Welsh Crime Writing Steps Into the Spotlight: Guest Post by Cathy Ace

Thanks for giving me the chance to reach those who follow you with some wonderful news. I suspect most folks who’ve met me know that I’m Welsh, and my WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries are all set in Wales. Also, my Cait Morgan Mysteries feature a Welshwoman living in Canada (just like me) who travels the world solving puzzling, Golden Age-shaped whodunits. So, yes, I certainly put my Welshness, and Wales, front and center in my books.  

I’m pleased to say that it’s finally becoming easier for lovers of crime fiction to “visit Wales” as a setting for their favorite type of book – whatever sub-genre they might prefer. However, when it comes to getting the word out about Welsh crime writers, we’ve a long way to go. Enter Crime Cymru, a cooperative of Welsh crime writers. If you’d like to find out more about crime writing by Welsh authors, or crime books set in Wales…or meet many other internationally renowned crime writers there’s a treat in store, now you have a great opportunity to do so.

 

From April 17-19 and April 22-24, 2024, Wales’s only dedicated crime fiction festival is returning for its fourth year of murder, mystery and mayhem, fully online and absolutely FREE. Tickets are required, but there’s no need to pay a penny! The full schedule is here: https://gwylcrimecymrufestival.co.uk/pif/

 

This year’s line-up showcases the cream of the crime writing world, including Elly Griffiths, Sam Blake, John Banville, Abir Mukherjee, Vaseem Kahn, Sarah Ward, Simon McCleave, and Alis Hawkins. I also have the honor of appearing on a panel. We’ll all be chatting about our work, with settings ranging from the heartlands of Wales to the canals of Venice; from the narrowboats of the UK to the rugged shores of Shetland; from the vast national parks of North America to a few imaginary worlds, with fascinating historical eras in between.

 

In addition to sessions on psychological thrillers, police procedurals, historical fiction, cozies, and much more, the festival program includes panels on true crime and writing crime for teenagers. 

 

All that being said, if you’re not able to join us online, you might enjoy “visiting Wales” with my four softly poached female PIs, in THE CASE OF THE BEREAVED BUTLER, which will be published on March 18^th. 

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You can find out more about Cathy Ace and her work here: http://www.cathyace.com/

Or you can stalk her on social media:

Cathy Ace FB: https://www.facebook.com/Cathy-Ace-Author-318388861616661
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KEEPING A SERIES FRESH: Guest Post by Cathy Ace

This month, the 8^th book in my WISE Enquiries Agency Mystery series will be published, and I already have a dozen deadly Cait Morgan Mysteries published too (the thirteenth will come out later this year), so I dare say that “keeping a series fresh” is something I grapple with on an almost daily basis.
 
Of course, my hope is that readers find that I do – in fact – manage to keep both series fresh (!) so I’m going to proceed on that basis (LOL). 
 
For the Cait Morgan Mysteries, the challenge is eased by the fact that each book has a totally different setting: Cait travels the world tripping over corpses (please suspend your disbelief for that aspect, dear readers…but be happy that you don’t have a boarding pass to the same destination!) so I’m able to use the location to frame the tale each time, and do my best to craft a story that’s quite specific to the place. I also get to introduce a whole new cast of characters in each book – with Cait Morgan (professor of criminal psychology) and her now-husband Bud Anderson (retired homicide detective, with a past that involves high levels of security clearance) always being there, of course. There are also a few other recurring characters (Cait’s sister is in the next book, and we haven’t seen her since Cait and Bud got married in book #5), but – in the main – each group is specific to each book, which allows for high stakes as far as they are concerned. This is really helpful, because readers expect Cait and Bud to emerge, if not unscathed, at least able to continue with their adventures when they’ve solved each closed-circle puzzling mystery. 

