Calling Dr. Watson by Chris Karlsen
The one thing I didn't want to write was a
contemporary cop story. I love to read them, especially Joe Wambaugh, Mike
Connelly, and John Sandford. Writing one myself held no interest for me. I
never, ever thought I'd need to think about police work again, other than to
watch NCIS and Castle.
That belief held true until book 2 in my historical romance
series, Journey in Time. In that story, the heroine, a modern London attorney
caught in a time warp and now in Medieval England must present a case before
King Edward. She is both the accuser and the accused. I found myself reliving
my trial experience in criminal court. It started with the scene of the crime
where she both defended herself and is accused of provoking the attack. She
must choose what can be used as evidence in her case against the attacker. More important, she must choose what to use
in her defense. The year is 1355. As there is no science to aid her, I had to
make good use with what was on hand.
In my latest release, Silk, I did what I swore I
wouldn't—wrote a cop story. The character came to me while writing another
book. Everything about him was crystal clear in my mind from the beginning. However,
in serving my love of history, I wanted to make the story my spin on a classic
British mystery/suspense. My protagonist, Detective Inspector Rudyard
Bloodstone (Ruddy), is a Victorian man. He is a detective with London
Metropolitan Police Service and the year is 1888, the year Jack the Ripper
appeared on the scene. Ruddy does not investigate the Ripper murders. I wanted
him to have a serial killer of his own to discover.
He had many of the same issues as my heroine in Journey in
Time: he lacked the benefit of forensic science. This setting is shortly before
even the rudimentary study of fingerprints. Once more I went back to work I
thought I'd left behind. Except this time, I didn't have forensics to rely on
either. As I had Ruddy walk through the crime scenes, I "shadowed"
him, noting what might be useful as evidence.
I gave him the ability to do ornamental iron work, a skill
he learned from his blacksmith father. He creates pretty garden furniture and
gates as a hobby and to make a little extra money. He works off sketches and
uses his artistic ability to draw suspects from victim and witness
descriptions. In Silk, he also uses it to recreate crime scenes for
comparisons.
One of the problems that arose in the Jack the Ripper
investigations was conflict between the two different police agencies involved.
Another was how media presented the handling of those cases by the police. Both
are issues that arise today with high profile cases. For many agencies,
internal politics can hamper a detective's progress in various ways as well. I
gave all three stumbling blocks to Ruddy to overcome or deal with as best he
could.
To my surprise, I've had a lot of fun writing my cop story.
I enjoyed the challenge of trying to solve a case using just old fashioned
detective work. I don't think Ruddy ever needed fellow detective Sherlock
Holmes but at times I'm sure he'd have welcomed Dr. Watson's help. He might not
have used it, but I think he'd take suggestions into consideration.
Title: Silk
Genre: Thriller
Author: Chris Karlsen
Publisher: Books to Go
Now
SUMMARY
London-Fall, 1888
The city is in a panic as Jack the
Ripper continues his murderous spree. While the Whitechapel police struggle to
find him, Detective Inspector Rudyard Bloodstone and his partner are working
feverishly to find their own serial killer. The British Museum's beautiful
gardens have become a killing ground for young women strangled as they stroll
through.
Their investigation has them brushing up
against Viscount Everhard, a powerful member of the House of Lords, and a
friend to Queen Victoria. When the circumstantial evidence points to him as a
suspect, Rudyard must deal with the political blowback, and knows if they are
going to go after the viscount, they'd better be right and have proof.
As the body count grows and the public
clamor for the detectives to do more, inter-department rivalries complicate the
already difficult case.
AUTHOR
BIO
Chris is a
Chicago native. Her family moved to Los Angeles when she was in her late teens
where she later studied at UCLA. She graduated with a Business Degree. Her
father was a history professor and her mother a voracious reader. She grew up
with a love of history and books.
Her parents were also passionate about
traveling and passed their passion onto Chris. Once bitten with the travel bug,
Chris spent most of her adult life visiting the places she'd read about and
that fascinated her. She's had the good fortune to travel Europe extensively,
the Near East, and North Africa, in addition to most of the United States.
After college, Chris spent the next
twenty-five years in law enforcement with two agencies. Harboring a strong
desire to write since her teens, upon retiring from police work, Chris decided
to pursue her writing career. She currently writes three different series. Her
historical romance series is called, Knights in Time. Her romantic thriller
series is Dangerous Waters, and he latest book, Silk, is book one in her
mystery/suspense series, The Bloodstone series.
She currently lives in the Pacific
Northwest with her husband and five wild and crazy rescue dogs.
Comments
Chris Karlsen
Thank you. The cover designer is a woman I've worked with on all but one other book. She has a great design eye and "gets" my aesthetic.
Chris
Thanks for hosting Chris, Marilyn! :-)
Regards,
Mayra