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WORK TITLE: No Pity for the Dead
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.nancyherriman.com/
CITY:
STATE: OH
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/257922/nancy-herriman
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: n 2012066247
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/n2012066247
HEADING: Herriman, Nancy
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040 __ |a DLC |b eng |e rda |c DLC |d DLC |d IlMpPL
053 _0 |a PS3608.E7753
100 1_ |a Herriman, Nancy
373 __ |a American Christian Fiction Writers |a Romance Writers of America |a Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators
374 __ |a Novelists |a Illustrators |2 lcsh
375 __ |a female
377 __ |a eng
670 __ |a The Irish healer, c2012: |b t.p. (Nancy Herriman) p. 4 of cover (Belongs to American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, and Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators)
953 __ |a rg10 |b rg15
PERSONAL
Married; children: two sons.
EDUCATION:University of Cincinnati, B.S. (chemical engineering).
ADDRESS
CAREER
Chemical engineer, romance and mystery writer.
MEMBER:American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, and Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
AWARDS:Romance Writers of America’s Daphne du Maurier Award for Best Unpublished Mystery/ Romantic Suspense.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Nancy Herriman writes the “Mystery of Old San Francisco” series set in the gold rush days. She holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Cincinnati, where she also studied history and archeology. Beginning her career in engineering, she eventually turned to writing and has published a historical romance novel, mysteries, and Christian romance. She belongs to Romance Writers of America and has received the organization’s Daphne du Maurier Award. She also enjoys singing with various choral groups. Previously having lived in Arizona for twenty years, she now lives in Ohio with her husband and sons.
In 2012 Herriman published her first novel, the murder mystery The Irish Healer. Set in 1830, the work features nurse Rachel Dunne, who has lost a young patient and is charged with murdering the child. Acquitted but shunned, she questions her healing abilities, vows never to use her skills again, and questions God’s mercy. Starting a new life in London where no one knows of her disgrace, she is swept up in the cholera epidemic ravaging the city. After the wife of physician James Edmunds dies, Rachel joins his household and reluctantly nurses James’ dying daughter. James also begins to doubt his healing skills and his faith in God. Rachel and James face their darkest fears together and learn to trust and have faith.
Herriman began the “Mystery of Old San Francisco” series with the 2015 No Comfort for the Lost. In 1867 British-born Celia Davies follows her new Irish husband Patrick to San Francisco, California, where he hopes to become rich in the gold rush. But Patrick disappears, and Celia, who served as a nurse in Crimea, opens a free medical clinic for women. Helping her is her half-Chinese teenage and crippled cousin Barbara and the opinionated maid Addie. When one of her Chinese patients, a former prostitute, is found murdered, Celia’s brash brother-in-law Tom Davies is the main suspect. On the case is detective Nicholas Greaves, fresh from fighting in the Civil War. He tries to help Celia clear Tom’s name, but she keeps getting herself into trouble.
The endemic racism of the time means finding the real killer is of less importance than closing the case quickly. Violence against the Chinese and anyone who helps them is prevalent. Persistent nonetheless, Nicholas and Celia try to find the murderer; their journey takes them to the Barbary Coast’s shipping docks, San Francisco’s Chinatown, and the city’s wealthy hangouts. Despite Herriman’s providing the ubiquitous independent heroine in a historical setting, “interactions between Celia and Nick read like formula romance at times,” according to a writer in Publishers Weekly, who added that the character of Barbara is not developed fully enough to provide nuanced insights.
Writing online at Aunt Agatha’s, a reviewer commented: “Herriman weaves a tricky and hard-to-put-down story,” and added, “Her setting is clearly defined, her sidebar characters are memorable, and her canvas, while wide, is specific and detailed.” On the Gotta Write Network Web site, Denise Fleischer observed: “This was an informative, entertaining, wonderfully written book on several levels. For one, the protagonist has courage beyond her years.”
The next book in the series is the 2016 No Pity for the Dead. Celia Davies is back running her medical clinic in old San Francisco. Fourteen-year-old orphan Owen Cassidy has just found a body in the basement of his employer, the ruthless real estate firm Martin and Company. Detective Nick Greaves suspects a former friend, Frank Hutchinson, who is a partner at the company. Hutchinson was a known enemy of the victim, Virgil Nash, a man who had many enemies. As Celia stirs up trouble, she finds more suspects. The meddling Celia and her “rebellion against the gender restrictions of her day makes up in part for a routine mystery,” noted a Publishers Weekly reviewer.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, June 20, 2016, review of No Pity for the Dead: A Mystery of Old San Francisco, p. 136; June 29, 2015, “No Comfort for the Lost: A Mystery of Old San Francisco,” p. 48.
