The Bridesmaids

In A Loveliness of Ladybirds, one of Lucy Greenwood's old school friends is getting married and she's invited Lucy, and two of their other comrades in mischief, to act as her bridesmaids. Although they have all grown up considerably since their school days, the four young ladies once referred to themselves as 'The Yorkshire Puddings'. A nickname granted, at first, by another spiteful girl at school, who looked down on them for their Yorkshire accents, it was soon seized upon and worn with pride by the girls she meant to mock.

While Lucy and Edie (the bride) are from working class stock, and were fortunate to have their education paid for by charitable, wealthy ladies, their two friends come from the upper class of society and have known greater material advantages and privileges throughout their lives. But, as Lucy observes at the wedding, it seems as if she and Edie (the poor girls at their school) have managed to find happiness and contentment in life, while their friends still struggle.

Matilda (Mattie) Cloyce is the only daughter in a family of seven sons. She -- as in the case of most young women of her age-- is expected to look after her brothers and any other needy family members, until she finds a man to marry. But Matilda dislikes men as a whole (perhaps the consequence of having so many brothers?) and has never yet found one she can tolerate for more than three minutes. Her family are wealthy and well-known in academic circles. Their idea of an evening's entertainment is to sit about solving mathematical conundrums. Yet Mattie's intelligence is never allowed to shine. As a woman, she is continually pushed aside and stepped over in her family, her own accomplishments overlooked.

Yes, one of her brothers is a famous scientist who wrote an award-winning book, but Mattie is heartily sick of being referred to as "Randolph Cloyce's sister". So I suggest you never mention it to her.

At the wedding of Edie to Sir Buxton Hardwicke, Mattie is trying to hold her tongue and not look as if she would like to strike somebody about the head. However, she has been forced, not only into a yellow gown, but into polite conversation with some of the dullest people on earth. And the bridesmaid's bouquet is making her itch. Her temper is not likely to outlast the day and her opinions about this hasty marriage will have to come out sooner or later. Just like a sneeze.

Clara Boothby-Hamm concludes the little group of old friends gathered beside the wedding cake. She is the romantic optimist among them and refuses to see anything amiss with their friend's choice of husband. Clara comes from a very old, grand family and she too is expected to marry well. But the Boothby-Hamms are not so wealthy as they used to be and although Clara holds out hope for love, it is becoming steadily more obvious that she will have to choose for practical reasons first. Rather than make her depressed, this fact seems to make her more desperate to put on a happy face. To avoid the unpleasant reality, perhaps? After all, time flies, and as the ever-morbid Mattie points out,  "A woman’s value on the marriage mart severely depreciates with every passing year.”


Clara is dressed in pink for her friend's wedding and it suits her blushing, girlish mood. If she has any doubts about Edie's future happiness as Lady Hardwicke, she certainly hides it well. Better than Mattie hides her disdain.

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A LOVELINESS OF LADYBIRDS arrives at all online bookstores on July 5th.

(Images used here: Charles Perugini's Lady in Yellow and James McNeill Whistler's portrait of Lady Meux 1881)

Character Showcase - Mary and Ivy

Readers of BESPOKE will already be familiar with Lucy Greenwood’s faithful helpers, Mary and Ivy. As her cake design business and tea shop continue to grow, Lucy’s assistants have become even more important to her success and greatly appreciated.

Mary Hobson agreed to leave her parents’ farm to work for Lucy when “Bespoke Temptations” was nothing more than a twinkle in Miss Greenwood’s eye. Her no-nonsense character provides our heroine with a steady, dependable ally and keeps the shop running whenever Lucy has to go out.

Mary is hard of hearing, but she never lets that stand in her way – not now that Lucy’s encouragement and friendship has helped her come out of her shell.  Once she was called “Mardy Mary” because folk usually encountered her in a cross temper, refusing to speak to anybody, but now that she has found a place for herself in the world – independent of the family that made no effort to understand her, and often belittled or took advantage of the girl-- she is much happier and more fulfilled.  She is devoted to Lucy and won’t hear a word against her, but she is also in possession of a wry sense of humor, with which she occasionally teases her mistress. Especially now that she is more confident in her own skin and not afraid to use her voice.

