On this day in 1887, the US Navy begins refueling operations at Pearl Harbor. At the time of the treaty, Princess Ka'iulani was an heir to the Hawaiian throne. She studied in Scotland as her father, Archibald Cleghorn, was a Scottish businessman who married into Hawaiian royalty. Princess Ka'iulani might have felt the same isolation as Lady Darby in Anna Lee Huber's debut historical mystery, THE ANATOMIST'S WIFE.
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| Princess Ka'iulani |
Anna joins me for a cozy chat - her bio provided much fodder for this interview!
Kim: Star Wars and A Team - staples from my childhood! Have
you modeled any of your characters after either? On a personal note,
hubby refused to see the A Team movie as he didn't want to spoil the real
thing. Kids and I loved it, especially the flying tank!
Anna: I have not. At least, not intentionally. But I think a little bit of Hannibal might
sneak in. He was always my favorite.
I haven’t seen the movie
either. I initially had the same worries
as your husband, but then I tried to watch it on a long plane flight (to the UK
of all places, when I was going over to do research on THE ANATOMIST’S WIFE.) I only made it about twenty minutes into it
because having the screen so close to my face was giving me an awful headache,
and I’ve yet to hunt it down to watch the rest.
My husband has seen it though, and loved it.
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| The A Team needed a helo to escape ... |
Kim: Any chance you can rewrite
early manuscripts for publication as a YA novel?
Anna: Maybe. I hadn’t thought of doing that before. But they would definitely take a lot of
work. And I would need to learn to write
in a YA voice. Adult authors who write
YA well truly have a gift for capturing the teenage voice. I don’t have a natural ability to do
that. I think I would really need to
work at it. But it might be fun to work
on a Where in World is Carmen Sandiego? spin-off.
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| These wahine are ready to sing opera! |
Anna: Definitely. I think music has influenced my writing in
many ways. It takes a great deal of
discipline to be a Music major. You
spend many long hours practicing, perfecting just one aria. Getting the diction, the intonation, the
rhythm, the emotion correct. And yet a
song is at its most beautiful when these elements are so innate that you don’t
have to think about them as you perform, but can just let the music sweep you
away. Writing is not so different.
Opera, and classic music in
general, has such a rich history. It’s
the perfect platform to teach storytelling, particularly stories with a
romantic twist. The costumes and
historic settings certainly lend themselves to historical books, but there are
also shows with more fantastical and paranormal elements, such as The Magic
Flute or The Flying Dutchman.
It’s a treasure trove of learning opportunities.
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| Corgarff Castle - a remote location in the Highlands |
Anna: The Anatomist’s Wife is the
first book in a new historical mystery series, and is set in Scotland
1830. It features Kiera, Lady Darby, a
gifted portrait artist and the widow of a notorious anatomist, who is forced to
confront her macabre past when a house guest is murdered at her sister’s remote
Highland estate. She’s asked to aid the
insufferable Sebastian Gage, an inexperienced inquiry agent, with the
investigation, and is determined to both protect her family and clear her
reputation—even as she risks becoming the killer’s next victim.
My inspiration for this book came
out of the creation of Kiera. When I
decided to try writing a historical mystery, I knew I wanted me female
protagonist to have certain skills that would make her valuable in an
investigation. So I made her a portrait
artist with keen observation skills, and then decided she should also have some
knowledge of human anatomy. By the time
I’d finished crafting her back story so that she could feasibly have obtained
this education, the plot of The Anatomist’s Wife had emerged.
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| Blackness Castle, north of Edinburgh |
As for our troublemaking tabby… We keep threatening to bring her home a
little friend, but haven’t yet done so.
She’s a solitary feline, and does not play well with others, even other
humans. My husband and I are the only
ones allowed near her, and she sticks to us like glue. But we love her just the way she is,
troublemaking and all.
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| My troublemaking cat, Zsa Zsa! |
Mahalo, Anna, for being my guest! Anna is giving away a copy of THE ANATOMIST'S WIFE to one randomly selected commenter.
Scotland, 1830. Following the death of her husband, Lady Darby has taken refuge at her sister's estate, finding solace in her passion for painting. But when her hosts throw a house party for the cream of London society, Kiera is unable to hide from the ire of those who believe her to be as unnatural as her husband, an anatomist who used her artistic talents to suit his own macabre purposes.
