Next Mystery Will be Set in Venice

The second Sargent/Paget Mystery is set in the dreamlike, watery city of Venice -- a tourist attraction even in 1879 when the likes of Henry James, John Sargent, James Whistler, and many other artists, literati and socialites from all over the world gathered to glide along the canals and drink espresso at Florian's in St. Mark's Square. I spent some days in Venice about two years ago, and it made a deep impression on me as I walked through the narrow calles and stone campos, looking for all the places that John Sargent may have planted his easel and painted watercolors evocative of the antiquity of this city-state. Here are some comparisons of his paintings and my photographs. (I like the paintings better!)

Doing Research OnSite - Setting the Scene

I spent three weeks in September visiting the three main locations that are featured in my first Sargent-Paget mystery, The Spoils of Avalon, and the next few posts will reflect my experiences at Lanercost Priory and Brampton Town in the north of England (Cumbria), and the village of Glastonbury with the ruins of the Abbey in Somerset in the south. Some intriguing and enlightening experiences!

LANERCOST PRIORY
Built in 1169 by the Dacre family, the Priory was the home of Augustinian canons who, unlike monks in a monastery, did not live a cloistered life, but rather went out to the people in the surrounding areas, preaching and teaching and serving the poor. 

When I first arrived at the site, which is now managed by the English Heritage Society, I was struck with how small it seemed, and I didn't expect that. Set in the midst of rolling hills alive with numerous

flocks of sheep that move from meadow to meadow throughout the day, and surrounded with the chirping of birds, roosters crowing, and jackdaws swooping and calling, the Prior is, at first impression, rather homey and domestic. After a very little while, however, I began to feel it was just exactly the right size, and felt very good just walking around the building and grounds. The baa-ing of the sheep, lowing of cattle, and the roosters and chickens clucking and carrying on made it feel timeless, as if these were the sounds that the people in the Middle Ages heard all day long, too. There were no airplanes overhead, and the car noises were relatively infrequent, especially after dusk.



Although the ruins are extensive, there is a considerable part of the original church that is still in use as an Anglican church today, St. Mary Magdalene--it had been repaired (using many stones taken from the nearby Hadrian's Wall) and maintained since the late 1500's, after Henry VIII dissolved all the Roman Catholic religious houses, large and small--and still is home to parishioners and worshippers who are baptized, married and buried within its ancient walls.

New Historical Mystery Series Coming Soon!

The Spoils of Avalon will make its debut in early November as the first of a new series:  The John Singer Sargent / Violet Paget Mysteries. An intriguing feature of the new series is the use of two time periods for each mystery, as the amateur sleuths are drawn into solving current crimes while being led into the past for clues and information.

Watch the book trailer here: The Spoils of Avalon

The Spoils of Avalon introduces two unlikely detectives and life-long friends—beginning as young people on the verge of making their names famous for the next several decades throughout Europe and America:  the brilliant and brittle Violet Paget, known as the writer Vernon Lee, and the talented, genial portrait painter John Singer Sargent.

Written in alternating chapters between two time periods--1877 and 1539--The Spoils of Avalon creates a sparkling, magical mystery that bridges the gap between two worlds that could hardly be more different—the industrialized, Darwinian, materialistic Victorian Age and the agricultural, faith-infused life of a medieval abbey on the brink of violent change at the hands of Henry VIII.