Fall 2007


NEW IN STORES!
Face Down O’er the Border

10th Lady Appleton Mystery

New in stores this September is the tenth Face Down Mystery, set in 1577. Published by Perseverance Press, it will be issued in trade paperback and sell for $14.95. The ISBN number to give to booksellers is 987-1-880284-91-9. This will be the last Face Down for awhile, but don’t worry. I’m not through with these characters. I have plans for Rosamond in particular.

Face Down O’er the Border takes place in the Scotland, where Catherine, Lady Glenelg has gone because her son, the young Lord Glenelg, has been taken from her to share lessons with the young king of Scotland, James VI (the son of Mary, queen of Scots). Catherine is sharing Glenelg House in Canongate with her late husband’s mother and plotting to get the boy back when she finds herself a suspect in a murder and has to go into hiding. As soon as Susanna Appleton hears of her plight, she and Nick Baldwin head o’er the border to help out.

Also in Stores this Fall
Kilt Dead

by Kaitlyn Dunnett (aka Kathy Lynn Emerson)

This is the first of the Liss MacCrimmon Mysteries (NOT “Lisa” as so many of the online bookstores have it!). It is set in the fictional village of Moosetookalook, Maine and the sleuth is a professional Scottish dancer who has returned to her old hometown after suffering a career-ending knee injury. Kilt Dead is published by Kensington and the hardcover ($22.00) will be in stores in August, 2007. It is also an alternate selection of the Mystery Guild and it will be reprinted in both paperback and large print editions next year. The ISBN is 978-0-7582163-9-7.

Forthcoming in the Spring

My nonfiction look at historical mystery writing, HOW TO WRITE KILLER HISTORICAL MYSTERIES: THE ART AND ADVENTURE OF SLEUTHING THROUGH THE PAST, will be published in trade paperback by Perseverance Press in the spring of 2008. This is my take on the subject, augmented by comments, anecdotes, and helpful hints from numerous historical mystery writers, plus input from editors, booksellers, reviewers, and readers.


THE LAW IN SCOTLAND IN 1577


I made a big mistake when I started writing Face Down O’er the Border. I forgot that the laws on murder (and many other things) were different in Scotland than they were in England. Worse, I couldn’t find much about the law in 1577. That’s when I turned to fellow historical mystery writer Candace Robb, who writes a medieval series set in Scotland. She introduced me, via email, to Dr. Elizabeth Ewan, a professor at the University of Guelph in Canada. Imagine my delight when I discovered that Dr. Ewan’s current research had as its focus the exact place in the exact decade in which I was interested.

As it turned out, I had to make some adjustments in my plot to make “police procedure” accurate, but as is usually the case, this ended up making the story more interesting. For starters, there were three types of homicide in Scotland. The first was murder, which meant it was done in secret, without witnesses. The second was forethought felony, ie. premeditated. The third was chaud melle—killing arising from a quarrel. The punishment for all, if the case was prosecuted in criminal court, was death and the confiscation of moveable goods. Murder by poison could also be prosecuted as treason, which would add forfeiture of lands to the punishment. In practice, however, the judge did not always impose the death penalty. Sometimes the punishment was banishment.

In the sixteenth century in Scotland, most criminal prosecutions were “private” prosecutions. In other words, they were brought not by the state but by a kinsman of the victim. This person would make a complaint to the bailie and purchase a “criminal letter” which called the accused to appear in court on a certain date. If the accused did not appear, he would be “put on the horn” (outlawed). When the case came to court, there would be a jury which would hear witnesses and arguments, then withdraw to deliberate and return a verdict. Criminal prosecutions could result in execution, but the person making the charges had another alternative, a civil prosecution seeking “assythment” (compensation). This seems to have been the preferred way of going about things. After the compensation was paid, the accused would be granted a “letter of slains” promising no further prosecution and would also purchase a letter of remission from the king granting him (or her) a pardon. Sometimes the victim’s kin would start a prosecution in court as a way of forcing the accused to agree to assythment.

