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WORK TITLE: Murder in G Major
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://alexiagordon.net/
CITY: El Paso
STATE: TX
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Female.
EDUCATION:Attended college; medical degree; completed Southern Methodist University’s Writer’s Path program.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Physician, writer, and novelist. Practices family medicine in El Paso, TX.
AVOCATIONS:Music, art, travel, and embroidery.
MEMBER:Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Writers’ League of Texas.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Alexia Gordon is a practicing physician and writer who temporarily put aside her love of writing while finishing medical school and establishing her career in family medicine. Her debut mystery novel, Murder in G Major, is also the first book in the “Gethsemane Brown” mystery series. The novel introduces readers to African American doctor and classical musician Gethsemane Brown, who finds herself in Ireland and encountering a ghost who wants her to clear his name of murder.
In an interview with Cathy Perkins for the Big Thrill Web site, Gordon noted: “I am a Hibernophile. I love all things Irish—the music, the pubs, the whiskey, the accent, the language, the landscape.” She went on to note that she also sees the Irish village where Murder in G Major is set as a character in the novel, stating: “I do love stories where the place is as much a character as the people. Where would Alice be without Wonderland?”
Gethsemane is living and working in Dallas, Texas, when she receives an offer to become the assistant conductor of the Cork Philharmonic in Ireland. Gethsemane decides to leave everything behind, including her fiancé, to take the job. However, upon her arrival in Ireland, she learns that her position has been given to the music director’s mistress. Although she is hugely disappointed, Gethsemane decides to stay on in Ireland and accepts a posit at St. Brennan’s School for Boys in Dunmullach. A huge bonus comes when she is able to rent Carraigfaire Cottage, formerly owned by Eamon McCarthy, one of Gethsemane’s favorite composers. However, Gethsemane soon realizes that she is easily identified as an outsider who stands out, not only because she is from America but also because she is black.
Before long, Gethsemane is faced with two seemingly impossible tasks. The first is to prepare the school’s young orchestra members for the annual All-County School Orchestra competition. The school has not won the competition since the death of Eamon more than two decades earlier. The pressure is on for Gethsemane to mold the rowdy boys into, at the very least, a competitive orchestra. Gethsemane feels extra pressure to be successful because she wants to please a wealthy donor to the school and an important musical personage who has come from Boston to help judge the competition.
Few believe that Gethsemane is up to the task, but she is soon facing an even more difficult one. It turns out that the ghost of Eamon is haunting the cottage that was once his home. The townspeople all believe that Eamon murdered his poet wife, Orla, by throwing her off a cliff. He then committed suicide by taking poison. Eamon is soon appearing before Gethsemane, proclaiming his innocence. He eventually convinces Gethsemane not only that did not kill his wife but also that he did not commit suicide but was poisoned but some other unknown person. He urges Gethsemane to help clear his name. However, there is something at stake that is even more important to Eamon—to be freed from his earthly bonds so he can rest in peace and be reunited with his wife.
Gethsemane faces numerous challenges both with her young musical charges and with the local townspeople when she begins asking questions about Eamon. Among those she encounters in her investigation are Jimmy Lynch, the man whose testimony convinced everyone that Eamon murdered his wife, and Nuala Sullivan, a magician who says she is in contact with Orla’s spirit. Because Gethsemane has learned firsthand that ghosts do exist, she has no reason not to believe Nuala. There is also Sister Siobhan Moloney, who also claims to be a psychic.
“This refreshing, humorous cozy … will leave readers eagerly anticipating the sequel,” wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor. Calling Murder in G Minor “a solid introduction to this series,” a Mysterious Reviews Web site contributor went on to note: “The characters are engaging, the storyline interesting but not overly demanding, and the setting well drawn.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Library Journal, November 1, 2016, Charlene Rue, “Diversity Is No Mystery,” includes review of Murder in G Major, p. 42.
Publishers Weekly, August 1, 2016, review of Murder in G Major, p. 51.
ONLINE
Alexia Gordon Facebook Page, https://www.facebook.com/AlexiaGordon.writer (April 15, 2016).
