Giveaway Ends 9/2
What does it mean to you to be called an author?
It’s a dream come true, in so many ways! I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was about six years old. Having the chance to do this professionally, and to have other people read my books, is something that will never stop being exciting.
That said, I don’t think you have to be published to be an author. I know brilliant writers whose books aren’t published yet, or who prefer to write just for themselves and aren’t interested in publication. I think “being an author” means something different for every writer.
Which book are we talking about today?
Death at the Manor is the third book in my Lily Adler Mysteries, which are set in Regency England. It’s a traditional whodunit with an amateur sleuth—and this time, with a locked room mystery!
Can you tell us a bit about the story and its main characters?
Death at the Manor continues the story of Lily Adler, a young widow living in Regency England. After the unexpected death of her husband, Lily had to rebuild her life through a great deal of determination and with the help of a few excellent friends. But in the process of doing so, she developed an unfortunate habit of stumbling over mysteries in need of solving.
This time around, she’s visiting her aunt in Hampshire when she hears of a ghost who is said to haunt a local family’s manor. When Lily and her friends pay a visit to learn more, they discover the family’s matriarch has died in the night under suspicious circumstances. The family believes the ghost is responsible, but skeptical Lily is sure there is more to the story. She’s determined to find out the truth before the murderer—spectral or human—strikes again.
What inspired the idea for your book?
The first two Lily Adler Mysteries were traditional whodunits. This time around, I was influenced by the creepy, campy gothic literature of the nineteenth century. I started with the ghost, continued with some romance, and added in a decaying manor full of unsettling residents—plus a locked room puzzle for my sleuth (and you!) to solve.
Tell us about a favorite character from the book.
It’s so hard to pick a favorite! Ofelia Carroway, who was part of my main detective trio in the first two books, gets several chapters from her perspective in this one, and I had so much fun writing her sneaking through the old manor and arguing with her husband.
If you were friends with a character in this book, what kinds of things would you do together?
Given how often I make my characters encounter dead bodies, I think I’d be afraid of spending time with them in real life!
What made you say to yourself, “Today, I will publish.”?
I wish it happened that way! Most writers I know, myself included, write several books that will never see the light of day on the way to writing the one that will someday be published. Eventually, all that practice pays off, and you end up with a book that you’re excited to share with the world.
How do you avoid or defeat writer’s block?
Does it sound awful to say I don’t really believe in it? I find that when I feel like I have “writer’s block,” it usually means I’m being too much of a perfectionist. It isn’t that there’s a “block,” it’s just that I’m worrying too much about whether the first draft is good. A first draft is never good! That’s what editing is for. If you worry too much about getting the words exactly right, you’ll never get them down on the paper.
What are you working on in the near future?
More mysteries! I’m currently writing the fourth Lily Adler Mystery, which will be out next year.
What advice would you give to a writer working on their first book?
It takes about 300 typed words to fill a page. It takes about 300 typed pages to fill a book. So if you write 300 words a day, this time next year, you’ll have a book.
It might not be a good book! But that’s okay. No one’s first book is good. Either you’ll make that one better, or you’ll write another one. Either way, you can do it.
How do you interact with your readers?
I love hearing from readers! I’m always happy to answer emails or messages on social media. And I’m thrilled that in-person book events are happening again so I can interact with readers in person! Connecting with readers is honestly the best part of being a writer.
Which books would you recommend to readers who haven’t read your work before?
I try to write books that can be read as standalone stories, even if they’re part of a larger series. But if you like to start at the beginning, I hope you’ll pick up The Body in the Garden, the first Lily Adler Mystery.
And if you love the Jazz Age, I have a series set in that era too. Last Call at the Nightingale came out earlier this summer and follows Vivian Kelly, a working-class seamstress in New York City who likes dancing at a little speakeasy called the Nightingale. But in the underground world of the Jazz Age, there’s always a risk that you’ll see something you weren’t supposed to…
What do you look for in a story as a reader?
Characters above all! Plot twists are fun, but I’ll keep reading even if I guess the plot if the characters make me care about them.
What are you reading now?
