Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Though This Be Madness
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S): Matthews, Bay; Shane, Sandi
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.pennyrichardswrites.com/
CITY:
STATE: AR
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/author.aspx/31714 * http://www.pennyrichardswrites.com/about-me.html
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in IL.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Caterer, bed and breakfast manager, and author.
AVOCATIONS:Words, yardwork, researching, item restoration, picking up new skills, flea markets, yard sales, cooking.
RELIGION: ChristianWRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Penny Richards has built a long standing career as a fiction writer. According to her official website, her interest in writing began as an interest in reading, which she fostered during her childhood by reading books and comics at every opportunity. She has published multitudes of novels throughout her career, starting in the early 1980s with No Perfect Season; this novel was written in cooperation with Sandra Canfield, a fellow author and a friend of Richards’s. In addition to writing, Richards has also worked in the hospitality industry, having managed a catering team/bed and breakfast alongside her husband.
An Untimely Frost
An Untimely Frost is the first of a series of novels centering around main character Lilly Long and is set during the 19th century. Shortly before the events of the novel, Lilly was on top of the world. Lilly had built a career for herself as one of the most prominent actresses from her home state of Illinois and was married the love of her life. However, her happy world soon comes crashing down when her husband suddenly leaves, taking all of Lilly’s finances with him. Lilly finds herself dealing with a much bigger loss than her bank account. While it was her husband who committed wrongdoings, Lilly is the one who is punished for choosing to separate from her husband. Her reputation is tarnished. Lilly must find a new source of income quickly to recoup her losses, and views the opportunity to work under the Pinkerton Agency as the best way to reinvent herself. She soon receives the job involving an entire family who seems to have suddenly vanished. In order to learn more about the case, Lilly travels to rural Illinois, hoping to talk to the townspeople and learn more about what’s going on. However, they are all suspiciously tight-lipped and refuse to tell Lilly anything. Lilly comes to suspect that there is something very sinister at play in the town, and she will have to resort to all kinds of measures in order to find out the truth.
RT Book Reviews website reviewer Carrie Townsend remarked: “Lilly Long’s independence and stubborn spirit will immediately endear her to many readers.” A Publishers Weekly contributor wrote: “Richards provides just the right amount of melodrama in this lively tale.” On the Historical Novel Society website, Bryan Dumas commented: “Penny Richards has written a fun, feisty protagonist in Lilly Long.”
Though This Be Madness
Though This Be Madness is the series’ second book. Lilly has to solve another case, this time set in New Orleans. The client of this case is the elderly madame LaRee Fontenot, who has reason to believe foul play is going on within her family. Her reasoning lies with Patricia Ducharme, a young woman who was married to LaRee’s grandson before his untimely passing. Patricia has remarried to a Dr. Henri Ducharme, but the marriage may not be the happiest. Henri has done away with Patricia by sending her away to a mental hospital, where she is forced to spend the rest of her days. LaRee believes there is no good reason for Patricia to be locked away, and hopes Lilly can find proof of Henri’s shady behavior and save Patricia. Lilly takes on the case, but she is not alone. Cade McShane comes along to assist her, though Lilly is less than happy about it. The two will have to set aside their differences, however, in order to find the answers they need for the case.
Historical Novel Society contributor Bryan Dumas felt that the book was “in all, a quick and fun read.” On the RT Book Reviews website, Carrie Townsend commented: “In addition, secondary characters prove just as intriguing, many adding to the shocking twists and turns of the case.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, March 27, 2017, review of Though This Be Madness, p. 83.
ONLINE
Historical Novel Society, https://historicalnovelsociety.org (October 22, 2017), review of An Untimely Frost; (October 22, 2017), review of Though This Be Madness.
Kensington Books Website, http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/ (November 7, 2017), author profile.
Publishers Weekly, https://www.publishersweekly.com/ (October 22, 2017), review of An Untimely Frost.
Penny Richards Website, http://www.pennyrichardswrites.com (November 7, 2017), author profile.
