let’s go for the dogs! by andrea penrose, author of wrexford & sloane mystery series
in Murder in Queen’s Landing, the last book in my book wrexford & historical mystery series from the sloane regency, the earl of wrexford and lady charlotte sloane have added a new member to their unconventional group of family and friends.
You are reading: Andrea penrose books in order
I think one of the ways to keep a series fresh and engaging for readers is to add new supporting characters to each book. They not only add depth and texture to the plot twist possibilities, but also add color to their interactions with the main characters, allowing me to bring out facets of the “stars” in interesting ways.
so who is my most recent new character? it’s harper, which is a dog. a very large dog.
I confess that I already have “weasels” in my series. no, they’re not furry little creatures, they’re actually lady charlotte’s wards, two urchin boys, nicknamed the weasels by lord wrexford for reasons i won’t explain here. suffice it to say that children are fiercely independent and untamed, which can get them into trouble. therefore, it seemed appropriate that they acquire a canine companion in mischief.
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once it was clear that a dog had to be part of the menagerie, I had to decide what kind of dog. that was actually quite easy. in my opinion, it just had to be a big, badass canine, given the trouble weasels get into. That narrowed down the options. I also had a vision of what said dog should look like… the resemblance to a wolf was highly desirable.
Given that the book is set in Regency England, I also wanted a traditional British sporting breed. I began to do some research, and, thus, Harper loped into the picture!
harper is a Scottish deerhound, a noble and ancient breed dating back to at least the 7th century. (In Scotland, there are standing stones from the period showing rough-coated hounds in a hunting scene.) however, it was not until the 16th century that the term “deerhound” came into use. That’s because dogs were used to hunt Scotland’s great red deer.
According to one historical account I read, hunting dogs were once so prized that anyone below an Earl was forbidden to own them. (Which, of course, was another reason why a sighthound was perfect for Lord Wrexford!) It seems to have made greyhounds more popular in both Scotland and England, and sighthounds were in danger of disappearing. however, the ban seemed to have been rescinded and the breed flourished. In the 19th century, dogs looked a lot like they do today.
I love the look of a sighthound, but another main reason I chose it is that, despite their enormous size and strength, and their ferocious jaws, dogs have an excellent reputation for their gentleness and friendly disposition . They are considered wonderful family dogs. harper is definitely a “teddy bear”…unless a loved one is threatened!
I also found out some other fun facts about hounds: Sir Walter Scott owned a hound named Maida, and the breed was a favorite of author Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixon) when she lived in East Africa.
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I love working with history and lore and putting unconventional twists on it. therefore harper is a perfect fit for a regency novel.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrea Penrose is the best-selling author of Regency-era historical fiction, including the acclaimed Wrexford & sloane mystery series, as well as regency romances written under the names cara elliott and andrea pickens. Published internationally in ten languages, she is a three-time Rita Award finalist and has received numerous writing awards, including two Daphne du Maurier Awards for Historical Mystery and two Gold Leaf Awards. a Yale University graduate with a B.A. in art and an m.f.a. in graphic design, Andrea fell in love with regency england after reading pride and prejudice and has maintained a fascination with the swirling silks of the era and radical new ideas throughout her writing career. She lives in Connecticut and blogs with a community of historical fiction authors at wordwenches.com. she can also be found at www.andreapenrose.com.
ABOUT THE WREXFORD & SLOANE MYSTERY SERIES
Andrea Penrose’s historical mystery series set in Regency London is set in a world revolving around silks, seduction and the intrigue of the Napoleonic Wars, during which every aspect of society, from art and music to science and technology, explode in radical emotions. new ideas. Starring the Earl of Wrexford, a wealthy lord and brilliant scientist, and Charlotte Sloane, a young widow who secretly writes satirical political cartoons, the two are an unusual duo and completely at odds in their methods, and yet they discover that they are fighting. against complicated feelings. for each other.
The first book, Murder on Black Swan Lane, introduces readers to Charlotte, an intrepid artist who has secretly slipped into the persona of her late husband, using her nom de plume A.J. pen; and Wrexford, a reckless but brilliant scientific mind, as the two join forces using Charlotte’s sources to unmask a killer. In Murder In Queen’s Landing, the fourth installment in Penrose’s riveting series, Wrexford and Sloane must team up to pursue rumors of corruption and the mysterious disappearance of friends.
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