The Siren of Sussex, by Mimi Matthews. It’s a very fun Victorian romance with wonderful characters and a lot of historical depth.
Aside from writing or reading, what are your hobbies or interests?
I love getting out on hikes and nature walks with my family, traveling, and gardening when I have the time. And I have a monthly Dungeons & Dragons game that I play with friends who live all around the country. It’s a fun (and often ridiculous) way to keep in touch!
What is the first book that you remember reading?
The Lorax. I was one of those kids who memorized books before I could read, so I’d pick them up and recite them. But one day my parents realized I was reading The Lorax, which they knew I hadn’t memorized. So that was how they discovered I knew how to read.
Name three fun facts about you or your work.
- I finished writing my first book when I was 15, and it was absolutely terrible.
- I’ve never had the courage to dye my hair.
- My parents never restricted what I could read growing up, so I didn’t realize until much later that it was a little odd to read things like The Golden Compass or The Rapture of Canaan in elementary school.
What is something you can do better than anyone else you know?
Make Rice Krispie treats. They’re my specialty, and I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t love them.
Death at the Manor
by Katharine Schellman
August 8 – September 2nd, 2022
Virtual Book Tour
The tortured spirits of the dead haunt a Regency-era English manor—but the true danger lies in the land of the living in the third installment in the Lily Adler mysteries, perfect for fans of Deanna Raybourn.
Synopsis:
Regency widow Lily Adler is looking forward to spending the autumn away from the social whirl of London. When she arrives in Hampshire with her friends, the Carroways, she doesn’t expect much more than a quiet country visit and the chance to spend time with her charming new acquaintance, Matthew Spencer.
But something odd is afoot in the small country village. A ghost has taken up residence in the Belleford manor, a lady in grey who wanders the halls at night, weeping and wailing. Half the servants have left in terror, but the family seems delighted with the notoriety that their ghost provides. Intrigued by this spectral guest, Lily and her party immediately make plans to visit Belleford.
They arrive at the manor the next morning ready to be entertained—only to find that tragedy has struck. The matriarch of the family has just been found killed in her bed.
The dead woman’s family is convinced that the ghost is responsible. Lily is determined to learn the truth before another victim turns up—but could she be next in line for the Great Beyond?
Book Details:
Genre: Historical Mystery
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: August 9th 2022
Number of Pages: 352
ISBN: 1639100784 (ISBN13: 9781639100781)
Series: Lily Adler Mystery #3
Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads | Bookshop.org
Read an excerpt:
As they walked, Mr. Wright fell in step next to Ofelia. “Have you ever seen a ghost before, Lady Carroway?”
“I have not,” she replied, as polite as ever in spite of the hint of skepticism in her voice. “Pray, what does it look like?”
“Like a lady in white and gray,” he said, and Lily was surprised to see how serious his expression was. His frivolous, unctuous manner had dropped away, and he shivered a little as he gestured toward the windows. “No one has seen her face. The first time I saw her she was standing right there, bathed in moonlight, when I was returning from a late night in the village. And my sister saw her in the early morning only two days ago. Some nights, we have heard her wails echoing through the halls, even when she is nowhere to be seen.”
Lily exchanged a look with her aunt, who seemed surprised by the detail in Thomas Wright’s story and the quaver in his voice. Either he believed wholeheartedly in his ghost, or he was putting on a very convincing performance for his audience.
“And what does she do?” Ofelia asked, sounding a little more somber now, as they drew
to a halt in front of the windows. The small party looked around the corner of the hall. It was unremarkable enough, with several large paintings, and a tall, handsome curio cabinet standing in an alcove. An old-fashioned tapestry hung across one wall, though it was worn and faded enough that it was hard to tell exactly what picture it had originally presented.
“Nothing, so far,” Mr. Wright said, a sort of forced theatricality in his voice that left Lily puzzled.
She had expected, based on what Mr. Spencer had said the night before, to find an eager showman in Thomas Wright, ready to bask in the attention of curious neighbors, not a true believer in the supernatural. Glancing at Mr. Spencer out of the corner of her eye, she thought he looked equally puzzled.