Ivy Dimmock was once a workhouse orphan. She also briefly held a post as a scullery maid, but now she makes her home with Lucy and Mary at “Bespoke Temptations”. She’s very young and still has much to learn, but she is eager, cheerfully undaunted by her shortcomings, and seems to soak up information like a sponge. As long as she’s paying attention and not day-dreaming! She’s a merry,

optimistic soul, despite her unhappy, impoverished beginnings, and she’s eternally grateful to Lucy for giving her a fresh start in life.  Occasionally she lets something burn on the range and feels the sharp edge of Mary’s impatient tongue, but mostly she glides through the shop -- proud in her fancy, new waitressing uniform – and gleefully seizes any new opportunity to learn (or chocolate smeared spoon) with both hands.  Like Mary, she’s not afraid of hard work and she’s intensely loyal to her mistress. She dreams of one day enjoying a grand romance, but as Lucy tells her, she’d better learn to make a living for herself first, and stand on her own two clogs, before she gets starry-eyed over any man.

As “Bespoke Temptations” continues to find success, Lucy’s assistants will play an even greater role in her story. They might even find  some little romances of their own along the way. After all, Lucy can't have all the fun.

Be reunited with Mary and Ivy on July 5^th, when A LOVELINESS OF LADYBIRDS (A Bespoke novel) is released.

 (Images here: The Housewife, by Frederick Walker 1871 and A Maid Sweeping by Henry Meynell Rheam.)

Character Showcase - Elkins and Eastman

In my upcoming release THE LOVELINESS OF LADYBIRDS there is something odd going on at 'The Brindle Horse' Hotel and it's Detective Inspector Deverell's job to find out exactly what. On this bright spring morning in 1894, he must contend not only with the strange disappearance of a groom from a wedding breakfast in the hotel dining room, but also untangle another mystery-- one that's lain dormant for ten years. He's quite sure, you see, that both events are somehow entwined and with his care for detail he's just the man to sort it all out.

He soon discovers that 'The Brindle Horse' Hotel is a building with an ancient and fascinating history. At one time in its long life it was a hideout for smugglers, highwaymen and other reprobates who fled across the Yorkshire countryside to evade justice. According to fussy hotel manager Mr. Fred Elkins, that was all in the past and the hotel is now a respectable establishment for the wealthy and well-shod, where fine, discriminating guests come to recuperate and enjoy the tranquil setting on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. But is 'The Brindle Horse' once again, being used for an old and familiar purpose? What does it hide now?

Mr. Elkins has been the manager for three years and he's very anxious that the hotel should retain its good reputation among the older, richer folk who mostly make up its clientele. So he is not at all keen to revisit the infamous events of ten years ago, when a young man named Hywel Ellis disappeared from the hotel grounds and Mrs. Siddaway, apprehended in possession of a bloody knife, was arrested for his murder. It was a scandal that made the newspapers for months, but Mr. Elkins does not like to hear it mentioned. He would rather pretend he never heard of it -- that it has nothing to do with his establishment. Instead he prefers to focus on the hotel's old-fashioned grandeur, which means sticking to all the little traditions enjoyed by his repeat guests. And they are not the sort who would want to be reminded of the scarlet Siddaway woman and her young lover. A bloody murder is hardly polite afternoon tea dance conversation.

The manager knows that his greatest competition is 'The Swan' -- a more updated and luxurious hotel in the nearby city of York. He has heard that they have not only installed a device to move guests from one floor to another, but also flushing conveniences! The very idea makes him quake in his shoes. He swears that dangerous electric light will never cross his threshold. As for anybody coming to his hotel for the purpose of ghost-hunting or any other supernatural activity -- a new fancy of "hoi polloi" -- he refuses to countenance the idea. His clientele are far above any of that nonsense, as he proudly assures the detective. They stick to quiet strolls, a steady row upon the hotel lake, or attending an extremely proper and dignified afternoon tea dance.

According to Fred Elkins, the hotel and its staff are above suspicion. But is he telling the truth? Does he really know what's going on in his own hotel?

