If you love mysteries, you will thoroughly enjoy Debra E.
Marvin’s book
The Case of the Clobbered
Cad. The story is set in Edinburgh, Scotland during the 1950's, and it follows the
academic career of Heather Munro.
She
has arrived in Scotland
to pursue a history degree, but in the process falls into a bit of a
tragedy.
A professor at her university
gets murdered, and Heather becomes one of the main suspects—along with several other
individuals within her circle.
Dealing
with this man’s death is not only overwhelming, but Heather also begins to
wonder who she can trust.
Everyone seems
kind and helpful, but deep down, Heather knows that someone she has interacted
with is ultimately the one behind Dr. Winter’s murder.
Will the police be able to find that individual
before someone else gets hurt?
Unfortunately, Heather has a connection to the recently
departed professor. She met him on the
ship that brought her from America
to Scotland
and embarrassingly was briefly enchanted by his dashing ways. Heather worries that her reputation is being
scarred from her brief encounter with the professor, since the local detective
wants to use her previous knowledge of him against her. So many people want to embellish her past
introductions to the Winter’s family, in order to scar the truth, and therefore be able to use it against her in their murder inquiries.
Can she find a way to make them listen to the facts? Will they ever believe the information she
voluntarily gives to the local authorizes?
Mrs. Kintyre is Heather’s landlady and her instant
friend. She is the one person who
Heather confides in as she deals with all the horror that is unfolding in her
life. After traveling so far from home,
Mrs. Kintyre does all she can to make Heather feel welcome in this new city. From making tea to chatting about life over
scones, Kintyre is a welcomed addition to Heather’s world and someone she knows
she could not live without.
Interestingly, Heather begins to learn more about her landlady as the
case goes along—even to the point of seeing how great a sleuth she truly
is.
I highly recommend checking out this book. Mysteries are my favorite genre, and I loved
getting to know the characters throughout the various scenes in this book—along
with the protagonist—I thought her name was really great too. :)
Another thing I loved about this book was the setting. I traveled to Edinburgh when I was in
college—beautiful city—and it is always amazing to read books that have a
backdrop from another country and that are detailed through the eyes of another
decade. When you get an opportunity to
read this text, let me know your thoughts about this mystery in the comments
below. Happy reading!
This review is my honest opinion. Thanks to Singing Librarian Books for my copy.
Series: The Nosy Parker Mysteries
Genre: Journey Fiction, Historical, Mystery
Publisher: Indie
Publication date: August 1, 2017
Inspired
by the famous Girl Detective, the members of the Olentangy Heights
Girls' Detective Society, affectionately known as the Nosy Parkers,
spent their formative years studying criminology, codes, and capers.
Unfortunately, opportunities to put their unique skills to work were
thin on the ground in the post-war boom of their little corner of
suburbia and they eventually grew up to pursue more sensible careers.
Until...
Heather
Munro’s youthful devotion to The Girl Detective led to a passion for
digging around in history. Now pursuing her Master's Degree in Celtic
Studies, Heather must balance exploring Edinburgh with her determination
to excel in her all–male classes at the University. Unfortunately, on
her first night working in the Archives room, she discovers the dead
body of a visiting professor,
the same would-be lothario she’d hoped
never to see again.
As
clues come to light, it’s clear someone hopes to frame Heather for the
murder. Besides her quirky landlady, whom can she trust? How can she
clear her name? The police and the American Consul have plenty of
suspects, but only two seem to have both motive and opportunity: Heather
and the quiet Scottish historian she longs to believe in.
Debra E. Marvin is a member of ACFW,
Sisters in Crime, a Grace Awards Judge, and serves on the board of
Bridges Ministry in Seneca Falls, NY. She’s one of the founders of
Inkwell Inspirations Blog, and is published with WhiteFire Publishing,
Forget Me Not Romances, Journey Fiction and contracted with Barbour
Publishing. Debra works as a program assistant at Cornell University in
upstate NY, and enjoys her family and grandchildren, obsessively buying
fabric, watching British programming and traveling with her childhood
friends.
1. Who or what inspired you to be a writer?
I
started making illustrated books as a child, then became a student who
wrote two thousand words for a five hundred word essay. Hanging around
with readers and authors just feels right, because we are all compelled
to step into a story. I love beautiful words and images and there’s not
quite so satisfying as finding just the right word. There may have been a
time when I read a story and thought… I can do that! (Oh how naïve! I
can do it but it’s darn hard work!)