ONLINE
Aunt Agatha’s Web site, http://auntagathas.com/ (October 30, 2016), review of No Comfort For The Lost.
Criminal Element, http://www.criminalelement.com/ (July 29, 2016), Angie Barry, review of No Pity for The Dead.
Gotta Write Network, https://gottawritenetwork.wordpress.com/ (September 20, 2015), Denise Fleischer, review of No Comfort for the Lost.
Nancy Herriman, http://www.nancyherriman.com (March 28, 2017), author home page.
Penguin Random House Web site, http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/ (March 28, 2017), author profile.
Nancy Herriman abandoned a career in Engineering to chase around two small children and take up the pen. She hasn't looked back. A multi-published author, she is also a former winner of the Romance Writers of America's Daphne du Maurier award for Best Unpublished Mystery/ Romantic Suspense.
When not writing, she enjoys singing with various choral groups, gabbing about writing with friends, and eating dark chocolate. After two decades in Arizona, she now lives in her home state of Ohio with her family.
Nancy Herriman, the author of No Comfort for the Lost, the first Mystery of Old San Francisco, received a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Cincinnati, where she also took courses in history and archeology. She’s a past winner of the RWA’s Daphne du Maurier Award, and when she isn’t writing, she enjoys performing with various choral groups. She lives in central Ohio with her husband and their two teenaged sons.
No Pity for the Dead: A Mystery of Old San Francisco
Publishers Weekly.
263.25 (June 20, 2016): p136.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
No Pity for the Dead: A Mystery of Old San Francisco
Nancy Herriman. Obsidian, $15 trade paper
(368p) ISBN 978-0-451-47490-2
Herriman's sequel to 2015's No Comfort for the Lost brings 1867 San Francisco to vivid life. When Owen Cassidy, a 14-yearold orphan, unearths
a body while digging one night for hidden gold in the basement of the building owned by his employer, Martin and Company, he decides to go
tell his benefactor, nurse Celia Davies. After accompanying Owen to the cellar, Celia advises Owen to report his grisly discovery to police
detective Nick Greaves. Nick would like nothing more than to pin the murder on a former friend of his, Frank Hutchinson, who's one of the three
partners in Martin and Company. The dead man, identified as Virgil Nash, turns out to have lots of enemies, including Hutchinson. Anxious to
provide Nick with alternative suspects, Celia does her own sleuthing, which Nick reluctantly comes to accept. Inevitably, Celia courts danger,
while Nick courts Celia. Plucky Celia's rebellion against the gender restrictions of her day makes up in part for a routine mystery. Agent: Natasha
Kern, Natasha Kern Literary Agency. (Aug.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"No Pity for the Dead: A Mystery of Old San Francisco." Publishers Weekly, 20 June 2016, p. 136. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA456344732&it=r&asid=cad79af8e892be7e5cf49ffb745a8a3e. Accessed 5 Mar. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A456344732
---
3/5/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1488745574752 2/2
No Comfort for the Lost: A Mystery of Old San Francisco
Publishers Weekly.
262.26 (June 29, 2015): p48.
COPYRIGHT 2015 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
No Comfort for the Lost: A Mystery of Old San Francisco
Nancy Herriman. NAL/Obsidian, $15 trade paper (384p) ISBN 978-0-451-47489-6
Set in San Francisco in 1867, Herriman's entertaining series debut introduces nurse Celia Davies and police detective Nick Greaves, who
investigate the murder of Li Sha, a former prostitute whom Celia befriended through her work in the city's Chinatown. After purchasing her
freedom, Li Sha became involved with Tom Davies, brother of Celia's missing and presumed dead husband. When Tom is arrested for the murder,
Celia resolves to clear his name, despite their rocky relationship and warnings from Nick, whose supervisors want the case closed. Herriman (The
Irish Healer) vividly depicts the racism of the day, which leads to violence against the Chinese and anyone perceived to be sympathetic to them.
Celia's teenage cousin, Barbara, herself half Chinese, puts a face on racial tensions, but her character isn't developed fully enough to provide
nuanced insights. Interactions between Celia and Nick read like formula romance at times, though readers who like independent heroines should
welcome this historical series. Agent: Natasha Kern, Natasha Kern Literary Agency. (Aug.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"No Comfort for the Lost: A Mystery of Old San Francisco." Publishers Weekly, 29 June 2015, p. 48. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA420928892&it=r&asid=921489d2b627156deab132429a988596. Accessed 5 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A420928892
Nancy Herriman: No Comfort for the Lost
Posted by Agatha on October 30, 2016
nocomfortNancy Herriman has taken a very specific time and place and brought it to life. Her central series character, Celia Davis, British born, has served as a nurse in the Crimea. Through marriage, she’s ended up in 1867 San Francisco, as the man she married was a hot blooded Irishman looking to make his fortune in the gold rush. He has vanished – he may be dead, or he may not be dead, but Celia is running a clinic on her own and serving as guardian to her cousin, Barbara, who is slightly crippled as well as half Chinese. In 1867 San Francisco, being Chinese was far more of an impediment than being crippled.
