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Newest Website AdditionsFrom the October issue of The Orphan Scrivenerby Mary (steam trains) by Eric (a basement radio station)
There's an interviewlette with Mary at Suite 101, as part of Janice Hally's series "The Mysterious Writing Habits of the World's Top Crime Writers." Mary writes about oral wills, one of which underpinned the plot of Five For Silver, at Postcard Mysteries , historical-mystery writer Catherine Mambretti's blog about the jury system and courtroom rhetoric. Eric writes about researching historicals for Bob Sabella's zine Visions of Paradise. You can find Issue 132 over at the Visions of Paradise page at eFanzines. Or you can download the issue directly. (It's 971 kbs) Mary talks about Ethel Lina White's Some Must Watch for the "books you have to read" feature at J. Kingston Pierce's Rap Sheet.
Mary and I talked to Kim Malo about our books and writing. Which of our characters would we like to change places with for a day? Read our interview at MyShelf.com to find out. Over at Fatal Foodies Christine Verstraete blogs about mystery books featuring food. One of the books is Seven For A Secret. Our interview with Michelle Moran at History Buff concentrates on women of the past, particularly Empress Theodora. Mike Glyer interviewed us for his science fiction news magazine File 770. You can download a pdf of issue 153 at eFanzines and read "The Secret History of John the Eunuch." Mary has written an essay, In Praise of Golden Age Mysteries , for The Cozy Library. Seven For A Secret is available in a Blackstone Audio edition. Mary has an essay, Tom, Dick and Harassment: Naming Your Characters, in Gayle Trent's Writing Up A Storm Newsletter. We're happy to announce that One For Sorrow, Two For Joy, and Four For A Boy have been released in Kindle editions.
more news...
The anthology presents a mix of specially commissioned new stories and lesser known reprints, by writers such as Hilary Bonner, Anne Perry, Charles Todd, Kate Ellis, Alanna Knight, Martin Edwards and Gillian Linscott. Our Mongolian detective, Inspector Dorj, is faced with solving a locked circus caravan murder. The new short story "Locked in Death" is included in The Mammoth Book of Perfect Crimes and Impossible Mysteries, an anthology edited by Mike Ashley.
In Byzantium Ablaze. John gets to speak in his native tongue!
Seven For A Secret
*STARRED REVIEW* "...from brothels to copper markets to public baths and poetry readings, each rife with all the gossip, rumor, deceit and lewdness you'd expect from one of the Lord Chamberlain's cases." -- Kirkus Reviews (4/1/2008)
"Once again convincing historical detail and strong characterization help drive a riveting plot."--Publishers Weekly, 1/7/2008.
"This isn’t one of those superficial mysteries that use historical trappings to cover up a weak
story; it’s a compelling crime novel that happens to be set in another time and place." — David Pitt, Booklist, January 2008
"The city and its citizens are well drawn and provide a good backdrop to John's investigation...Seven for a Secret should satisfy not only fans of historical mysteries but also those seeking an interesting story in an unusual setting." --Betty of The Betz Review
"...I felt as though I was there. By the end I knew the place. The city itself is a character and as much a suspect as everyone else. I understood the constant struggle to survive but also the search for meaning and a spiritual base so many of these characters, and indeed the city itself, longed for."--Devorah Stone
"...full of color and vivid descriptions of the various features and inner workings of what was the capital of the Byzantine Empire"--Eugene Aubrey Stratton
"...makes history come alive with its complex characterization, fast-paced action, and vivid sensory details." -- Karm Holladay
"..as many twists and turns as the mean streets of Byzantium." -- Rachel A Hyde
"John's investigation is clever and fun to follow, but like the previous six numbered tales, it is the insightful look at ancient history that makes SEVEN FOR A SECRET (and its predecessors) a great reading experience.....Ancient historical mystery readers know the John the Eunuch tales are one of the best series on the market..." --Harriet Klausner.
"Reed-Mayer have done their homework well, bringing sixth-century Constantinople to multi-hued life..."--Barry Baldwin
One For Sorrow
"...streamlined and concise with a plot that races along through the viewpoints of the various colorful characters...anchors you in vivid sensory detail on every page...." --Karm Holladay
"The twists and turns of the plot are skilfully constructed, and the writing is highly readable. Fans of Lindsay Davis and Stephen Saylor in particular are in for a treat when they discover the work of this talented husband and wife team." -- Martin Edwards (Author of the Harry Devlin Mysteries)
FIVE FOR SILVER was nominated for the 2005 Bruce Alexander History Mystery Award
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Seven For A Secret
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Other Appearances | New Reviews |
We're pleased to have a story in Mike Ashley's Mammoth Book of Dickensian Whodunnits (Carroll & Graf in the US and Robinson in the UK). In The Three-Legged Cat of Great Clatterden that jolly fellow with the scientific bent, Samuel Pickwick, investigates an ancient Kentish hill figure and a puzzling disappearance.
Two For Joy has appeared in a Greek edition from
Five For Silver has won a 
Who killed the mosaic girl? As Lord Chamberlain, John spends his days counseling Emperor Justinian while passing the small hours of night in conversation with the solemn-eyed little girl depicted in a mosaic on his study wall. He never expected to meet her in a public square or afterwards find her red-dyed corpse in a subterranean cistern. Had the mysterious woman truly been the model for the mosaic years before as she claimed? Who was she? Why had she sought John out? Who wanted her dead -- and why?The answers seem to lie among the denizens of the smoky streets of that quarter of Constantinople known as the Copper Market, where artisans, beggars, prostitutes, pillar saints, and exiled aristocrats struggle to survive within sight of the Great Palace and yet worlds distant. John encounters a faded actress, a patriotic sausage maker, a sundial maker who fears the sun, a religious visionary, a man who lives in a treasure trove, and a beggar who owes his life to a cartload of melons. Before long he suspects he is attempting to unravel not just a murder but a plot against the empire. Or is John really on a personal quest, to find the reality behind the confidante he thought existed only in his own imagination? Is there such a thing as truth in a place where people live on memories, dreams, and illusions? Even if there is, can John push aside the shadows and find the truth in time?