Thrice is nice
Oh, to take a trip back in time to the days of lords and ladies with all their proper etiquette and elegant social affairs. And if the castle walls could talk, what scandals might unfold! Author Michelle Bennington treats the reader to just such a visit in her Widows and Shadows trilogy set in England and Scotland around the turn of the 19th century.
The historical mystery books follow the eccentric and adventurous Lady Ravenna Birchfield, who has a knack for sleuthing out the truth a step ahead of the local gumshoe and finding herself amid criminal activity, often as a suspect. With a shady past of her own involving secrets that must remain hidden, danger lurks in every crevice as Ravenna stops at nothing to solve a case or protect her family.
Book 1, Widow’s Blush, centers around the mysterious deaths of London’s prominent men, all holding the same political office. Because one of those men also happened to be Lord Birchfield, Ravenna’s husband, finding the killer is of utmost importance to her. Unfortunately, her presence at each murder site puts her on the detective’s VIP list.
Widow’s Fire, Book 2, picks up just after the dust has settled and the culprit caught. However, Ravenna’s skills are soon requested by a fellow socialite when a lord is murdered during a charity event close to Ravenna’s heart. But Ravenna wants to retire her spying activities and stay out of the spotlight, so she declines. The pull toward intrigue and justice becomes irresistible, though, when her best friend and closest confidante is implicated.
The trilogy concludes with Widow’s Peak where readers are surprised with new characters, another crime, the most danger yet and even the possibility of a new romance for the brave heroine. Battling the ghosts of her past while trying to prevent further wreckage to the family she has left, Ravenna has to decide if she can relinquish some of the control she has clung to for so long. That is, if the next murder isn’t her own.
Though the trilogy is historical fiction, Bennington describes elements of the story as inspired by real history, such as the weapon of choice in Widow’s Blush or even the color of a dress, puce, which was named after a squished flea and a royal. Readers can learn more and view photos inspiring the trilogy’s locale on Bennington’s website, www.michellebennington.com.
Writing revolution
Michelle Bennington, who resides in Central Kentucky, says the idea for the Widows and Shadows trilogy, (Level Best Books, $18.95 each), sprang from her fascination with late Georgian/ early Regency eras in Europe and America when revolution and change in culture, philosophy, science, industry and technology caused great upheaval and division. Widow’s Blush, book 1, was named as an American Book Fest Award finalist.
When she’s not writing her “Southern cozy mysteries filled with charm and just a pinch of crime,” Bennington enjoys arts and crafts, DIY projects, traveling and attending ghost and historical tours.