My murder takes place in Canongate, at that time an ecclesiastical burgh and part of a “regality.” Had the case been prosecuted, it would have been heard in the local court instead of in the king’s central “justice court” in Edinburgh, even though Edinburgh was just a stone’s throw away.


SIXTEENTH CENTURY EDINBURGH


In the sixteenth century the city of Edinburgh consisted of 140 acres inside the Flodden Wall, containing a population close to 12,000 in 1560. There were four gateways—West Port, Bristo Port, Cowgate Port, and Netherbow Port. The latter led directly into Canongate along the Royal Mile. The High Street was paved in 1532. It was lined with houses of unpolished stone faced with wooden galleries and outstanding features were the new Tolbooth, built in 1561, the Mercat Cross, and St. Giles Collegiate Church. Towering over everything was Edinburgh Castle. The entire city had been besieged from 1571 to 1573 and repairs were still being made in 1577.

The “Knox House” gives visitors a glimpse of a merchant’s house in the sixteenth century. It is doubtful that John Knox ever lived there, but it made a perfect place for lodgings for Annabel MacReynolds. It is just inside the Netherbow Port, with a view of the High Street, and it was divided into tenements and shops much like those I describe.


LIFE EXPECTANCY OF A SCOTS REGENT


When Mary Stewart abdicated her throne in 1567, her son was still a baby, having been born on July 19, 1566. He was housed at Sterling Castle, the royal nursery, and a regent was appointed to govern the country until he came of age. The first regent was James Stewart, earl of Moray (1531-1570), Mary’s half brother. He was proclaimed regent in 1567 and was assassinated at Linlithgow in January 1570. Matthew Stewart, earl of Lennox (1516-1571), the king’s grandfather (father of Lord Darnley), succeeded Moray. He was killed in a skirmish at Stirling in September 1571. The next regent was John Erskine, earl of Mar (c.1510-1572), who died a natural if sudden death on October 28, 1572. His widow continued as the king’s governess at Stirling. Their son, the new earl, known as "Jockie of the sclaitiss" (slates) for his skill in mathematics, was one of King James’s schoolmates.

James Douglas, 4th earl of Morton (1525-1581) is regent during the period of the novel. I’ve given him a fictional cousin, Elspeth, as a go-between, so he never actually appears in the story. He rarely left Edinburgh while he was regent, and when he did travel it was by coach, which was both unusual and costly. He had a bodyguard of forty light horsemen who traveled with him. He was interested in enforcing the law and in codifying the laws. He also reduced the value of the currency during his time as regent. This did not make him popular, nor did his friendly relations with England or the elaborate building program going on at his private residences. Shortly after the events in my story, he was forced out of office, resigning in March, 1578. His downfall was brought about by Alexander Erskine, master of Mar and custodian of the king, a long-time antagonist of Morton’s. Erskine influenced his nephew the earl, who in turn influenced the king.

After Morton’s exit, King James officially became head of state when he turned twelve. He was formally installed as head of his Council and, in name, ruled the country from that time forward. In reality, of course, he was still being controlled by his elders and power would change hands several more times before James actually took charge.

In Scotland, James was King James VI. After the death of Elizabeth I in 1603, he became King James I of England. His family name, incidentally, is spelled Stewart in Scotland and Stuart in France and England.

THE KING’S TUTORS


George Buchanan (1506-1582), poet, satirist, and royal tutor, was probably just as ill-tempered as I’ve portrayed him. The 1958 biography of King James VI and I, The Wisest Fool in Christendom by William McElwee, describes Buchanan as a “gouty, crabbed, ill-tempered old man with only the classical polish of his Latin left to recall the grace and charm of his youth.” He treated the young King James abominably, and he did reply, when Lady Mar, governess of the king’s household, reproached him for flogging the king, by saying, “Madam, I have whipped his arse. You can kiss it if you like.” Buchanan, who was a supporter of the earl of Morton, had a falling out with him over a favorite horse in March of 1578. The loss of Buchanan’s support contributed to Morton’s decision to resign as regent.