 

However, my WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries feature a quartet of soft-boiled female PIs who run their business out of a converted barn on the Estate of a Welsh stately home. Thus, in these books, the cast of characters from Chellingworth Hall and the village of Anwen-by-Wye, as well as our detectives themselves, are all featured each time (not forgetting Gertie and Rosie the Labrador pups, Bunty the calico cat, and McFli, the Jack Russell who is the dowager duchess Althea’s constant companion). These are quintessentially British mysteries, but told with a Welsh accent, because that’s where they’re all set. Wales is a beautiful country with a long and storied history, and I showcase different parts of it in each book, beyond the stunning Wye Valley, where Chellingworth Hall sits. However, to be honest, the challenge of bringing enough small and large crimes to the attention of a group of four female private eyes who live in bucolic surroundings keeps me on my toes.
 
To keep things bowling along, I like to weave several cases into the plot of each book: some might be “small” cases (like The Case of the Purloined Pickles, in The Case of the Disgraced Duke, for example) or they might be utterly devastating to certain people (like The Case of the Suspicious Sister, in the forthcoming The Case of The Uninvited Undertaker). I do my best to allow all my main characters to be fully involved in each book; while I hope that readers can suspend their disbelief about four women being able to make a living being private eyes in a Welsh village, I want to show how all of my detectives can apply their specific, and group, talents to non-paying cases by helping out folks they know, as well as successfully tackling cases which line their coffers…which often take them beyond the confines of the village to other parts of Wales, and the rest of the UK. 
 
Thus, each of my series presents a different challenge when “keeping things fresh”. To be honest, I believe that the main reason that readers keep coming back for more (and you do, thank you so much!) is because I enjoy writing both series, which appears to translate to readers enjoying them too. And, trust me, I know how very fortunate I am to have readers who follow my characters through thick and thin; you’re always on my mind as I write.

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For those who want to find out more about my work, you can do so at my website: https://www.cathyace.com/
 
Or you can stalk me online at my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCathyAce/
my Twitter feed: @AceCathy or on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cathyace1/
 
 

"...a mingled yarn, good and ill together..." Guest Post by Cathy Ace

CATHY ACE: 

“…a mingled yarn, good and ill together…”  

(Source: All’s Well That Ends Well, Act 4, Scene 3, William Shakespeare) 

In The Corpse with the Granite Heart, the eleventh Cait Morgan Mystery (November 5th 2021, Four Tails Publishing Ltd.), Cait Morgan and her husband Bud Anderson are visiting London, England, for some pre-Christmas cheer, and to meet the new fiancée of their friend, John Silver. But – because this is a classic, closed-circle, mystery – things don’t go quite according to plan. Indeed, within hours of their arrival they’re not only grappling with the idea that they’re off to a dinner party to “celebrate” the life of a recently deceased Shakespeare aficionado, but they’re also confronted with a tragic, and puzzling, death. 

This book’s given me the chance to take Cait to her old stamping ground of London, and to force her to face some ghosts from her past. Being a bright woman, she expected as much, but – as is always the way for Cait, who’s not as judgmental about herself as she is about others – she hadn’t foreseen how very many ghosts there were, nor how they might pool their resources against her. 

Cait Morgan was “born” within a collection of short stories (in Murder Keeps No Calendar) and developed in a novella (in Murder Knows No Season), but most readers first met her in The Corpse with the Silver Tongue, the first novel in her own series, published in March 2012. That’s almost ten years ago (where did all that time go?) but – for Cait – the books she appears in have covered only about three and a half years of her life, so she’s just turned 50, whereas…well, let’s just say this author is no longer in her 50s, but had fun while she was, eh!? 

When I created her, Cait was about my age, and a professor of criminal psychology at a university in Vancouver that was a synthesis of the two universities in Vancouver where I was/had been teaching. Like me, she is short, overweight (damn those wretched Body Mass Index thingies!) and a bit bossy. I also gave her a Welsh birth and upbringing – like me – though she’d migrated to Canada by the time we met her. Who also did that, aged forty? Yep, me. So, yes, Cait’s a lot like me, and each of the books about her adventures have taken her to places where I’ve either lived, or worked. So, as you read the books, you’re also taking my life-journey with me. Possibly never moreso than in this book. It’s taken me a long time to face up to my ghosts – and I decided Cait could help me out. 