“She stands and weeps, or floats around the hall and wails. Usually, if someone tries to draw close, she vanishes. But last month—” Mr. Wright’s voice dropped a little. He still glanced
uneasily toward the other end of the hall, as if momentarily distracted or looking for someone, before quickly returning his attention to his audience. “Last month she became angry when one of our housemaids came upon her unexpectedly. The lady in gray pursued her down the hall, wailing. Poor Etta was so scared that she fell down the stairs in her haste to get away. That
was when our servants started leaving.”
“I trust the housemaid has recovered?” Mr. Spencer asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
“She has,” Mr. Wright replied. “But no one has tried to approach the lady in gray again. We think she wishes to be left alone.”
“Well,” Lily said, attempting a return to lightness, “as far as ghosts go, that sounds reasonable enough. I confess I feel that way often enough myself, especially after too many busy nights in a row.”
Ofelia, who had been looking a little wide-eyed, giggled, and Mr. Spencer quickly covered a cough that might have been a chuckle.
Mr. Wright scowled, his expression halfway between unease and displeasure. “I take it you are not a woman who believes in ghosts, Mrs. Adler?”
“I have never had the opportunity to find out whether or not I am,” Lily replied. “The homes I have lived in have all been stubbornly unhaunted.”
“For your sake, madam, I hope they remain that way,” Mr. Wright said. There was an unexpected note of resignation in his voice as he added, “It is not a comfortable thing to live with.”
“I would have thought you to be fond of yours, sir,” Lily said. “If you dislike her so, why go to the trouble of showing visitors around and telling them the story?”
Mr. Wright smiled, some of the showman creeping back into his manner. “Because you are here, dear ladies. And how could I resist such a beautiful audience?”
“Tell me, has your family any idea who this lady in gray might be?” Lily’s aunt asked politely.
He nodded, his voice dropping even further, and they all reflexively drew closer to hear what he was saying. “We each have our own theory, of course,” he said. “I believe it is my father’s great-aunt, Tabitha, whose bedroom was just this way. If you would care to see the spot?” He held out his arm to Ofelia, who took it. Mr. Wright, engrossed in his story once more, turned to lead them down the closest passage. “Tabitha died there some fifty years ago, of a broken heart, they say, after news arrived of the death of her betrothed in the colonies—”
His story was suddenly cut off by screaming. Not a single shriek of surprise or dismay, but a cry that seemed to go on without ceasing. Thomas Wright froze, the genial smile dropping from his face in shock. “Selina?” he called.
The screaming continued, growing more hysterical. Dropping Ofelia’s arm, he ran toward the sound, which was coming from the far hallway, past the stairs. The others, stunned into stillness, stared at each other, unsure what to do.
“I think it’s Miss Wright,” Mr. Spencer said, all traces of merriment gone from his face. “Wait here—I shall see if they need any assistance.” He made to go after, but Thomas Wright was already returning, rushing down the hall next to another man, who was carrying the screaming woman.
“The parlor, just next to you, Spencer!” Mr. Wright called. “Open the door!”
Mr. Spencer, the closest to the door, flung it open, and the hysterical woman was carried in. She was laid on a chaise longue in the middle of the dim little room, Mr. Spencer stepping forward to help settle her as the man who had carried her stepped back. Lily, glancing
around as she and the other ladies crowded through the door, thought it looked like a space reserved for the family’s private use, which made sense on an upper floor. Thomas Wright knelt next to the hysterical woman for a moment, clasping her hands.
“Selina?” he said loudly. But she kept screaming, her eyes wide and darting about the room without seeing anything. Judging by the round cheeks and dark hair they both shared, Lily thought she must be his sister. Whether they had other features in common was hard to tell when Selina Wright was in the middle of hysterics.
“Miss Wright?” Matthew Spencer tried giving her shoulders a shake. “You must stop this at once!”
But she clearly could not hear either of them. Thomas Wright took a deep breath and looked grim as, with a surprising degree of practicality, he slapped her across the face.