Peter Young (1544-1628) seems a much more likeable sort. McElwee characterizes him as “fresh from the hothouse of Geneva, but gentle and loveable.” He is variously described as Buchanan’s assistant and as joint tutor to the king with Buchanan. In 1577, although I make no mention of it in my story, he married the daughter of a gentleman of the king’s bedchamber. They would go on to have twelve children.

The young King James was well educated. He spoke Greek, Latin, French, English, and Scots and was competant in Italian and in Spanish. He does not, however, seem to have been a very nice child. Historians describe him as slovenly, bad mannered, bad tempered, and a prig. Physically, he was not impressive either. He had spindly legs, a narrow jaw, and “staring” eyes. The positive qualities that have come down to us are that he delighted in puns and was a good rider and that, except for his temper, was “amiable.”

WHAT’S NEXT IN THE DIANA SPAULDING MYSTERY SERIES?


The Diana Spaulding Mysteries were always intended to be a four-book series and the fourth volume, LETHAL LEGEND will be published in April, 2008. In this final episode in the story, Diana and Ben are back in Maine with their wedding day fast approaching. The families are gathering in Bangor, and not necessarily hitting it off, so when Ben suddenly disappears, Diana has to wonder if he’s just trying to escape the pre-nuptial madness.

The mystery plot revolves around strange happenings on a small private island in Penobscot Bay, the home of Ben’s childhood friend Graham Somener. Graham has allowed Miss Serena Dunbar, a lady archaeologist, to excavate on the island, but someone may be trying to stop her from finding the remains of an early settlement.

Once again the cover art is by the talented Linda Weatherly S. and although I don’t have the finished cover at this point, I can show you one of the preliminary drawings. This scene is early in the book, when Diana first tracks Ben down on Keep Island.


A particularly enjoyable part of writing LETHAL LEGEND was doing research right here in Maine. Scenes in the book take place not only in Bangor but in Belfast, Bucksport, and Ellsworth, and on Islesboro, all lovely spots to visit on the Maine coast.


A FEW WORDS ABOUT LISS MACCRIMMON AND KAITLYN DUNNETT


KILT DEAD will already be in stores as you read this, and this new series has its own webpage at www.kaitlyndunnett.com for more information, but I thought my historical mystery fans might like to know how I came up with the names for both my sleuth and my pseudonym.

Liss MacCrimmon first, especially since there is a tie in to the family name in FACE DOWN O’ER THE BORDER. The MacCrimmons were a famous family of bagpipers. Depending on who you believe, they originally came to Scotland from Cremona in Italy, or from Ireland. I thought this would be a particularly appropriate name for a character in a series with a Scottish heritage theme running through it. As for her first name, which is Liss (not Lisa as most of the online bookstores have it), that is short for Amaryllis. Her mother, Violet, named her Amaryllis Rosalie MacCrimmon.

I used a pseudonym once before, for three romances written for Silhouette. That one was Kaitlyn (the name I’d have given myself rather than Kathy Lynn) Gorton (my maiden name). I didn’t want to use the same pseudonym again, especially since these new books are mysteries, not romances, so I kept the Kaitlyn and named myself after one of the writers I most admire, Dorothy Dunnett.



Kathy Lynn Emerson's
Fall 2007 Speaking and Signing Schedule

(and “Kaitlyn Dunnett” will be there, too)
check www.kathylynnemerson.com/tour.htm for updates and additions

August 29, 6:30 P.M.
Talk and Book Signing
Freeport Community Library
Freeport, Maine

September 8, 2-4 P.M.
Book Signing
The Fertile Mind
Belfast, Maine
with Dorothy Cannell

September 27-30
Bouchercon
Anchorage, Alaska
"History in Jeopardy" panel with Rhys Bowen, Jeri Westerson & Patricia Wynn, moderated by Suzanne Arruda
"Author's Choice Session," 2 P.M. Friday

October 9, 7 P.M.
Talk and Signing
Curtis Memorial Library
Brunswick, Maine

October 19, 12-1 P. M.
Literary Luncheon, Program, and Signing
Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library
Boothbay Harbor, Maine
contact the library to make a reservation for the luncheon

October 25, 7 P. M.
Panel and Signing
Madison Library
Madison, N.H.
with Cindy Davis



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