STRONG YOUNG WOMEN IN DIFFERENT HISTORICAL ERAS by Kay Kendall
My new mystery, After
You’ve Gone, is set during Prohibition, and even in Gunmetal, Texas, times
are changing. For example, my heroine, twenty-three-year-old Wallie MacGregor,
reads the thrilling tales of Sherlock Holmes while she dreams of becoming a
writer and living an exciting life. Then her long-lost uncle turns up at the
home she shares with her father, a judge. Uncle Rory is on the lam from his
angry bosses in sinful Galveston, where they run a thriving bootlegging operation
and other illegal businesses. Soon Wallie is tangling with flappers and
floozies and dangerous criminals as she tries to solve a murder that the local
sheriff swears is just an accident. Her shenanigans scandalize her prim aunt
who wants Wallie to concentrate on choosing a suitable suitor. Besides
discovering who is running around killing people, the other big question is
whether Wallie can stay alive long enough to figure out which one is her true
love.
Writing about the 1920s
is a significant departure for me. I set my first two mysteries in the 1960s,
amidst widespread political and social upheaval. While my protagonist Austin
Starr does hail from small town Texas, her work as an amateur sleuth takes
place in Canada. She’s fled there with her draft-resisting husband. So, on the
face of it, there’s not much to associate my new mystery with the first two.
However ... they really
are connected. The sub-title of After You’ve Gone is An
Austin Starr Mystery Prequel. You
see, Wallie MacGregor is the grandmother of Austin Starr. Actually Wallie’s
real name is Walter, after her father the judge, and carrying a male name
appears to have given her an unusual amount of gumption for her era. The love
of solving puzzles and the extreme curiosity that Wallie exhibits are traits
she passes on to her granddaughter, Austin. Both lead characters are strong
women who often buck the conventions of their upbringing. Neither are shy
violets, to say the least.
Historical mysteries
are my favorites among all crime fiction. When plotting my own books, I like to
show how patterns of human nature repeat down the decades, no
matter what historical age one reads about. I also confess that I relish the
details that show past eras—the changes in language and attitudes, in styles of
dress and architecture. Also, by not setting my stories during the present day,
I can focus more on character. Not for me the world of high tech and CSI tricks.
I prefer to delve into people’s personalities—to discover what makes them tick—and
what causes them to murder.
In
at least one future book, I plan to bring granddaughter and grandmother
together in 1970 to solve a family member’s murder in Europe that involves
Russian spies. Wallie MacGregor will only be age seventy at that time, so she
will have plenty of spunk and get-up-and-go to her. I can hardly wait to put Austin
and Wallie together on the page. Stay tuned.
Bio:
Before Kay Kendall began to write fiction, she
was an award-winning international public relations executive, working in the
US, Canada, the Soviet Union, and Europe. Ask her about working in Moscow
during the Cold War—and turning down a job with the CIA in order to attend grad
school at Harvard. Because of her degrees in history, Kay makes sure to
get historical settings and details right—no anachronisms allowed. She and
her Canadian husband live in Texas with three rescue rabbits and one bemused
spaniel. (86 words)
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