RT Book Reviews, https://www.rtbookreviews.com (October 22, 2017), Carrie Townsend, review of Though This Be Madness; (October 22, 2017), Carrie Townsend, review of An Untimely Frost; (October 22, 2017), Susannah Balch, review of Wolf Creek Widow; (October 22, 2017), Susan Mobley, review of Wolf Creek Father; (October 22, 2017), Susan Mobley, review of Wolf Creek Homecoming; (October 22, 2017), Susan Mobley, review of Wolf Creek Wedding; (October 22, 2017), Catherine Witmer, review of Wanted: One Father; (October 22, 2017), Pamela Cohen, review of Judging Justine; (October 22, 2017), Pamela Cohen, review of Lara’s Lover; (October 22, 2017), Pamela Cohen, review of Sophie’s Scandal; (October 22, 2017), Pamela Cohen, review of Hers to Protect; (October 22, 2017), Pamela B. Cohen, review of Wildcatter’s Kid; (October 22, 2017), Pamela Cohen, review of The No-Nonsense Nanny; (October 22, 2017), Pamela Cohen, review of Their Child; (October 22, 2017), Linda Anselmi, review of Where Dreams have Been; (October 22, 2017), Pamela B. Cohen, review of The Ranger and the Schoolmarm; (October 22, 2017), Cindy Whitesel, review of Gabe; (October 22, 2017), Diane Johnson, review of Unanswered Prayers; (October 22, 2017), Debbie Richardson, review of Desires and Deceptions.
My History
The first thing you should know about me is that I'm a family loving girl, born in Illinois in a town of about 1,500 people. With the exception of a few years here and there I've either lived in small towns or the country ever since. I try to depict my love of small-towns and those small-town attitudes and values in the stories I write. Thankfully, I grew up during a more innocent time. My friends and cousins were what they now call "free range" kids. We rode our bicycles all over that little town, and I doubt our mamas knew where we were or what we were doing half the time.
We had a couple of cafe's, a news stand, five and dime and drugstore, movie theater, and of course grocery stores. We also had a library. I can't remember not knowing how to read, though I'm sure I didn't at some point! When I went to school, I read my reader cover to cover first thing and growing up I always had "my nose stuck in a book" according to my mom. In preparing for my "romance" career, I bought the romance comic books from the news stand (10 cents each) and I'd walk to the library and check out the maximum number of books (4), read one a day, take them back and get some more. I read all the books about teenagers I could find. Back then fiction wasn't divided into genres, they were just novels, so they weren't called YA. I also read the Emilie Loring books more times than I can count. Grace Livingstone Hill, one of the first Christian/inspirational authors was another favorite.
I completed my first manuscript my senior year, a hodgepodge of every genre known to man. I think I still have it somewhere. In the early '70s I sent what would become known as "bodice rippers" to Little Brown and Company who actually considered publishing it. (I still have the letter somewhere.) Ultimately they rejected it, but I laughingly tell everyone that if they'd taken it, I'd have been Kathleen Woodiwiss.
My first sale was in 1983, a book called NO PERFECT SEASON that I co-authored with my dear friend Sandra Canfield. And here I am thirty-two years later, still writing. The rest as they say is history! Well, that's the cliff notes version of my life and how I came to love books and writing. You'll be hearing more about me and we'll take more strolls down the paths to explore my past as we go along. Learn about your history and pass it along to your children. They'll thank you one day. Thanks for stopping by.
I Write Because...
I love words. In school I loved spelling words and vocabulary words and dividing words into syllables, learning their meanings, learning how to diagram sentences. I love the way using just the right word paints exactly the right mental picture. Woman. Lady. Hag. Witch. Mother. Hooker. Did you see them?
I love how one word can mean so many things. Up. Wake up. Give up. Stand up. Shut up. Put it up. Upscale. Confusing and wonderful! I love the way words sound, the way they roll off the tongue. Or not. I love the diversity of words and how writers use the same words over and over, arranging them in innumerable ways to never say the same thing.
I love how words make up sentences and sentences make up paragraphs and paragraphs make up pages and pages make up chapters and chapters make up stories. I love stories. I love reading them and writing them.
The first book I sold was a collaboration with the wonderful writer, the late Sandra Canfield in 1983. It was a contemporary romance for Silhouette. Through the next twenty or so years I wrote 30+ books for Silhouette, Harlequin, Steeple Hill and Harper Paperbacks. I took an eight year or so break to do some other things I'd always wanted to do, but during that time I never stopped writing. I started and completed an historical mystery with an idea that had always intrigued me, a non-fiction about marriage, and co-authored with a friend about recognizing the signs that your marriage is coming apart.
Why did I keep writing?