The mystery centers on the discovery of a dead Chinese girl, who, it turns out, was a friend of Celia’s, a former prostitute now working an honest job and living with Celia’s rather unpleasant brother in law. Despite his unpleasantness, Celia is certain he’s not the cause of her death, which despite appearing as a drowning initially, has been found by the coroner to be a stabbing.
Investigating the case is Detective Nicholas Greaves, a Civil War vet with a backstory of his own. That’s a big chunk of backstory, all things considered, to include in a first novel, but Herriman carries it off with aplomb. She’s an engaging and smooth storyteller. I was caught up in her world, even as I was certain there are many more threads involving her characters to be unraveled in books to come.
In this novel her central theme concerns the treatment of the Chinese, who were ardently feared and hated, not only for their different culture, but they were seen as taking “American” jobs. Sound at all familiar? It is eerily so, as Herriman, writing about 1867, could just as easily have been writing about nearly every immigrant wave that’s come to this country. It’s unclear if the death of the young woman was tied to anti-Chinese sentiment or if the reason was more personal – the girl was found to be pregnant.
Herriman weaves a tricky and hard to put down story, and I’d gladly turn the pages of another Celia Davies adventure. Her setting is clearly defined, her sidebar characters are memorable, and her canvas, while wide, is specific and detailed enough to hold your attention. A very nice first effort.
Book Review – No Comfort for the Lost by Nancy Herriman
20
Sunday
Sep 2015
Posted by gottagetthatbook in Uncategorized ≈ Leave a comment
TagsGotta Write Network, Nancy Herriman, No Comfort for the Lost, Obsidian
9780451474896 (1)No Comfort for the Lost
A Mystery of Old San Francisco
By Nancy Herriman
Obsidian
Aug. 2015
Trade paperback, 374 pages
Nancy Herriman’s historical mystery focuses on old San Francisco in 1867. It creates a realistic portrayal of life for the Chinese immigrants, who sought opportunity and came head-to-head with racial tension, were offered low wages, and young women were forced into prostitution. The residents of the community saw these people as a threat to their employment.
As a beacon of hope, Celia Davies attempts to offer her medical services to the poor and socially imprisoned, many are the young Chinese women the wealthy Americans have refused to help, but are visiting in the night.
After attending to a Chinese prostitute who dies from a wound that was not treated soon enough, Celia and Detective Nick Greaves learn about another unfortunate turn of events. The body of a young, pregnant Chinese woman is found in the bay. While the wealthy and the Chief of Police wish to bury her and be done with it, Celia and Detective Greaves believe its murder and it deserves to be investigated. Both focus their attention on learning the truth, with little or no support from the authorities. Few wish to be involved for reasons of society’s perspective on ethnic origin. But Celia, her cousin and housekeeper aren’t about to back away from the battle for human rights and they go against some nasty gangs to prove it. Then another woman goes missing. This one isn’t Chinese and has a fairly good standing in society. Precious time passes before the police even realize something has occurred. Could the woman have simply run off with a man or tried to stop something that would tarnish her reputation or someone she loved? Lots of possible suspects and twists and turns.
This was a informative, entertaining, wonderfully written book on several levels. For one, the protagonist has courage beyond her years. Maybe that’s a one-way street when dealing with an aggressive society, but if men and women of any decade neglect to fight for the rights of others, the injustice will spread like a disease. I liked the fact that Celia is a nurse, working with people who desperately need care and she does it without the backing of a hospital. She uses what little money she has. I liked that the author brought us through the history that has recorded or not recorded and then conveniently forgotten in the folds of time. This was the darn right dirty side of San Francisco. Just like New York and Chicago had their dark pasts. I loved the characters, the setting and seeing how life was back then. I wanted to bring home one homeless young man and provide him with a decent life. I also respected Nick Greaves for going with intuition even if it put him under the gun at work.
Four and a half nurse’s bags out of five
Denise Fleischer
gottawritenetwork.wordpress.com
September 20, 2015
FRESH MEAT
Review: No Pity for the Dead by Nancy Herriman
ANGIE BARRY
No Pity for the Dead by Nancy Herriman is the 2nd Mystery of Old San Francisco (Available August 2, 2016).
She'd barely dipped her spoon into the mulligatawny when someone pounded on the front door.
