ruth, a woman taken from Maine and sold down south. She has escaped to a village in the heart of the swamp and is living there with other fugitives.
Of course, Will and Lydia are in the village no more than a few days when the first murder occurs.
The Giveaway ends the first week of January.
Death in the Great Dismal – Giveaway
I am so excited to announce a giveaway for my new book: Death in the Great Dismal. Will and Lydia travel south, to the Great Dismal swamp, They have been asked to rescue Ruth, a woman taken from Maine and sold down south. She has escaped to a village in the heart of the swamp and is living there with other fugitives.
Of course, Will and Lydia are in the village no more than a few days when the first murder occurs.
The Giveaway ends the first week of January.
Death in the Great Dismal
After being delayed for several months because of COVID, the new Will Rees will be released in the United States on January 5.
The Great Dismal Swamp, the setting for the ninth Will Rees, is my favorite so far. Will and Lydia are asked by a friend, born free but sold down south and now escaped, to accompany him to the swamp to rescue his wife. Of course they agree, and several murders occur.
Yes, the swamp still exists. It is much smaller, though, than it was when George Washington first explored it (and first saw the potential for development.) But it still feels like a trackless wilderness. Bears and bobcats still live within the swamp as well as many species of birds and aquatic life. And insects, lots and lots of insects.
This is a peat bog and in some places the peat is fourteen feet deep. A man could be swallowed up with no one the wiser.
Many slaves escaped to the swamp. Estimates range from a few thousand to one hundred thousand. Many were caught but quite a few managed to make a life for themselves inside the swamp. These fugitives were called maroons.
When the escaped slaves fled to the swamp, they bedded down first under the pines. They grow only on the drier islands. Daniel Sayers, an archaeologist has been excavating these drier patches and has found evidence of small communities.
Most of the swamp resembles an impassible green curtain.
Now the swamp is passable via boardwalks. This one leads to a memorial honoring the maroons.
Gender in Will Rees’s America
Several readers have expressed the opinion that Lydia should be the detective, not her husband. I can see their point. I think she is more intelligent than he is as well. But I chose Will Rees for some practical reasons.
Although women were not so circumscribed as they became later, in the Victorian times, they had little freedom. Everything they had, and I mean everything right up to their children and the clothes on their back, belonged to their husbands. The farm on which Rees and Lydia are living went to Lydia on the death of her first husband. She promised it to the Shaker community nearby. But when she married Rees, that farm became his property, leading to no end of issues with the Shaker community that expected to take possession.
And while we are on the subject of inheritance, it is important to realize that widows did not inherit from their husbands unless SPECIFICALLY MENTIONED BY NAME IN THE WILL. If they were not included, they became the responsibility of the eldest son and could be tossed in the street if he so desired.
Even their clothing was owned by their husband. I read one contemporary account of a woman who sought and obtained a divorce. She had to marry again in her petticoats.
Although there are accounts of women printers, silversmiths and more, most of them were the widows or daughters of the craftsmen who had taught them the skills. Only then could they actually work in these fields. No one would accept them as apprentices. (This has changed very slowly. I wanted to be a carpenter as a girl. The local trade school would not accept me because of my gender and told me to become a secretary.)
The other issue is travel. Rees is a traveling weaver; he goes from house to house and farm to farm to weave the yard spun during the previous winter. Even if Lydia owned a loom, she would be expected to weave at home. She would not have the freedom to leave that home, to investigate or for any other purpose, that her husband had.
Unfortunately, these were the challenges women faced. ( In many ways, they have not changed so greatly.) So Lydia has become a detective, but part of a team.
Interview with Fran Lewis
I had a great time discussing A Circle of Dead Girls.
For the audio or written versions, here are the links.
Here is the link for Fran’s written summary: https://tillie49.wordpress.com/2020/10/06/the-circle-of-dead-girls/
And the link to the show. https://www.blogtalkradio.com/fran-lewis/2020/10/07/circle-of-dead-girls