Because I can't help myself. There has always been something inside me that has urged me to tell other people's stories, even if those stories were made up. We are products of our past. Our own personal history. Emotion drives the plot. People and situations haven't changed. Love, pain, deceit, sorrow, greed, jealousy, and revenge are the same today as they were at the beginning of time. The only thing that changes is how a person (character), a person's past, and their attitudes about the things happening in their world influence their reactions. That is the only thing that makes one story different from any of a thousand with the same plot. I wanted to explore the past, and the situations, mores and attitudes of an earlier time, so I chose to write historical fiction. I picked mystery because I've always loved a good puzzle, and Christian because I hope my tales show God's unconditional love for us and that no matter what we may have done, hope, peace, redemption, love and joy are possible for the future.
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ABOUT:
Penny Richards sold her first book in 1983 and wrote mostly contemporary romances through the years. During a long break from writing, she and her husband owned and operated a bed and breakfast and catering business in their renovated 1902 Queen Anne home. Feeling she still had stories to tell, she decided it was time to try a different time period and different genres. She now writes historical mystery and inspirational historical romance. She loves research, learning how to do new things, cooking, yard sales and flea markets, turning someone else’s trash into one-of-a-kind treasures, and working in her yard.
Though This Be Madness
Publishers Weekly. 264.13 (Mar. 27, 2017): p83.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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Though This Be Madness
Penny Richards. Kensington, $15 trade paper
(320p) ISBN 978-1-4967-0604-1
Romantic tension pervades Richards's uneven second historical featuring Pinkerton operative Lilly Long (after 2016's An Untimely Frost). An undercover assignment requires Lilly to pose as a servant and infiltrate the New Orleans household of LaRee Fontenot, the Chicago-based Pinkerton firm's newest client. Mrs. Fontenot suspects that her grandson's widow, Patricia Ducharme, has been wrongfully committed to an insane asylum by Patricia's second husband. Dr. Henri Ducharme. Lilly's mission to learn the truth becomes harder when she is partnered with Cade McShane, an attractive male Pinkerton agent who will pose as her husband. Despite her disdain for Cade, Lilly is unable to keep her heart from racing when he gives her a "wicked grin," and the arc of their relationship proceeds predictably even as they adopt their new roles. Some melodramatic developments concerning Lilly's past don't enhance the plot's plausibility. Agent: Jim Hart, Hartline Literary. (May)
Though This Be Madness: Lilly Long Mysteries
BY PENNY RICHARDS
Find & buy on
The second installment in Richards’ series takes novice Pinkerton detective Lilly Long into the heart of 1880s New Orleans. Along with her is Cade McShane, a veteran with the Pinkertons whose past has forced him to have to make amends with the agency. His penance? To once again shadow Lilly on this assignment.
The duo is tasked with discovering whether a doctor has married into a wealthy New Orleans family for money or love. After having his wife committed to an asylum, it seems that the doctor has his eyes set not on his wife’s recovery, but access to the family’s fortune. Lilly and Cade, along with a 10-year-old boy Cade knows, pose as married housekeepers to gain entrance to the household and the secrets that lie within. Tension rises both from the case and between Cade and Lily as they are both drawn toward one another while their own emotional baggage pushes them apart.
Penny Richards is known for her romance novels, and with this second Lilly mystery the romance aspect tends to dominate. The interplay between Lilly and Cade, their inward growing affection toward one another and then their outward antagonism, is on full display throughout. The mystery itself is easy to unravel early on, and really comes to a discovery and resolution in the last few chapters. This is unfortunate, since Lilly was such a dynamic detective in book one, and here she is relegated to the role of a typical romantic heroine. However, Lilly still must depend upon her cunning and former acting skills to solve the case, and a subplot that uncovers voodoo and murder is interesting. In all, a quick and fun read.
THOUGH THIS BE MADNESS
Author(s): Penny Richards
Lilly and Cade reluctantly team up to go undercover as a married couple in New Orleans, two factors that heighten the romantic and suspenseful tensions in this second installment of Richards’ historical Pinkerton series. In addition, secondary characters prove just as intriguing, many adding to the shocking twists and turns of the case. “Robbie,” however, steals nearly every scene he’s in with a healthy dose of humor and heart. It’s also a fascinating picture of class and race in the 1880s South.