“Not another patient at this hour!” Addie called out from the kitchen before hurrying though the dining room on her way to the foyer. “I'm turning them away, ma'am. You're closed.”
It wasn't a few seconds before she heard Addie scream. Celia jumped up and rushed through the parlor.
“Stay there, girls,” she told Barbara and Grace, shutting the parlor doors on their startled expressions.
Owen Cassidy stumbled across the threshold, gasping for breath. He was covered in coal dust and dirt from head to toe; the only pale parts on him were the whites of his wide green eyes.
“Och, lad,” chastised Addie. “Dinna even think of coming inside—”
“Ma'am! He's dead!” he cried, gaping at Celia. “He's dead!”
“What nonsense are you blathering?” asked Addie.
“The fellow in the cellar! He's dead!”
Celia Davies leads an interesting life. Newly arrived in San Francisco, the English nurse has only recently opened a free medical clinic for women and is often called out to attend to saloon girls, prostitutes, and immigrant mothers.
Her wastrel husband, Patrick, disappeared over a year ago and is presumed dead. With the passing of her wealthy Uncle Walford, she also finds herself acting as guardian to her half-Chinese cousin, Barbara, in a time when anti-Chinese sentiments run dangerously high. She also has a knack for picking up lovable orphans, like the plucky Owen Cassidy.
Then, there are the murders she keeps getting herself mixed up with...
Yessiree—life in 1867 San Fran is never dull.
This time around, Celia steps into the thick of it when the teenaged Owen inadvertently uncovers a body buried in the basement of his latest employers, a ruthless real estate group known as Martin and Company.
The boy turns to his pseudo-mother for help, and she promptly summons Detective Nicholas Greaves, who proved so helpful in her last investigation. The fact that there's unresolved tension between Celia and Nick—exacerbated by her husband's uncertain fate—only further tangles the threads of the case.
When the list of suspects grows to include the husband of Celia's best friend, Jane Hutchinson, she's further dismayed to learn that there's already longstanding bad blood between Frank Hutchinson and Nick. Bad blood that stretches back to the Civil War, when the two fought for the Union, and to Frank's first marriage.
No Pity for the Dead is Herriman's second mystery set in Old San Francisco and starring incorrigible nurse Celia Davies. As with her debut, the story is rife with historical details and atmosphere—more than anything, it's the historical flourishes that make this such an entertaining read.
The city itself is in the process of transforming into the iconic city we recognize today: cuts are being made through the rolling hills to facilitate roads and cable cars are only a handful of years away from dominating the transportation system.
As an immigrant herself, Celia's story mirrors those of her neighbors—the Italians, Irish, Chinese, and Mexican newcomers who turn San Francisco into one of America's biggest melting pots. Many of Celia's patients speak little English and look at outsiders with unconcealed distrust, and her relationship with cousin Barbara is made all the more fraught thanks to the city's violent attitude towards the Chinese.
The Civil War is a painfully recent memory here, especially for former soldiers like Nick, who carries literal and emotional wounds from his experiences.
“Mr. Greaves! Are you in there?” His landlady pounded on the door to his rooms. “You're wanted at the station right now.”
He scrubbed his hands over his face, a spasm of pain shooting through his left arm, down from the wound that never let him forget that day...
“Should I tell them you'll be at the station right away?” Mrs. Jewett asked through the closed door. There was no mistaking the concern in her voice, and he could picture the look on her face at that moment, the lopsided furrow she'd get in her forehead. She'd lost her only son at Shiloh and had transferred all of her motherly worries to Nick, the replacement for the boy who'd never come home.
What a replacement.
“Yes, tell them I'll be right there,” he replied. “Right there.”
Similarly recent is the California Gold Rush—but in an unexpected twist, Herriman chooses to zig rather than zag and has a significant plot point center around the fall-out from the silver rush and Comstock Lode in Nevada instead.
Jasper Martin turned his gaze on Nick. “It's Virgil Nash.”
“Do you mean the dead man?” Well, that was quick. “What makes you think so?”
“After I got here last night, I took a look at the body. The face... Was somewhat recognizable, and Virgil Nash was also missing the bottom portion of his right arm,” answered Martin. “From a mining accident up at the Comstock Lode, is my understanding.”
With Nick eager to pin the murder on longtime foe Frank, cousin Barbara angry about the constant disruptions to their lives and threatening to challenge Celia's legal guardianship, a patient on the verge of a premature birth, and her best friend begging her for help, our intrepid heroine has plenty on her plate.
What else can a woman do but see things through to the bitter end? Celia's made of stern stuff and refuses to let attempts on her life, Nick's advice, or abrupt news about her missing husband derail her.
When it comes to fortitude, Celia's definitely an admirable lady. It'll be interesting to see what mess she rushes in to next.