1--What is the title of your latest release?
SECRETS OF THE NILE
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Emily and her husband, Colin Hargreaves, have joined his formidable mother on a holiday to visit the exotic treasures of Egypt. Their host, Lord Bertram Deeley, is a renowned amateur British collector of antiquities, who has invited his closest friends on a lavish cruise up the Nile to his home at Luxor. But on the first night of their journey, he suddenly collapses after offering a welcome toast, a victim of cyanide poisoning. Who amongst this group of his nearest and dearest would want to kill their generous host?
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Egypt has fascinated me since I was a little girl, and my parents took me to the Tutankhamun exhibit at Chicago’s Field Museum. It was also an enormously popular destination for Edwardian travelers, so it made perfect sense to send Emily there.
4--Would you hang out with your sleuth in real life?
Absolutely! We’d sit around eating Stilton and drinking port.
5--What are three words that describe your sleuth?
Intelligent, elegant, loyal
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
No matter how many books you’ve written, each one requires its own process. This one was particularly tricky, for reasons I can explain without giving away the ending.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I start each day by reading and lightly revising what I wrote the day before, but don’t do anything major until the entire draft is done.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Cheese. All the cheese.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
For the first fifteen years of my career, I had no dedicated writing space, only a library cart that I used for research books. Now, at last, I’ve got a real office with a fireplace, an antique desk, built in bookcases, and reproductions of ancient Greek art. It’s heaven!
10--Who is an author you admire?
David Mitchell
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
There are many, but the first was Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. When I was three and a half years old, my mom was reading it to me and I realized I was further ahead of her on the page—until that moment, I thought you had to have a grown up with you to read. From that minute, I was always reading.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)
The manuscript had been on submission for about two weeks, and we knew within a couple of days that we had interest from editors. When the call came, I was standing in the kitchen of my attic apartment in New Haven, Connecticut, and wrote down everything my agent told me on the back of an envelope. I still have that envelope.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
I’ve always read widely—anything that strikes me, regardless of genre. I tend to seek things out based on whatever I’m interested in at the moment. That might be location, time period, a specific topic, or a style.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
There are so many…one I truly love is MAYRIG, the semi-autobiographical story of the filmmaker’s family who fled the Ottoman Empire for France during the Armenian genocide.
15--What is your favorite season?
Winter: I can never, ever have enough snow.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Hanging out at home with my husband. Dinner is generally fondue in front of the fire.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Ann Mah’s Jacqueline in Paris, a novel that details Jacqueline Bouvier’s college year abroad in postwar Paris, is an absolutely fabulous read.
I’ve recently discovered Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History podcasts and could not love them more.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Indian. French. Thai. Cannot pick one!
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Reading, hiking in the mountains, cooking
20--What can readers expect from you next?
The Emily book that follows Secrets of the Nile will be out in October 2023. I’m currently working on revisions for a standalone about the Siege of Leningrad during World War II that will be published in February 2024.
Lady Emily Mysteries #16
In Secrets of the Nile, Lady Emily and her husband, Colin Hargreaves, have joined his formidable mother on a holiday to visit the exotic treasures of Egypt. Their host, Lord Bertram Deeley, is a renowned amateur British collector of antiquities, who has invited his closest friends on a lavish cruise up the Nile to his home at Luxor. But on the first night of their journey, he suddenly collapses after offering a welcome toast, a victim of the lethal poison cyanide. Who amongst this group of his nearest and dearest would want to kill their generous host?
Emily and Colin’s investigation soon reveals that even his closest friends had reasons to want him dead: was it the archeologist whose dig Deeley was poised to fund until he suddenly withdrew support? The powerful politician whose career Deeley had secretly destroyed? The dyspeptic aristocratic English spinster whose hired travelling companion seems determined to protect her employer? Or could it be Mrs. Hargreaves herself, who may have spurned the advances of Lord Deeley when they were both younger?
A key clue may lie with several ancient ushabtis, exquisite three-thousand-year-old sculptures that played a role in a hidden story from the time of Ancient Egypt, one of a sister’s unshakeable loyalty to her brother, a tale of betrayal and revenge. In an unforgettable finale, Emily and Colin gather their fellow travelers together to unmask a killer whose motive is as shocking as it is brilliant.
Historical | Mystery Woman Sleuth | Mystery Amateur Sleuth [Minotaur Books, On Sale: March 17, 2022, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9781250819697 / eISBN: 9781250819703]
Tasha Alexander attended the University of Notre Dame, where she signed on as an English major (with a concentration in Medieval Studies) in order to have a legitimate excuse for spending all her time reading. Her work has been nominated for numerous awards and has been translated into more than a dozen languages. She and her husband, novelist Andrew Grant, divide their time between Chicago and the UK.
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