Alexia Gordon Home Page, http://alexiagordon.net (April 15, 2016).
Big Thrill, http://www.thebigthrill.org/ (September 30, 2016), Cathy Perkins, “Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon,” author interview.
Black Girl Nerds, https://blackgirlnerds.com/ (September 29, 2016), “BGN Book Review: Murder in G Major by Aleixa Gordon.”
Kirkus Reviews Online, https://www.kirkusreviews.com/ (July 31, 2016), review of Murder in G Major.
Mysterious Reviews, http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/ (April 4, 2017), review of Murder in G Major.
About me
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A writer since childhood, I won my first (okay, so far, only) writing prize, a copy of Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends, in the 6th grade. I continued writing through college but put literary endeavors on hold to finish medical school and Family Medicine residency training. My medical career established, I returned to writing fiction.
Raised in the southeast and schooled in the northeast, I migrated to the southwest after a three-year stint in Alaska reminded me how much I needed sunlight and warm weather. I completed Southern Methodist University’s Writer’s Path program in Dallas, Texas then moved to El Paso, Texas where I currently practice medicine. If pushed, I will admit Texas brisket is as good as Carolina pulled pork. I enjoy classical music, art, travel, embroidery, and a good ghost story.
I am a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, and the Writers’ League of Texas. I am represented by Paula Munier of Talcott Notch Literary Services, LLC and published by Henery Press.
You can find me on:
Facebook: @AlexiaGordon.Writer
Twitter: @AlexiaGordon
Instagram: @drlex1995
Goodreads: Alexia_Gordon
Pinterest: alexia_gordon
Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon
SEPTEMBER 30, 2016 by CATHY PERKINS
12 0
murder-gBy Cathy Perkins
Debut author Alexis Gordon hits the right notes with MURDER IN G MAJOR. Stranded without luggage or money in the Irish countryside, African-American classical musician Gethsemane Brown accepts a less-than-ideal position turning a group of rowdy schoolboys into an award-winning orchestra. The perk? Housesitting a lovely cliff-side cottage. The catch? The ghost of the cottage’s murdered owner haunts the place. Falsely accused of killing his wife (and himself), he begs Gethsemane to clear his name so he can rest in peace.
Alexis Gordon won her first writing prize in the 6th grade. After establishing her medical career in El Paso, she returned to writing fiction. Her other interests—the symphony, art collecting, embroidery, and ghost stories—are star attractions in her novels.
MURDER IN G MAJOR features a small town in Ireland. Do you have a special connection to the area?
I am a Hibernophile. I love all things Irish—the music, the pubs, the whiskey, the accent, the language, the landscape. I visited the eastern part of Ireland several years ago and I’m returning to visit the southwestern parts this month, a present to myself to celebrate the publication of my novel.
Sounds as if Gethsemane Brown might be taking a road trip in an upcoming novel. I understand you love descriptions that transport you into the story. Can we expect to find your Irish town becoming a character in your books?
I do love stories where the place is as much a character as the people. Where would Alice be without Wonderland? Yes, I see my village as a character. I want readers to feel as if they are actually in Dunmullach with Gethsemane, O’Reilly, Grennan, and the others.
How are you managing the juggling act, balancing your medical practice and writing?
Luckily, I now have a day job with set hours. Having a definite end time to my work day makes it easier to find time for writing. The only downside is my work day starts at 6:30 in the morning. I’m a night owl and prefer to stay up late to write. Having such an early start time makes staying up late rough. I do a lot of catching up on sleep on weekends.
Any time management skills you’d like to share?
I’m a procrastinator since way back when, I’m embarrassed to admit. Ask my mother how many school projects she had to help me finish with a day’s notice. Deadlines help.
I suspect many of us can relate to the need for a deadline. Music is another key element in MURDER IN G MAJOR. Is a violin tucked into your busy background as well?
