Yes, I love Downton Abbey and wait with bated breath for the new
season. (The last??—Say it ain’t so, Julian!) I long to hear Lady Violet’s
newest putdown. I can’t wait to see what Lady Mary wears. I want the camera
to linger in those beautiful rooms of Highclere Castle to see if there’s been
any new decorating. And will Lady Edith’s karma continue to wreak havoc with
her love life? Will Lord Grantham make one stupid investment too many so that
Cora kicks him out at last?
Like most Americans, I know perfectly well that all the archaic good manners
and sometimes shocking class distinctions are sadly out of sync with today’s
real world . . . but I can’t help myself. The outdated social customs and
attitudes--the Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous--fascinate me. What’s more
delicious than rich people behaving badly?
Which was some of the original thinking behind my creating the Blackbird
Sisters mystery series. The idea that an Old Money family has fallen on
hard times--but continues to believe in concepts like ancestral honor and
noblesse oblige even when the chips are down--has probably buzzed
around in my head since I was a young child and first saw that the Disney
version of that Mark Twain story about the switched princes. Or maybe it
started when I was ten and saw the movie Roman Holiday, with Audrey
Hepburn. But the idea of a mystery series set in such a world all came
together in my head when I heard my mother—who’s loaded, if I may speak
frankly---began wondering what she’d do with all the money if she won the
newly established lottery. Back then, everybody in Pennsylvania was talking
about what they’d do if they suddenly got rich. Even the rich! So why not
write a book about such characters?
Nora Blackbird and her sisters were born. The three of them grew up in the lap
of luxury, but their parents fell on hard times and ran off to South America
where they compete in ballroom dance competitions—after first stealing their
children’s trust funds to finance their adventures. Finding themselves in
reduced circumstances, the Blackbird sisters must get jobs for the first time
in their lives. Pass the smelling salts!
Nora Blackbird lands a position as a society columnist for a Philadelphia
newspaper, and she starts attending parties for a living. She goes to
sumptuous banquets at stately homes, drinks martinis with wily aristocrats,
and attends lavish galas where scads of money is raised for philanthropic
causes.
Trouble is, behind the velvet rope, high society has always had a trace of
crime. Where there’s big money involved, the morally slippery will stop at
nothing to get what they want. So while Nora is covering the social scene,
she’s constantly stumbling across dead bodies. And only she understands her
social class intimately enough to solve the murders.
The thing about Downton Abbey that appeals to us even more than the clothes,
the silver, the horses, the manners? The characters may have more advantages
than the 99%, but they still suffer the same highs and lows of emotion we do.
Their troubles are just as engaging, their laughter just as enjoyable. They
may have farther to fall than the rest of us, but that makes their woes just a
tad more suspenseful, doesn’t it?
If you’d like to see how I imagine Nora’s blue blood world, here’s a Pinterest
board that outlines A Day in the Life of Nora
Blackbird.
Meanwhile, the tenth Blackbird Sisters mystery has been published in
paperback this week. If you’d like an autographed copy, contact Mystery Lovers Bookshop, and I’ll
be sure to personalize a book for you.
Nancy Martin is the author of nearly fifty popular fiction novels. She comes
from a distinguished Pennsylvania family. Try her award-winning, best-selling
Blackbird Sisters Mysteries or her Roxy Abruzzo Mysteries. Stay tuned for her
next release, MISS RUFFLES INHERITS EVERYTHING, coming in November.
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Nora Blackbird gets the scoop as she turns the spotlight on a killer in
the latest from the author of Little Black Book of Murder....
While a pregnant Nora relaxes in her best friend’s Bucks County pool, she
doesn’t have far to look for her next big story. A Broadway show is in
rehearsal next door at the home of the legendary late composer “Toodles”
Tuttle. His diva widow, Boom Boom, reigns over his estate with an iron fist.
She has also racked up a chorus line of enemies, so the old broad’s death is a
hotly anticipated event. But imagine everyone’s dismay when it’s her beloved
daughter, Jenny, who drops dead just as the lights are set to go on for the
lucrative new Toodles musical.
Eager to investigate, Nora must first deal with the dramatic interludes of her
sisters’ love lives and also keep her cool during a visit from her mobster
boyfriend’s mother. Only then can she finally bring the curtain down on a
daring killer...
2 comments posted.
When I started to read your posting, I was praying that this was a kick off to your series!! Your book sounds so good, and I hope that I'll be able to catch up when I read it, because I do intend to read it!! I'll have it on my TBR list, and will have to read the other 9 to catch up to speed. Congratulations on what I'm sure is a big hit!! Who doesn't love these types of books??
(Peggy Roberson 12:45pm August 10, 2015)
Peggy, I love your enthusiasm. Check out HOW TO MURDER A MILLIONAIRE if you're looking for the first in the series. #10 has a bunch of spoilers!
(Nancy Martin 6:44pm August 10, 2015)