Apart from 'The Swan' -- which gives him a great many headaches-- Mr. Elkins' main daily annoyance is the hotel's head housekeeper, Mrs. Jenny Eastman. She knows how to tease and get under his skin, and so amuses herself by doing this regularly. She is a bespectacled widow of middle-age, cheerful and motherly, but also in possession of a disrespectful sense of naughty humor. She oversees the chambermaids in the hotel and is supposed to ensure that all the guests have whatever comforts they require in their rooms. She sometimes gets a little distracted from her work however, especially after a tipple of whiskey in her cozy little parlor. It's not only her hair that tends to come unpinned over the course of the day. But Mrs. Eastman has been on the current hotel staff longer than anybody and she knows many of the hotel's secrets. She's certainly not likely to share them with her nemesis - the pretentious, ill-tempered Fred Elkins -- but she doesn't mind inviting Detective Inspector Deverell into her parlor for a nip of good whiskey and some enlightening chatter.

She seems to be a wise lady, if a little mischievous, and she's seen a lot of things through the lenses of her shiny spectacles over the years. But is she telling the truth? Are there some secrets of 'The Brindle Horse' hotel that she's not sharing with Tolly Deverell?

Find out more on July 5th and get your copy of A LOVELINESS OF LADYBIRDS.

(Images here: Detail from "Too Early" by James Tissot 1873; Streatley Inn by Mortimer Menpes 1906)

Character Showcase - Dr. Evander Fielding

Readers of the first novel in the series (“BESPOKE”) will remember Dr. Fielding, the handsome and gallant gentleman who has his eye on our heroine Miss Lucy Greenwood, owner of Bespoke Temptations bakery and teashop.

Unfortunately for Dr. Fielding, Miss Greenwood prefers to keep him as a friend rather than a suitor. Her comments to this effect, however, have not prevented him from the occasional attempt to change her mind. He thinks she’s a lady in need of somebody to save her reputation and he, being a somber, earnest and caring fellow, believes he is the man who can do that.

Evander grew up in Oxfordshire, in the village of Tender Tumblety, very much under his stern mother’s thumb. His father died when Evander was only four, so he and his mother were left to struggle on together. It has not been a loving, happy relationship, since his mother made it clear that a son could be nothing but a disappointment. Whatever he did or said, it was always the wrong thing. As soon as he had the opportunity, therefore, he came north to Yorkshire, to start his own life away from Mrs. Henrietta Fielding’s bitter resentment.

He knows his mother would never approve of a modern, independent-minded woman like Lucy Greenwood for her son, but perhaps that is why he pursues her. Mrs. Fielding did not approve of his decision to move to Yorkshire either, and he did not listen. He would be shocked if she ever approved of anything he did.

But since he arrived in Yorkshire last year and took over a medical practice within sight of an old hotel called ‘The Brindle Horse’, things have not been going so well for Evander Fielding. He’s been suffering bad dreams about a murder that once took place at the hotel and he’s beginning to wonder whether they truly are dreams, or whether they might be memories.

The last time he was here, ten years ago, he stayed one night at ‘The Brindle Horse’ hotel and accidentally became involved, as a reluctant witness, in a scandalous murder trial. His mother warned him then, that no good could come of travelling so far away from her. For a while, after it happened, he was inclined to believe her; his life  was turned upside down and inside out by those shocking events and everything that followed. But surely it was simply ill luck that he should get mixed up in something like that once before. It must be safe now to return, he’d thought. It couldn’t possibly happen to him again, could it?

Although living there, close to ‘The Brindle Horse’ hotel, he has not yet been back inside it. He can’t quite seem to summon the courage. But he keeps the building within his sights, just in case he catches those wisteria covered walls up to no good.

Something has drawn him back there after ten years, but what could it be? Or who could it be? After all, ‘The Ladybird Murder’-- as the newspapers called it at the time-- was never solved. No body was ever found and the accused murderess, Mrs. Amarinda Siddaway, was eventually acquitted.

Perhaps Evander’s dreams are trying to tell him something about that decade-old mystery. Something he knows about the case, but has been trying to forget.

******

What's troubling poor Dr. Fielding? Find out on July 5th in "A LOVELINESS OF LADYBIRDS"

(Image used here: Frank Holl, self-portrait 1863)

Character Showcase - The Bride

In my upcoming release “A Loveliness of Ladybirds”, Detective Inspector Ptolemy (“Tolly”) Deverell has another strange case on his hands. It’s Spring 1894 and the detective ---seconded to Yorkshire from Scotland Yard just that previous autumn -- is still settling in and getting to know the community. He doesn’t even have a proper place to stay yet, as he divides his time between a cold room in a boarding house and a makeshift bed in his office at the police station. But he is slowly making friends – among them, Miss Lucy Greenwood, cake creator extraordinaire and local businesswoman.