I lived in London for eighteen years, and miss many aspects of it to this day…for example, I sent Cait and Bud along to my favourite galleries to see some of the paintings with which I built a deep relationship over the years, which was great fun. I hope you like them. Also, writing this book has given me the chance to conjure old haunts of mine that no longer exist, share feelings I’ve experienced when realizing that change means memories are all we have of people and places, as well as creating new, absolutely fictional situations that gave me an opportunity to examine the nature of toxic, and – of course – deadly human relationships. 

I hope you enjoy all the Shakespearean quotes as chapter titles (yes, there’s a list of sources at the end of the book!), and maybe you’ll even spot the fact that I pinched the Great Bard’s classic five-act structure for this sweeping tragedy, which follows the House of Asimov as it teeters, and falls. With the highest body-count of any of the Cait Morgan Mysteries (to date), there’s also a Shakespearean swagger to the scale of the overall tale. 

If that sounds like your cup of tea – with a spoonful of Shakespearean allusions you’ll have fun spotting (I hope) throughout to sweeten the pot – then this could be the book for you to curl up with on a chilly evening, as you plan your seasonal decorating. 

Those who knew me during my “London years” might have a few surprises, but – if you didn’t know me back then – this book might give you an insight into some of the “mingled yarn” that was my life in those times.

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Cathy Ace is the author of the traditional Cait Morgan Mysteries, the cozy WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries, and the psychological suspense novel The Wrong Boy, Cathy was born and raised in Wales, but now lives in Canada. A Bony Blithe, IPPY, and IBA award winner, she’s also been shortlisted for an Arthur Ellis Award. Her Cait Morgan Mysteries, and The Wrong Boy, have been optioned for TV, and she’s currently working on editing the script (which, no, she didn’t write…not her skill set!) for the movie of The Corpse with the Silver Tongue. 

The Corpse with the Granite Heart is published on November 5th 2021 by Four Tails Publishing Ltd. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09D57VBZV https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/the-corpse-with-the-granite-heart ISBN paperback: 978-1-990550-00-3 ISBN digital: 978-1-9992230-9-0 

Connect: 

Cathy Ace FB: https://www.facebook.com/Cathy-Ace-Author-318388861616661 

Cathy Ace website: http://www.cathyace.com/ 

Cathy Ace Twitter: https://twitter.com/AceCathy 

Cathy Ace Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cathyace1/

 

WALES FIRST INTERNATIONAL CRIME WRITERS FESTIVAL: Gŵyl CRIME CYMRU Festival

Great news from Cathy Ace about WALES’ FIRST INTERNATIONAL CRIME WRITERS FESTIVAL

IT WILL BE ONLINE April 26th to May 3rd 2021. Fans of crime fiction around the world will be able to join international bestselling crime authors online, at no cost, thanks to the inaugural Gŵyl CRIME CYMRU Festival. 

Lee and Andrew Child, Yrsa Sigurđardottir, Ragnar Jonasson, Peter James, Elly Griffiths, Abir Mukherjee, Vaseem Khan, and Martin Edwards – amongst others – will discuss their work alongside Welsh crime writers who might not be as well-known, but are playing their part in bringing Welsh crime writing to the fore. There will also be a panel focusing on the great success Welsh crime fiction is enjoying on the small screen, featuring the team that created the globally popular Keeping Faith TV series. 

Fans will have a chance to view live panels and interviews, as well as catching up with recorded sessions later on. A full schedule is posted at the festival’s website at www.gwylcrimecymrufestival.co.uk where those who wish to ‘attend’ can do so by signing up for individual sessions, at no cost to them. 

‘It’s so exciting to be bringing Wales its first official crime fiction festival; there’s going to be something for everyone,’ says Alis Hawkins, one of Crime Cymru’s founder members and chair of the festival organizing group. 