Both Cade and Lilly have something to prove to the Pinkertons — their worth. So when they’re assigned to go undercover as married servants in a wealthy New Orleans home, they realize they have no choice but to take the case. Lady Fontenot believes her grandson’s widow has been wrongly committed to an insane asylum by her new husband, an attempt to steal the family fortune. As they investigate the family, Cade and Lilly — with the help of a certain stowaway — uncover a household full of secrets that someone wants to make sure stay hidden. (KENSINGTON, Apr., 320 pp., $15.00)
Reviewed by:
Carrie Townsend
AN UNTIMELY FROST
Image of An Untimely Frost (Lilly Long Mysteries)
Author(s): Penny Richards
A strong heroine and the intriguing Pinkertons make this historical mystery a cozy way to spend a weekend. Lilly Long’s independence and stubborn spirit will immediately endear her to many readers. The case is well constructed, and the tone of the prose casts an almost gothic mood over the story. This is a solid start to a new series, and the introduction of a potential work and romantic partner for Lilly adds an extra element of appeal for a variety of readers.
Lilly Long hasn’t known anything but theater life since she was 11 when her mother was murdered. Now 22 years old, she is an accomplished actress with bad taste in men. When her husband runs off with her savings and her innocence, Lilly finagles a job for herself as a Pinkerton operative. Her first assignment is to find a missing family, but the small town of Vandalia, Ill., closes ranks when she arrives and starts asking questions. As she begins uncovering the town’s darkest secrets, she also finds herself engaged in the performance of her life just to stay alive. (KENSINGTON, Aug., 320 pp., $15.00)
Reviewed by:
Carrie Townsend
WOLF CREEK WIDOW
Image of Wolf Creek Widow (Love Inspired Historical)
Author(s): Penny Richards
WOLF CREEK WIDOW (4) by Penny Richards: After the death of her husband, Meg Thomerson is trying to get back on her feet. Ex-convict Ace Allen didn’t mean to kill Meg’s husband — it was an accident — and now he feels guilt. For his own reasons, Ace decides to lend Meg a hand around her farm. Meg is not sure how she feels about Ace, but she does appreciate his help. As Meg starts to lean more on Ace, she sees a tender heart beneath his gruff exterior. Will the Wolf Creek widow find a second chance at love? Richards has penned a heartwarming story of an emotionally scarred widow and an outcast finding love. It was touching watching the restoration of the widow’s faith.
Reviewed by:
Susannah Balch
Image of Wolf Creek Father
WOLF CREEK FATHER
Image of Wolf Creek Father
Author(s): Penny Richards
WOLF CREEK FATHER (4.5) by Penny Richards: When widowed sheriff Colt Garrett wishes for something to shake up his boring day, what he gets is teacher Allison Grainger and her demand that he discipline his two out-of-control children. At the mayor’s behest, they find themselves unwilling partners in a plan to teach Colt’s son and daughter to behave. This third visit to Wolf Creek is a delightful pitting of the heroine’s wits against not only two precocious children, but also their father. It’s not hard to empathize with the hero and the help he needs with his family.
Reviewed by:
Susan Mobley
WOLF CREEK HOMECOMING
Author(s): Penny Richards
WOLF CREEK HOMECOMING (4.5) by Penny Richards: Gabe Gentry loved and left Rachel Stone in St. Louis, where she was studying to become a doctor. Nine years later, Rachel is a doctor living in Wolf Creek, Ark., with her 8-year-old son. Gabe is brought to her and her father after being beaten and robbed. Gabe has returned to his hometown to seek reconciliation with his brother and a life with purpose, not realizing he will find a family he didn’t know he had, if only he can get Rachel to forgive him. This is a wonderful story of how love and forgiveness, both God’s and man’s, can change lives and bring joy. The spiteful gossiper is irritating, yet plays a pivotal role.
Reviewed by:
Susan Mobley
WOLF CREEK WEDDING
Image of Wolf Creek Wedding (Love Inspired Historical)
Author(s): Penny Richards
WOLF CREEK WEDDING (3) by Penny Richards: When Caleb Gentry’s wife dies in childbirth, he hires recently widowed mother Abigail Carter to take care of the baby. Though Abby and Caleb share the loss of a spouse, Abby lost a spouse she loved, Caleb did not. And although Abby depends on God to help her through tough times, Caleb depends on himself. Things are going well until circumstances make marriage a necessity. Is this truly God’s plan for Abby and, if so, can she find happiness in a loveless marriage? These characters and their situation make for a fine and sympathetic romance. A spiteful gossiping church member and references to cruel hunting practices, though true to the story’s setting of Arkansas in the 1880s, take away some of the story’s pleasure.