Together they are about to embark on a case that begins with the two of them on opposing sides. In fact, it seems likely to put a stop to their fledgling friendship before it’s barely got off the ground.

On the other hand, it might just bring them even closer together. After all, as one wise character says, “It takes steel and stone to make a spark”.

“A Loveliness of Ladybirds” – A Bespoke Novel, will be available at all the best online bookstores on July 5^th.

Today, please enjoy the first character showcase to introduce the story.

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THE BRIDE

Known to her friends as “Edie”, Edina Meridies is a governess, who has done well for herself by marrying a baronet – Sir Buxton Leopold Augusto Aurelianus Hardwicke.  

The daughter of a seamstress, Edie was a charity pupil at the school they all attended as girls. Her school fees were paid by a wealthy family, who sponsored her education. Since Lucy was in a similar position at the school and she too came from the working class (her mother being a cook), the two girls had formed a friendship that lasted for the four years Lucy spent there. They were also befriended by two other girls from Yorkshire – Matilda and Clara—who, although being from wealthier, upper class families, were singled out and teased too for their northern accents. The four girls became “The Yorkshire Puddings”, forming a bond that endured even when they all went their separate ways after school. Over the years since then, they have kept in touch, off and on, through letters.

Edie’s wedding is the first time they have all been together in a dozen years.

But her three old school friends have mixed feelings about the groom. Sir Buxton is much older than Edie. As a dull politician, very fond of his own voice, he has not particularly impressed any of her bridesmaids. They know that Edie is very romantic and spends many hours reading novels of dashing, brooding heroes and their starry-eyed heroines. How can she find happiness with a man so very far from those romantic heroes of fiction? Can she be entirely sure that this is the right choice?

But demure, sweet-natured and delicate, Edie was engaged ten years ago and that ended in tragedy. Her friends, therefore, must put aside their doubts and hope that this time she has found happiness – and love-- at last.

Lucy is not only a bridesmaid, but she was hired to provide the wedding cake too, so she must hope for good fortune in this match. And somehow she must ignore that chill creeping up the back of her neck, warning her that not all is as it seems. Her friend could be in danger from more than an ill-suited match, but is it her place to say so?

Edie seems content with her choice and everybody says that at least she will be rich now. But will she? Lucy has yet to receive a payment for her wedding cake and one of the other bridesmaids found an unpaid bill pinned to her gown. And will they ever get around to serving the food at the wedding breakfast? Lucy has been looking forward to a feast all morning and when she's hungry she's never in the best of moods.

What can possibly be holding up the lobster salad? 

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Image: The Wedding Dress by Thomas Benjamin Kennington, 1889)

A Loveliness of Ladybirds (A Bespoke novel)

Coming July 5th! The second installment in my Victorian mystery romance series is about to hit internet bookstores, so if you haven't read the first (BESPOKE), now is the time to catch up on the story so far.

It's not necessary to have read the first book to enjoy the second, but it may increase your enjoyment as you get to know the characters.

Below is the blurb for the upcoming release "A Loveliness of Ladybirds". An excerpt will be available later this week, along with the usual character showcases.

Thank you for reading!

* * * * *

Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home…

Ten years ago, at ‘The Brindle Horse’ Hotel, Amarinda Siddaway ran barefoot out of the fog, with a bloody knife in her hand and a children’s rhyme on her lips. Tangled with rumors of lurid scandal, an illicit love affair with a young man a dozen years her junior, and a missing corpse, the mystery of Mrs. Siddaway seemed destined never to be solved. Tried for murder and acquitted, the scarlet woman disappeared from the world just as thoroughly as her alleged victim.

But was she truly innocent, or did she get away with murder?

Now, a decade later, a very similar crime has been committed, once again at the same hotel. Can it be nothing more than simple coincidence that several characters involved in the first incident are present at the scene of the second? Another woman with a bloody weapon in her hand; another nursery rhyme, and another missing dead man.

Some folk might think that old ghosts are to blame. Or is it the ladybirds again?

A spinning weathervane on a boathouse roof, points in turn to all four directions of the compass. And four letters, sealed with red wax, stamped with the image of a ladybird, are out in the world, linking both crimes with a curious, winding chain.