Kiera wants to put her past aside, but when one of the house guests is murdered, her brother-in-law asks her to utilize her knowledge of human anatomy to aid the insufferable Sebastian Gage--a fellow guest with some experience as an inquiry agent. While Gage is clearly more competent than she first assumed, Kiera isn't about to let her guard down as accusations and rumors swirl.
When Kiera and Gage's search leads them to even more gruesome discoveries, a series of disturbing notes urges Lady Darby to give up the inquiry. But Kiera is determined to both protect her family and prove her innocence, even as she risks becoming the next victim...
To enter the giveaway,
1. Leave a comment about mysteries - do you solve them along with the protagonists?
Tonight's episode of Elementary was fun as Sherlock slowly unfolded the elements of the crime, even admitting he made a miscalculation along the way.
2. Comments are open through Saturday, November 10, 10 pm in Hawaii.
3. I'll post the winner on Sunday, November 11, Veterans Day.
Mahalo,
Kim in Hawaii
To learn more about Anna and her books, check out her website at annaleehuber.com.
I love guessing on who the killer, thief is!!!
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy a good mystery. Reading or watching them is always fun especially if there is a good twist. I like to think I am solving the crime along the way, but many times I am surprised by the cleverness of the plot. The book sounds really different, thanks for a chance to win.
ReplyDeleteyes, i would
ReplyDeleteI love a good mystery! :) I am not always good with solving them unless they are really obvious though. I still like Agatha Christie a lot though.
ReplyDeleteI'm really a good detective when I'm watching a murder mystery, or crime show. Yes, I always guess the culprit because of all the clues given. However, in the real world, I would be hopeless and probably accuse the wrong person of the crime.
ReplyDeleteWhat am amazing review, and one book that I'd truly love to read. Thank you for this opportunity.
I feel the same way, Diane. I can do it in a book/on TV, but in real life I'm not so sure I'd be good at it. :)
ReplyDeleteWe'd be hopeless as detectives then Anna. :-)
DeleteThanks for the awesome post and congrats to Anna on the new release! I had read such great pre-release buzz about this book, I already had it on my wishlist :)
ReplyDeleteI try but I'm not always successful. But it's fun to me to just go along and "watch" as the characters try and solve it. The more convoluted, hard to solve, the better!
Oh yes, can't help myself and I truly love doing it.
ReplyDeleteSolving the mystery along the way is half the fun! I've always loved reading mysteries. This one sounds intriguing.
ReplyDeleteYes, I like playing dective finding clues just like the protagnists. It helps me get into a story even more.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone! I love it when I think I've got the murderer/thief/what-have-you figured out, and then I discover the author completely managed to fool me, even though the clues were there all along. Doesn't happen often, but when it does, it absurdly makes me very happy. :)
ReplyDeleteI've always enjoy mysteries and since I love reading about Scotland and cats - this sounds like a wonderful story and something I would really enjoy. The only time a mystery bothers me if the author does what I call cheating - a surprise ending that makes no sense but luckily that doesn't happen very often!
ReplyDeleteI never could resist a good mystery and always try to puzzle it out along with the protagonist. The more twists and turns involved all the better.
ReplyDeleteI try to solve them and sometimes I succeed and sometimes i do not.
ReplyDeleteYes, always. When I'm watching a TV series I'm always like: "Hey, what about that?" "Nooo, you must remember the guy" I drive myself crazy and is the same with books! But sometimes I miss things :(
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy reading mysteries. I always try to to figure out who did it and why. I'm not always right! lol
ReplyDeleteI always try to solve them.
ReplyDeleteIf I am reading, or even watching, a mystery I do try to solve it. Sometimes I can work it all out.
ReplyDeleteOh, I do love a good mysery. The tension and suspense builds and I try so hard to visualize the crime and who could possibly have been the one to perform the "dirty deed"!! This sounds like a fun book and one that I would love to read.
ReplyDeleteSet in Scotland, great choice because then you had to travel for your research! Smart woman.
ReplyDeleteI rarely read straight up mysteries so I dont have much of an opinion on the question. That said, I do love when there is a mystery in the storyline.
I really enjoy mysteries, but must admit that most of the time I don't figure out 'who dunnit' until the end!
ReplyDeleteI admit I "try" to solve mysteries along with the protagonists, not usually with much success. I'll never be a detective, that's for sure. :D I love mysteries though, and it's fun to find out "who done it," at the end.
ReplyDeletei'm usually to involved with the story to solve the mystery, plus, i would just be too distracted trying to figure it out!!! LOL!!
ReplyDeletethank you for the giveaway!!!