Reviewed by:
Susan Mobley
WANTED: ONE FATHER
Author(s): Penny Richards
Caring for his daughter Annabelle is beyond divorced cop turned novelist Max Murdock, and he can't continue depending on his mother for help. A newspaper ad leads him to widowed mom Zoe Barlow, who's willing to babysit. For a while, everything's perfect, then the business and the personal blur. Though attracted to Zoe and fond of her three boys, Max isn't prepared to be the husband and father they needuntil he realizes what he's giving up by letting them go. Penny Richards offers Wanted: One Father (4), a realistic but sweet and optimistic story certain to make readers smile with its accurate depiction of kids.
Reviewed by:
Catherine Witmer
JUDGING JUSTINE
Author(s): Penny Richards
Special Edition authors bring you hot new romances this holiday season starting with Penny Richards. Positive shes left her past behind her, a spirited singer is stunned when it saunters through her door. All the roguish artist intended was to say hello to an old friend, but a passionate welcome soon leads to parenthood. Now for the sake of their child they must find a way to reconcile old hurts, but they discover some wounds may never heal. Powerful characters on a journey of forgiveness combined with emotionally charged scenes make JUDGING JUSTINE (4.5) a heart-rending love story.
Reviewed by:
Pamela Cohen
LARA'S LOVER
Author(s): Penny Richards
This holiday indulge with a romantic tale from Special Editions starting with Penny Richardss LARAS LOVER (4.5). Though he was the town bad boy and she the princess, they fell in love. But an act of violence forced him to break her heart. Now the virile landscaper is back, determined to not only reclaim his life, but her love as well. Only she isnt as anxious to forgive and forget. Solid characterization, nice emotional rhythm, and multi-faceted conflict make a great read.
Reviewed by:
Pamela Cohen
SOPHIE'S SCANDAL
Author(s): Penny Richards
A lovely counselor knows its risky to return homea place where one reckless night caused SOPHIES SCANDAL (3). But when an encounter with her ex-lover ignites fiery feelings, she knows its only a matter of time before the attorney discovers her secret and all hope of a second chance may be lost. Although the heroines brother outshines the hero, Penny Richards pens a gripping tale about sacrifices made for love.
Reviewed by:
Pamela Cohen
HERS TO PROTECT
Author(s): Penny Richards
Someone is trying to kill chief prosecutor Cullen McGyver and bodyguard Kate Labiche is hired to make sure that doesn't happen. But Kate's interest is more than professionala brief affair makes him HERS TO PROTECT (3). Penny Richards keeps readers guessing to the very end in this tale that blends romance with a clever mystery, all the while exploring the many ways people deal with life's foibles.
Reviewed by:
Pamela Cohen
WILDCATTER'S KID
Author(s): Penny Richards
When her son falls ill, a self-assured reporter is forced to contact her ex-lover, a reckless troubleshooter unaware he's a father. As they fight for their child's life, buried feelings of love and passion emerge, but is he ready to trade in his wayward lifestyle for a home in the 'burbs? Although some readers may find the subplot distracting, WILDCATTER'S KID (3) from skillful Penny Richards is teeming with multi-dimensional characters, even pacing and plenty of sizzle.
Reviewed by:
Pamela B. Cohen
THE NO-NONSENSE NANNY
Author(s): Penny Richards
A down-on-her-luck decorator needs a job, while a virile sheriff is desperate for a full-time babysitter. To their mutual astonishment, THE NO-NONSENSE NANNY (4) and the bachelor dad are instantly enamored, but their clashing personalities make marriage an iffy proposition. Penny Richards sensitive romance about starting over and forgiveness is empowered by captivating characters and strong emotional conflict.
Reviewed by:
Pamela Cohen
THEIR CHILD
Author(s): Penny Richards
Years after he marries to give his wifes child a name, a rugged horse breeder falls in love with his lovely spouse. Does he dare admit his feelings and risk losing everything he treasures—her and THEIR CHILD (4) Via strong characterization and crisp writing, Penny Richards takes the fabric of a timeless plot and weaves a special romantic tale.
Reviewed by:
Pamela Cohen
WHERE DREAMS HAVE BEEN
Author(s): Penny Richards
Suspicions and past tragedies rear their heads when a handsome high school teacher experiences a psychic reawakening following the kidnapping of his widowed neighbor's young son in WHERE DREAMS HAVE BEEN... (2). Penny Richards generates marvelous sensual energy in a romance that is both compelling and complex, though the lack of urgency and focus given to her son's kidnapping becomes distracting over time.