My mom enrolled me in piano lessons from elementary school through high school. Unfortunately, instead of appreciating the lessons I viewed them as chores, something Mom wanted me to do to compensate for not having the opportunity to take piano lessons when she was growing up. I quit playing the piano as soon as I could, i.e. when I went off to college. I also, briefly, played the violin and saxophone (not well). I realized my talent lay in supporting music rather than performing it so I became a patron of the arts. Creating a musically gifted protagonist was wish fulfillment. Taking piano lessons again is on my bucket list though.
Henery Press has a wonderful reputation as an up and coming mystery press. Can you share your “road to publication” story with us?
When I moved to Dallas, TX (from Anchorage, AK where I discovered just how bad winter really was) I found myself working regular hours for the first time since residency. I’d put writing on the back burner for years but having evenings and weekends free prompted me to take it seriously again. I’d participated in writing workshops and seminars off and on which were helpful but never resulted in a finished manuscript. I wanted a structured, long-term non-degree program. My goal was to finish writing a book, not earn an MFA. I found The Writer’s Path at Southern Methodist University which offered to help students write a novel from start to finish. If you completed all steps of the novel-writing track in sequence you’d end up with a finished manuscript by the end. I took the courses and did the work and ended up with a first draft of MURDER IN G MAJOR that I wasn’t embarrassed to submit to agents and editors.
In the midst of pitches and queries and endless waiting I discovered DFWCon, sponsored by DFW Writers Conference. The rest I chalk up to divine intervention. I registered for the conference on a whim not knowing what to expect. I signed up for the two pitch sessions included with the registration fee. During the conference, attendees were given the opportunity to purchase additional pitch sessions. I hesitated, thinking two were enough, they were only for “practice,” nothing was likely to come of them but something prompted me to stand in line and buy a session with Kendel Lynn of Henery Press. Kendel happened to be looking for a cozy mystery with paranormal elements. And I happened to have written a cozy mystery with paranormal elements. Some emails and phone calls later and I had a book deal.
Hooray for divine intervention—or maybe some ghostly assistance. Either way, congratulations on your debut! Any sneak peeks on the next book in the series?
Thanks! The next book is called Death in D Minor. Some of Gethsemane’s family members are going to come visit her in Dunmullach. There’ll be stolen antiques, art fraud, ghosts, and, of course, a murder or three.
*****
alexiaAlexia Gordon won her first writing prize in the 6th grade. She continued writing through college but put literary endeavors on hold to finish medical school and Family Medicine residency training. She established her medical career then returned to writing fiction. Raised in the southeast, schooled in the northeast, she relocated to the west where she completed Southern Methodist University’s Writer’s Path program. She admits Texas brisket is as good as Carolina pulled pork. She practices medicine in El Paso. She enjoys the symphony, art collecting, embroidery, and ghost stories.
To learn more about Alexia, please visit her website.
Diversity is no mystery
Charlene Rue
Library Journal. 141.18 (Nov. 1, 2016): p42.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
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Although its primary goal is to put more books featuring diverse characters into the hands of children, the We Need Diverse Books (weneeddiveresebooks.org) grassroots movement (a 2015 LJ Mover & Shaker) is also opening the way for new voices to be heard in adult genres, including crime fiction and mysteries. And publishers and writers' organizations are paying attention. Sisters in Crime (SinC), a group founded to support female mystery authors, recently released its 2016 Publishing Summit Report on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Mystery Community (ow.ly/B5BU304Vyw0) and announced the creation of Frankie's List, a database of writers of color and LGBTQ+ authors (ow.ly/XYs7304VyBZ). Curated by and named after Frankie Y. Bailey, SinC's first African American president, this database will enable librarians to build more representative collections. The group also announced the Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award, an annual grant of $1,500 for an emerging writer of color.
Collection development librarians looking to include mysteries by diverse authors into their collections can explore publisher imprints that focus on diversity. Kensington's Dafina imprint has long specialized in fiction and nonfiction "of special interest to the African American consumer," but it is increasingly releasing mysteries that are attracting broader acclaim, such as Jason Overstreet's The Striven' Row Spy, a debut crime novel set during the Harlem Renaissance. Brooklyn-based indie publisher Akashic recently launched the Armory imprint, which it describes as "high-quality urban noir." Soho Press's popular Soho Crime imprint, whose forte is crime fiction set all across the globe, publishes well-regarded Asian American authors Henry Chang and Ed Lin. One can find Hispanic and some Native American authors through the El Paso, TX--based Cinco Punto Press.