The screams stopped abruptly, her blank expression resolving into one of terror before her eyes latched on her brother. Her face crumpled in misery. “Oh, Thomas!” she sobbed, gasping for breath.
He gave her shoulders a little shake. “Selina, stop this—you must tell me what happened.” But she only shook her head, clutching at his coat with desperate fists and dropping her head against his shoulder, her weeping shaking them both. Mr. Wright turned to the servant who had carried his sister. “Isaiah, what happened to her?”
Isaiah was a young Black man with very short, curly hair and broad shoulders. His plain, dark clothing marked him clearly as a servant, though it was nothing so formal as the livery that
would have been worn in a great house. His wide stance spoke of confidence, and the easy way that Thomas Wright addressed him indicated long service and familiarity.
But there was no confidence on the manservant’s face as he hesitated, gulping visibly and shaking his head. His eyes were wide, and he stumbled over his words as he tried to answer, either unsure how to respond or not wanting to. “It’s . . . it’s Mrs. Wright, sir. She didn’t open her door when we knocked, and Miss Wright . . . she asked me to open it, since no one has the key . . . and she was there, sir—Mrs. Wright. She was there but she wasn’t moving. There was nothing we could do, but there was no one else there what could have done it. She’s dead, sir,” he finished in a rush. “Mrs. Wright is dead. She was killed in the night.”
Beside her, Lily heard Ofelia gasp, though she didn’t turn to look at her friend. Mr. Spencer looked up, his dark eyes wide as he met Lily’s from across the room. She stared back at him, frozen in shock, unable to believe what she had just heard.
“Killed?” Thomas Wright demanded, his voice rising with his own disbelief and his arms tightening around his sister.
“It killed her, Thomas,” Selina Wright said, raising her head at last. Now that her hysterics had faded, her cheeks had gone ashen with fear. “There was no one else who could have entered that room. The lady in gray killed our mother.”
***
Excerpt from Death at the Manor by Katharine Schellman. Copyright 2022 by Katharine Schellman. Reproduced with permission from Katharine Schellman. All rights reserved.
Author Bio:
Katharine Schellman is a former actor, one-time political consultant, and now the author of the Lily Adler Mysteries and the Nightingale Mysteries. Her debut novel, The Body in the Garden, was one of Suspense Magazine’s Best Books of 2020 and led to her being named one of BookPage’s 16 Women to Watch in 2020. Her second novel, Silence in the Library, was praised as “worthy of Agatha Christie or Rex Stout.” (Library Journal, starred review) Katharine lives and writes in the mountains of Virginia in the company of her husband, children, and the many houseplants she keeps accidentally murdering.
Catch Up With Katharine Schellman:
KatharineSchellman.com
Goodreads
BookBub – @katharineschellman
Instagram – @katharinewrites
Twitter – @katharinewrites
Facebook – @katharineschellman
Tour Participants:
Visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways!
08/08 Showcase @ Nesies Place
08/09 Showcase @ BOOK REVIEWS by LINDA MOORE
08/10 Interview @ I Read What You Write
08/10 Review @ Review Thick And Thin
08/13 Review @ Bookish Indulgences
08/15 Guest post @ The Book Divas Reads
08/17 Review @ nanasbookreviews
08/18 Showcase @ Silvers Reviews
08/19 Review @ It’s All About the Book
08/20 Showcase @ Brooke Blogs
08/22 Review @ Books, Ramblings, and Tea
08/23 Interview @ Cozy Up With Kathy
08/24 Showcase @ The Authors Harbor
08/25 Showcase @ The Mystery Section
08/26 Review @ Cozy Up With Kathy
08/29 Review @ Novels Alive
08/30 Showcase @ Celticladys Reviews
08/31 Review @ Avonna Loves Genres
09/01 Guest post @ The Mystery of Writing
09/01 Review @ 5 Minutes for Books
09/02 Podcast Review @ Books to the Ceiling
I Read What You Write! 
Fun interview! I LOVE Rice Krispie treats!! :-O
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I love this interview. I don’t read a lot of Victorian Cozies, but this sounds interesting.
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