Reviewed by:
Linda Anselmi
THE RANGER AND THE SCHOOLMARM
Author(s): Penny Richards
Ending the month on a high note is THE RANGER AND THE SCHOOLMARM (3) by Penny Richards. A teacher is flabbergasted when her somewhat dull fiance starts acting like Rambo, but by the time she discovers that his identical twin has taken his place, she's already fallen in love with the wrong brother. Although some questions remain unanswered and the heroine seems to take a tad too long to make up her mind, readers will enjoy Ms. Richards' humorous touches, the outrageous hero and yummy secondary characters.
Reviewed by:
Pamela B. Cohen
GABE
Author(s): Penny Richards
Penny Richards focuses her talents on GABE (3) in the Return to Calloway Corners miniseries. The beautiful owner of a recording company becomes pregnant after a wildly romantic weekend with a handsome rodeo clown determined to remain footloose and fancy free. Ms. Richards warms our hearts with appealing characters, including a wonderful heroine and a charming hero.
Reviewed by:
Cindy Whitesel
UNANSWERED PRAYERS
Author(s): Penny Richards
1995 – Series Romance Of The Year nominee
What happens when you feel your life is filled with UNANSWERED PRAYERS (4H) As her husband's life hangs in the balance after a shocking act of vengeance, a lovely social worker's faith is renewed as her parents reveal old family secrets about their own relationship. A tender tale of love, forgiveness, strength and courage by Penny Richards, this unique love story is everything you could ask for from high-quality inspirational romance and much, much more. REISSUE.
Reviewed by:
Diane Johnson
DESIRES AND DECEPTIONS
Image of Desires and Deceptions (Delta Justice, Book 12)
Author(s): Penny Richards
1998 – Best Miniseries Romance nominee
The very talented Penny Richards will absolutely delight readers this month as she concludes the Delta Justice series. The truth has finally caught up with Phillip Delacroix as he stands trial for a sixty-year-old murder. All the while his siblings come to terms with their own secrets from the past. Every Delacroix examines how the past two years have changed each of their lives forever, and old feuds are brought to an end as healing begins. In DESIRES AND DECEPTIONS (4.5), Ms. Richards skillfully flips between past and present to bring all a brighter future.
Reviewed by:
Debbie Richardson
An Untimely Frost
Penny Richards. Kensington, $15 trade paper (320p) ISBN 978-1-4967-0602-7
Set in Illinois in 1881, this riveting series launch from Richards (Wolf Creek Father) introduces plucky 22-year-old actress Lilly Long. One evening, Lilly returns to her Chicago boarding house to discover her husband of four months stealing her life's savings and roughing up her best friend. Lilly is forced to examine the reality of her times: it's a man's world. Women are undeservedly denied jobs, married women lose control of their money, and divorce leaves a lasting stain on a woman's good name. Lilly decides to change the direction of her life by applying for a job at the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Her first assignment—to trace the owner of an abandoned house—takes her to the small town of Vandalia, Ill. Strange undercurrents of sorrow and menace swirl around our intrepid heroine, drawing her into a vortex of cruelty and long-buried evil. Richards provides just the right amount of melodrama in this lively tale. Agent: Jim Hart, Hartline Literary. (Aug.)
An Untimely Frost: Lilly Long Mysteries
BY PENNY RICHARDS
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Orphaned at eleven and raised in the theater, Lilly Long has not known anything but make-believe and role playing. After she is jilted by her husband—who steals both her innocence and her savings—Lilly decides she’s going to defend the many other helpless women in the world. To do this, she sets out to become a Pinkerton. Headstrong and determined, Lilly does whatever it takes to win over Allan Pinkerton and his two sons. She is conditionally brought on, and her first case is, on the surface, a simple one: locate a missing family—a local pastor, his wife, and their children.
When Lilly arrives in 1880s Vandalia, Illinois, she assumes that she’ll be able to wrap up her case quickly and return home triumphant. What she finds is a town that clamps down in an antagonistic silence at the mere mention of the Pastor or his family. Lilly is forced to draw on all her theater experience to wiggle her way into the fabric of a town whose wounds are close to the surface, and whose scars are still too tender to be dealt with. Beyond Vandalia’s resistance, Lilly begins to have concerns with a boxer who seems to be shadowing her every move. As the stakes, and threats on her life, rise, she begins to wonder if the two are connected.
Penny Richards has written a fun, feisty protagonist in Lilly Long. The prose is crisp and the tempo paces nicely to a finish that sees Lilly needing every bit of her cunning. The motives for the family’s disappearance and subsequent crimes I felt were a bit odd, but those did not impact the overall book. A nice read beside the pool.