From promising newcomers now arriving on the mystery scene to the pioneers who paved the way for today's writers, this selective list presents authors who together embody diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and religion. They all enrich a venerable genre with their own unique perspectives.
Starred [*] titles are essential purchases for all collections.
PROMISING NEWCOMERS
* Gordon, Alexia. Murder in G Major: A Gethsemane Brown Mystery. Henery. Sept. 2016. 268p. ISBN 9781635110609. $31.95; pap. ISBN 9781635110579. $15.95; ebk. ISBN 2940158455674.
African American classical musician Gethsemane Brown loses a gig and her luggage in Ireland, but, as luck would have it, she lands another job, leading a boy's orchestra at St. Brennan's school. One problem? Her lovely cliffside cottage is haunted by the ghost of the previous owner, who begs Gethsemane to help clear his name in his wife's murder. A charming paranormal series launch with an appealing protagonist. (LJ 9/1/16)
Murder in G Major: A Gethsemane Brown Mystery
Publishers Weekly. 263.31 (Aug. 1, 2016): p51.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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Murder in G Major: A Gethsemane Brown Mystery
Alexia Gordon. Henery, $31.95 (280p) ISBN 978-1-63511-060-9
Dr. Gethsemane Brown, the engaging heroine of Gordon's appealing first novel and series launch, leaves everything behind in Dallas to accept the assistant conductor position of the Cork Philharmonic, only to learn on arrival in Ireland that she has lost the job to the music director's mistress. Unwilling to return home after such a letdown, Gethsemane accepts a teaching post at St. Brennan's School for Boys in rainy Dunmullach. Gethsemane is pleased to find lodging at Carraigfaire Cottage, the former home of one of her favorite composers, Eamon McCarthy, though she's unsettled to discover that his loquacious and sardonic ghost haunts the place. Eamon won't let Gethsemane rest until his name is cleared of the murder of his wife, 25 years earlier. Meanwhile, Gethsemane takes on the challenge of preparing the St. Brennan's orchestra, whose performance has been sub-peak, for the All-County School Orchestra competition. This refreshing, humorous cozy, notable for its African-American protagonist in a subgenre featuring few persons of color, will leave readers eagerly anticipating the sequel. (Sept.)
BGN Book Review: ‘Murder in G Major’ By Alexia Gordon
By Guest Blogger - September 29, 20160337
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Learn more about Alexia Gordon’s book, Murder in G Major
The premise of this book caught me from the beginning: A Black, classical musician Gethsemane Brown accepts a less-than-savory role in a small, Irish town to run a group of schoolboys into an award-winning orchestra. She also gets to stay in a cottage haunted by her idol, composer Eamon McCarthy, and she solves the 25-year-old mystery of his murder as well as the murder of his wife, Orla Mccarthy.
How cool is that right?
murder-in-g-major-by-alexia-gordon
Murder in G Major as a whole is well paced, and it has enough quirky Irish characters to keep the story interesting. My favorite scenes were the ones involving one of the local pubs (because you gotta love an Irish pub with plenty of whiskey and pints to go around). As a classical musician myself (though nowhere near at the level that the main character is), I also appreciated the use of music/musical terms throughout the novel to bring Gethsemane’s character to life. The book is not overly detailed, but I could easily picture a small town in Ireland with busy people and busy ghosts hanging about.
I really could not put this book down.
At times, I thought Gethsemane came off extremely brash or just off-putting while she was trying to solve the murder mystery. I get that “we Americans” tend to get straight to the point, but it felt like she wasn’t even trying to be slick about calling people out. It’s like I wanted her to not be so obvious about what she was doing. I get Gethsemane is a strong woman, and that should never be lessened, especially when she’s in a town filled with strong (read: often rude) men. Yet, she seemed to be brash in instances where it wasn’t necessary. I’m not just saying this because she’s a woman, though. If it were a male character, I’d be thinking the exact same thing, perhaps worse.