And there is only one man with the patience and wisdom to unwind it. Only one man can connect the clues and stop that weathervane spinning.

Detective Inspector Deverell is not fond of coincidences or the supernatural. But whatever is going on at ‘The Brindle Horse’, he’ll get to the bottom of it. Fortunately, he has the eager, amateur sleuth and creator of remarkable cakes, Miss Lucy Greenwood, to help him out.

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Get your copy from all online bookstores on July 5th.

(Image here, portrait by Tom Roberts 1888, public domain)

Exclusive Excerpt #3

From BESPOKE (the first book in a new Victorian series).

....

            Deverell lit a candle with a Lucifer match and took his clean shirt into the tiny adjoining cupboard. With the door shut he had just enough room to wash himself with the cold water from the ewer and then change into his fresh shirt. It was a tight squeeze, but quicker and more convenient than going to his lodgings several streets away, where the nosy landlady insisted on inane conversation before she let him pass her on the stairs, and his damp room (one shilling and sixpence a week) was so depressing and bare it physically hurt to enter it. Yes, it was even emptier than his "office".

            "Is this your family, sir?" she called out through the door. "In the photograph?"

            He banged his elbow on an empty shelf and winced, caught a curse before it escaped his tongue.

            She took his grunt for agreement. "And are they here too?"

            "No."

            "They stayed in London?"

            His throat felt tight. He pulled on his waistcoat over the clean shirt and buttoned it quickly. "They died," he said flatly. "Both she and the child."

            The child.

            At night, when Deverell closed his eyes, he saw their grey, bloated faces again— Emmaline's long, stringy hair stuck to her brow, matted with the floating detritus of the Thames. The child was still in its mother's arms when they found her, its limbs tangled in a woolen shawl.

            "We'll have a good life, don't you worry," Emmaline had written in the short note she left. "Truth is, she is not your daughter to bring up, but you were handy at the time and willing...I thought you would have guessed by now..." and the haunting words, "We need more than you can give to us."

            Apparently Tolly Deverell had, at first, promised a more stable existence than the real father of her child, and so she married him, letting him believe an egregious lie. Having sought that immediate sanctuary for herself and her daughter in his sheltered port, Emmaline then waited until, weary of what little entertainment his safe place afforded her, she went searching for the excitement of danger, leaving behind a curtly worded letter, addressed to him and set upon the chenille table cloth beside a cold plate of ham and potatoes.

            As Miss Greenwood said, men did not have to be in love. But they could be fools of hope too, driven by a sense of duty. And find themselves led by it into a dark, dark corner.

           "I am so very sorry," said Miss Greenwood. Her face was flushed when he came out of the cupboard in his shirt and waistcoat. "How dreadful that they are both...gone." At least she did not ask him the hows, whys and wherefores.

            He tied his cravat and then hurriedly shrugged back into his jacket. "Such events are not uncommon in this world," he said. No need to tell her more than that.

            He probably kept that photograph on his desk to punish himself, he thought grimly. There could be no other reason why he made himself look at it every day.

            Lucy Greenwood was still watching him with large, sorrowful eyes, but Deverell did not want pity, so he directed the subject back to Lady Isolda's secret. "Even Doctor Barraclough, the family doctor for forty years, knew nothing about her ladyship's disability."

            "I am not terribly surprised at that. I do not think his expertise goes much farther than leech-craft. I'm sure he has no formal qualifications. But you must not think we are backward here compared to London. The new young doctor at Quipsey Thorpe is very well educated in all the most recent advances in medicine. Doctor Fielding is his name. He is much better informed than old Barraclough," she said proudly. "And he stays awake when one talks to him. He's quite charming."

            "Oh?"

            "Handsome and very polite."

            He sniffed. "That's nice." Yes, Doctor Fielding probably did not wash his basics in a cupboard by candlelight. Probably had good clothes, well maintained and a comfortable, non-obtrusive housekeeper. Must have women queuing up to sew on his buttons and rescue his drooping coat hem.

            "If I were you I would ask him about prosthetic limbs and such. I suspect there is very little he doesn't know. He's just one of those people who makes his patients feel secure and in good hands. He has that way about him. Bedside manner, do they call it?"

            "He sounds like a paragon of the medical community."