‘It seems that crime fiction set in Wales is simply not as well known as its UK counterparts or Scandinavian neighbors, despite the fact that Wales is home to award-winning and bestselling authors like Clare Mackintosh, Belinda Bauer, and Amy Lloyd, who are sparking an appreciation of Wales-set crime and thrillers,’ says Matt Johnson, another member of the festival’s organizing committee. 

Next year, Aberystwyth will host the inaugural in-person Gŵyl CRIME CYMRU Festival, which will run from April 29th 2022. 

WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY AND HOW? Guest Post by Cathy Ace

CATHY ACE:
WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY AND HOW?

“Where do you get your ideas from?” It’s a question asked of authors time and time again.

Generally speaking, I can be truthful about when I get ideas, I just can’t be specific about how I get them. It sounds a bit lame to say that they literally just occur to me, but they do. And the ideas appear in different categories, too: a method of murder, a type of victim, a motivation for murder, a character who should be a killer, a specific location for a corpse to be found. I can’t predict when they’ll come to me, so I do my best to note them somehow (for example, if I’m driving or working in the garden I’ll call the house phone from my cellphone and leave myself a message…I’m hopeless at carrying notebooks about everywhere). Then, at some point, I might get around to using one or more of them, but certainly not all.

But that spark, that nugget, does truly arrive unbidden. Then all I need is the rest of the plot, all the characters, the entire story, as well as the location and everything that accompanies it…and I’m sorted (that’s the lengthy “plotting” phase, for me, before I outline, then write).

Quite often I don’t record, or recall, where or when the initial “nugget” has come to me, but for my latest Cait Morgan Mystery I can be unusually precise about it: 1.39 pm August 8th 2015. The metadata attached to a photo I took at the time gives me this valuable information, and the subject of the photograph was my inspiration. I was visiting Tredegar House, near Newport in Wales, with my mother and sister. It was two days before Mum’s 80th birthday – the main reason for my being in Wales – and we were enjoying a day out at the wonderful 17th century ancestral home of the Morgan family, later the Lords Tredegar. High on a wall in a narrow, dimly lit corridor was a portrait of an intense, bewigged young man, in typical 17th century garb. It’s believed to be a likeness of a youthful Henry Morgan, who later became Captain, then Admiral Morgan, and Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. Some think of him as having been a pirate, though the only proof that exists about his plundering at sea tells us he was a privateer, with a letter of marque from King Charles II.

I saw that portrait, was immediately thrilled (I have a soft spot for many things piratical) and leaped to the conclusion I had to write a book where my sleuthing professor of criminology, Cait Morgan, would become caught up in a case that would somehow be linked to her famous, or at least infamous, namesake.

As my sister and Mum nibbled on scones with jam and cream across the table from me in the tea shop at Tredegar House, I was already envisaging how I could bring my love of Jamaica, Cait and Henry Morgan, and a murder plot to fruition. I didn’t know at the time it would take more than four years, and a pandemic, to allow me to get to write the book, but it’s finally here…The Corpse with the Crystal Skull. As you can tell, it took a while for the entire list of who did what to whom, where, when, and why to form around the original nugget of an idea, but I got there in the end!

About the book: Welsh Canadian globetrotting sleuth, and professor of criminal psychology, Cait Morgan, is supposed to be “celebrating” her fiftieth birthday in Jamaica with her ex-cop husband Bud Anderson. But when the body of the luxury estate’s owner is discovered locked inside an inaccessible tower, Cait and her fellow guests must work out who might have killed him – even if his murder seems impossible. Could the death of the man who hosted parties in the 1960s attended by Ian Fleming and Noël Coward be somehow linked to treasure the legendary Captain Henry Morgan might have buried at the estate? Or to the mission Bud and his secret service colleagues have been sent to the island to undertake?

 ISBN: 9781999223052 paperback
ISBN: 9781999223069 electronic book
Published by Four Tails Publishing Ltd. June 29th 2020

Website: http://www.cathyace.com/
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