Aside from that, it was a fun, light-hearted book to read. The novel ends on a serious cliffhanger, and since this is the first book in a series of mysteries (think Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple Series), I’d be happy to read the next installment to see where the story goes. Hopefully, it’s not out of Ireland!
Book Two will be titled Death in D Minor.
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Disclaimer: I received an advanced reader copy of this book from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review. Murder in G Major can be purchased here.
MURDER IN G MAJOR
by Alexia Gordon
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KIRKUS REVIEW
An African-American violinist suddenly stranded in Ireland faces two daunting tasks: preparing the village school’s orchestra for a high-stakes competition they can’t possibly win and solving a pair of murders now celebrating their 25th anniversaries.
Dr. Gethsemane Brown gave it all up—her Dallas apartment, her furniture, her fiance—for a promised appointment as assistant conductor of the Cork Philharmonic. But when the job was given to the music director’s mistress, she settled for a teaching post in tiny Dunmullach, where everyone knows she’s an outsider and everyone knows that Eamon McCarthy, the gifted composer who lived in Carraigfaire Cottage with Orla, his poet wife, threw her off a cliff and took poison himself a generation ago. No sooner has Gethsemane arrived at the cottage, however, than the ghost of Eamon appears to assure her that he got a bad rap and beg her to reopen the case. Since her nominal job is to make her musical charges competitive in the All-County competition, a contest they haven’t won since Eamon died, Gethsemane, eager to curry favor with both a wealthy donor to the school and a high-profile musical judge visiting from Boston, suddenly has plenty on her plate. And that’s even before she begins to make the rounds of villagers as aggressively quaint as Sister Siobhan Moloney, the self-styled village psychic; Jimmy Lynch, the hostile witness who placed Eamon at the murder scene; and magician Nuala Sullivan, who claims to be in contact with Orla (and why not? acknowledges Gethsemane, who knows whereof she speaks).
Readers of Gordon’s charming debut can rest easy about the outcome of the All-County competition. But there’s more honest detection here than you’d expect, even if the murderer, whose career continues into the present, is a disappointingly marginal presence.
Pub Date: Sept. 13th, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-635-11057-9
Page count: 280pp
Publisher: Henery Press
Review Posted Online: July 31st, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1st, 2016
Murder in G Major
A Gethsemane Brown Mystery by Alexia Gordon
Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon
Review: Gethsemane Brown has accepted a position as music director for a private school in Ireland. Is it her ideal position? No, not even close. But she refuses to admit to her family that her promised position as assistant conductor to the Cork Philharmonic — the reason she left the US for Ireland in the first place — went to the conductor's mistress, and thus, without other prospects and no money to return, here she is. But there is that lovely home on the coast that she gets to live in, which happens to come complete with the ghost of its former owner, in Murder in G Major, the first mystery in this series by Alexia Gordon.
Eamon McCarthy, a brilliant composer, committed suicide after killing his wife twenty-five year ago. That was the how the police closed the case. But Eamon didn't kill himself … and he didn't kill his wife. Or so he tells Gethsemane. Gethsemane doesn't believe in ghosts, and yet, here Eamon is, as clear as can be in her home. Only no one else can see him. His one wish: to be reunited with his wife in the afterlife. Well, and to also find out who killed her … and who killed him. Gethsemane doesn't want anything to do with Eamon or his problems, but she can't help but be drawn into the mystery surrounding his death and that of his beloved wife. And so she begins to ask questions … and those questions begin to put her own life in danger.
Murder in G Major is a solid introduction to this series. The characters are engaging, the storyline interesting but not overly demanding, and the setting well drawn. Fans of music-themed mysteries might feel like there could have been more of that element here, it's actually rather minimal, especially given the title, but it does play — pun intended — well in the story. The ending is an obvious setup to the next book, but one wonders, given the narrow theme of the series arc, how long this can go on before it gets tedious. In the meantime, if future entries are as good as this one, it will be an entertaining journey.
Acknowledgment: Henery Press provided an eARC of Murder in G Major for this review.