2. What did you want to be when you grew up? Did being an author ever cross your mind?
Despite
the fact I tend to be a bit driven by all I want to get done now, I
wasn’t a particularly focused child. I recall a few years of wanting to
be an astronomer, but basically I just liked to make things and spend
time daydreaming. I was an art major (and we know how difficult that is
as a career!) and then all of a sudden I was a housewife and mother who
obsessively made things. Finally, I took a creative writing class in my
thirties and it all just took off. Writing satisfies like nothing else!
3. What is your current WIP? What can you tell us about this project?
Currently,
I’m working on my second contemporary romance novella. Somewhere along
the way this project became a difficult emotional journey and was put
aside while I finished this mystery and a colonial era novella. The
first contemporary romance was a breeze—I wrote 17,000 words in three
days. This one is like picking up egg whites, but I’m determined to see
it through! It takes place on Cape Hatteras and will be out later this
year from Forget Me Not Romances.
What inspired the idea for The
Case of the Clobbered Cad? Oh I wish I knew how to explain the tangled
lines that became this story. Ideas just seem to pop up and then explode
into a puzzle that needs to be solved. When my setting changed from
Sturbridge Village to Edinburgh, Scotland, research pulled me into the
University’s archeology department. I had that lovely lightbulb moment
upon seeing some reference to an artifact. I’d contacted the secretary
of the History and Archeology departments and it happened that a retired
archeology professor gave me all sorts of information on the very
vibrant archeology department of the 1950s.
4. What do you want readers to take away from reading The Case of the Clobbered Cad?
This
story doesn’t quite fit into a nice, neat genre and so I hope readers
find it unexpected, fresh, enjoyable, entertaining and creates
nostalgia for the days when a girl detective story kept them up late on a
school night!
5. When you are not writing, what hobbies do you enjoy?
I
love to make things that involve color, texture and handwork. It might
be decorative painting, knitting, gardening and the occasional fairy
house. But mostly I’m like to design and sew—quilting or making
costumes. (I have a little problem with buying fabric.)
Top Ten Authors Who've Influenced My Writing...
- LaVyrle Spencer –for word choices that made me sigh
- Phyllis Whitney –for making me love romantic suspense
- Anna Sewell –for writing the book that so inspired my childhood imagination
- Barbara Cartland –for bringing us rakes and rogues
- Margaret Mitchell –for making me an historical fiction fanatic
- Diana Gabaldon –for making me choose reading over food or sleep
- Laura Frantz –for showing me what it is to be a story teller that touches the heart
- Anne Perry –for proving that I’m not the only one who love historical mysteries
- Louise Penny –for writing a perfect, compelling balance of character and plot
- My critique partner, Susanne Dietze –for pointing out the emotions I need to upgrade when I’ve been too busy with the plot.
- We reference “The Girl Detective” but we never actually use her name! You know who I’m talking about though, don’t you?
- The book is set in 1956. Can you guess why I chose that particular year? Go ahead. You won’t offend me!
- Heather’s
first trip abroad is to the U.K. Sixty years later, Debra made her
first trip abroad and was greeted in the Edinburgh airport by a lovely
customs agent with a broad Scottish accent. (Debra grinned like an
eejit!)
- The Case of the Clobbered Cad was originally set in Old
Sturbridge Village because I wanted to visit there. The heroine was a
history major doing an internship. When I made the last minute decision
to buy a ticket to Scotland, I asked my publisher if she minded if I
changed the setting! She loved the idea!
- Like Heather, my
grandfather was Scottish. (though mine was born in the U.S. to a
Scottish immigrant family). He insisted I was “Scots t’ the backbone and
prood of it.” What a thrill to be able to visit the village where his
my great-grandparents called home.
- I visited the Archeology
Department at the University of Edinburgh and went inside the archives
room. If you read the book, you’ll understand why that was so important!
(Though in 1956, the setting was completely different!)
- I actually stayed on both of the Edinburgh streets used as ‘home addresses’ for two of my characters.
- Some
retired policemen and professors answered my questions, including a
gentleman with an OBE. You do know what that means, don’t you?
- Lisa Richardson, author of The Counterfeit Clue designed the covers!
- While
my earlier published works have been sweet romances, mysteries are my
first love and I hope to take Heather elsewhere in Scotland and Ireland.