            "He is incredibly clever. I think he's from Cheshire."

            "Oxfordshire."

            She looked surprised. "Oh?"

            "Doctor Fielding and I met yesterday when he assisted at the post-mortem. Doctor Barraclough refused to participate."

            She pursed her lips tightly and then they flew open again to demand, "Why did you not tell me? Why let me blabber on about the man, if you'd already met him?" Very prim, she put up her chin. "Another of your jokes at my expense, I suppose."

            "You seemed to enjoy yourself describing his charms. I wouldn't want to suspend your pleasure, madam. I know how you young women can be."

            "How we can be?"

            "About the cherished subject of your latest, unhinged romantic fancy."

            She got up and came toward him with a determined look upon her face. "The only fancy I cherish is enrobed in fondant." He flinched, but to his surprise, she walked by and into the cupboard, where she picked up the lint brush. "You must come to the shop and try one. It's based on a French petit four. Actually I got the idea from Mary, who is always trying to sneak a bite of cake without being caught. One of my fancy Fondant Dainties, being much smaller, leave no crumbs."

            A second later she was sweeping the lint brush across his shoulders with firm strokes. He did not know how he felt about this unsolicited assistance, but Miss Lucy Greenwood in motion was a force with which one simply did not argue. Before he could get away, she turned her attention to his cravat.

            Apparently he had not tied a good enough knot. Not to her standard, in any case. She would be particular, of course, her own appearance being so smartly styled and tailored.

            It was a long time since a woman put her hands on his clothes—when he was still in them, in any case.

            His fingers curled into loose fists at his side and he focused his attention over her head.

            That fragrance, sweet and delicate, but just a little spicy too, drifted up from her scarlet gloves. Her touch was light, swift no more than the brush of scattered dandelion seeds blown through the air, but it was enough to waft away every last, lingering speck of annoyance he'd felt that morning. Lucy Greenwood was there before him and everything changed. When such a woman entered one's life and fixed the knot of one's neck tie, taking command so smoothly and naturally, it was highly unlikely she might ever walk out of one's life again without leaving an indelible mark.

            Did she know this, or was it merely a casual gesture prompted by her creative and demanding eye for appearances?

            "You'll have to try one of my Fondant Dainties on your next visit," she said.

            "Hmm." Deverell looked down at her from beneath half-lowered lashes as she stepped back and gave a quick nod of smug approval for her own handiwork. "Now that you've corrected that pressing matter," he muttered gruffly, "there is something else you might do for me, since you're here, madam."

            "Oh?" Her eyes widened again as she gazed up at him, and he felt himself in danger of drowning in caramel. A curious death. Definitely preferable to being shot at or stabbed. As he should know, having suffered both.

            She held out his coat, and he slid his arms into it. "I'd like you to come with me to the morgue and identify a body, Miss Greenwood. If you feel able."

            "A body?" Her expression was full of curiosity. "Lady Isolda's?"

            "Another body we found early this morning at Welford Hall. Hidden under a bed." He liked arousing her curiosity, he realized in that moment. Enjoyed seeing her eyes widen, little stars sparking to life within them. Far better that than her sympathy for a widower or pity for a man who couldn't bear to study his reflection long enough to tie his own knot. "Chopped up into several pieces. That's if you're not squeamish, of course, Miss Greenwood."

    

        "I told you I'm not," she exclaimed. As she patted down his coat, her hands alighted on a pocket bulge and before he could stop her she had slid her bossy, prying fingers inside. "What's this? Meat pie? Do you often walk about with pie in your pocket?"

            He scowled. "I saved it from my supper last night, in case I found the Welford Hall scullery maid on the street. She's missing. Poor mite must be hungry by now."

            "Well, unless you want every dog in York taking chase, I suggest you leave it behind for now." She set the little bundle on his desk. "Make haste then, Deverell. Take me to the body pieces." She was already heading for the door. "See? I knew you'd need my help. Thank goodness you put your intolerable pride aside long enough to ask me. Didn't hurt that much, did it?"

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Go on, I dare you - you know you want to read more. Take a chance on a copy of BESPOKE now available as an e-book from all the best online stores and soon to be in print. Please leave a review -- they are always appreciated by a hard-working author!

(Image: Portrait of a lady reading a book, by William Oliver II 1823)