1--What is the title of your latest release?
A MURDER FOR MISS HORTENSE
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
A MURDER FOR MISS HORTENSE is the first in a new crime series starring Miss Hortense, a retired Caribbean nurse from the Windrush generation who has the skill of being able to decipher other people’s secrets with just a glance. Miss Hortense uses her skills to investigate the investments of the Pardner network – a special community of Black investors, determined to help their community grow. But when an unidentified man is found dead in one of the Pardner’s homes Miss Hortense’s long buried past comes rushing back to greet her, reminding her of one of the worst moments of her life - a crime that took place thirty-five years ago, that was never properly solved. Now, Miss Hortense knows that she is going to have to solve the crime of the past as it connects to this current death, and it will take all of her skills and the mysterious contents of her handbag, to force her community to admit that there is a killer amongst them.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
My book is set in a fictional English suburb called Bigglesweigh in Birmingham. I knew I wanted to base by book somewhere that had a history of migration of the Afro-Caribbean community in the UK. I also wanted the setting to be more intimate than London. Birmingham has very positive memories for me because my grandparents had dear friends and family in that part of the UK.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Absolutely! Miss Hortense is the complete opposite of me. I tend to overthink and care too much what people think. Miss Hortense doesn’t care about any of that. I’d be honored to be in her presence but also intimidated. Miss Hortense isn’t scared to enter any environment. I’d see myself rushing behind to catch up with her as she goes about her business of solving the latest crime.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Straight-talking, fearless and compassionate.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
That I can actually write a full-length novel. How much I enjoy dialogue. That at my heart I’m a pancer not a plotter. That something magical happens when you write, things that you thought had no reason to be on the page, make complete sense in the end.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
A bit of both. I tend to write and then read out loud what I’ve written. I enjoy hearing the rhythm and the sound of the words and use the sound mostly as my editing process. Sometimes I have to force myself to leave things alone though otherwise I’d be tinkering with one line forever and never get on with the story.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Pretty much any Caribbean food, lovingly prepared - probably curry goat, rice and peas, ackee and salt fish, coconut run-down, roasted breadfruit, callaloo - basically all the foods my grandparents cooked for me when I was a child.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
Mainly two rooms at the top of our house that we got converted several years ago. They both have great light, lots of shelving for books which are crammed full. On my desk I have a few items that remind me of my family. There’s quite a lot of books on the floor that I use for reference or because I have the intention of reading them and lots of piles of paper on the floor which are previous versions of my books that I tell myself I need to keep reminding myself of the editing process. I have a few piles of paperwork and admin that I never get around to clearing, a plant that needs watering, that kind of thing.
10--Who is an author you admire?
So many, but Toni Morrison is always at the top of my list.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
BELOVED by Toni Morrison. I read the book as part of my English studies when I was 18. I still have the same copy of the book I read then with all my notes in the margin. I found the book transformative. A book that felt like home. Now I come back to BELOVED time and time again in my own writing practice to try to understand the complexity of the language, how Toni Morrison conveyed so much with so few words, how she was able to create all of that feeling.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
Oh it was incredible. It was in the early hours of the morning in the UK. I wondered why my agent was calling me at 2am! I’d had some meetings with publishers in the previous few days, and I was still buzzing off that, when I had the call to say that Lisa Lucas was interested in pre-empting my book in the US. I had to sit down. It was so surreal. It was the thing of dreams and a dream that I hadn’t really allowed myself to have because everyone warns you, going on submission, there are no guarantees. I was totally speechless.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
I love books that move me. I love it when I read a book that inspires me, that makes me see the world in a different way and I’m like, hold on, I can’t believe I’ve never looked at the world like that before or the author is articulating something that I haven’t been able to. I love books that challenge me. At the moment I read a lot in the crime genre because it’s a world that fascinates me. There’s a through line, often a murder, but you can use the genre in so many ways, there’s so much scope to subvert and to provide social commentary.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
It’s a really old movie called, “Wish you Were Here.” It’s a coming-of-age film set in a seaside town during the War. I watched it when I was probably too young to be watching the film, but it stuck with me. You could really see the raw talent of the young actress of the time, Emily Lloyd, this young girl who told everyone to, “Stick it up your bum.” The beauty of it has stayed with me and in my writing practice I’m really attracted to unlikely heroes, people who don’t care what others think of them, pretty much Miss Hortense.
15--What is your favorite season?
Summer. I’m not good with the cold. I don’t function well. My fingers get slower; I can’t concentrate on much else other than feeling cold. In the UK, in summer, there is a sense of unwrapping, a loosening, people revealing more of themselves, there’s more noise, music, you hear people in their gardens, laughter.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
For the past few years, I’ve treated myself to an aspirational personal shopping experience in the heart of London. Even before I got my book deal, I’d basically say to the stylist “I’m an aspiring author, can you recommend what I might wear to my book launch?” The clothes were much too expensive for me, and it was the thing of dreams, but it was lovely to put myself in that space and imagine. I can’t believe I will nearly have my very own book launch to actually go to in June!
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
A few, but Adolescence on Netflix. Lots has been said about this series. For me the exploration of why a child might kill another child is mind-boggling. I think the writers do an excellent job of exploring that question. The Residence is also such a fun whodunit, in an unusual setting with lots of comedy that I’m currently enjoying.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Caribbean food (cooked well) as above, it’s the taste of home, the taste of my grandparents. It’s the spices, the heat of the scotch bonnet pepper, the earthiness of the pimento and nutmeg, nothing beats it!
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Mostly writing. I like to go on walks with my husband and our dog. I like watching trash TV when I don’t want to think about anything too serious but mostly the thing I enjoy doing in my free time is writing.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
The next in the Miss Hortense Investigates crime series. I’ve just written the first draft of the second book, so I am waiting for comments from my editors. It’s been so good getting back into the space with Miss Hortense and the Pardner Network again.
In Bigglesweigh, old people are starting to die.
Retired nurse, avid gardener, and renowned cake maker Miss Hortense has lived in Bigglesweigh, a quiet suburb of Birmingham, England, since she emigrated from Jamaica in 1960. She takes great pride in her home, starching her lace curtains bright white, and she can tell if she’s being short-changed on turmeric before she’s taken her first bite of a beef patty. Thirty-five years of nursing have also left her afraid of nobody, whether a local drug dealer or an interfering priest, and she’s an expert in deciphering other people’s secrets with just a glance.
Miss Hortense used to use her skills to benefit the Pardner network—a local group of Black investors that she helped found. That is, until she was unceremoniously ousted from its ranks, severing her ties to the majority of her friends and community. That was thirty years ago. Now, as a new millennium dawns, an unidentified man has been found dead in one of the Pardner member’s homes, a bible quote noted down beside his body. Suddenly, Miss Hortense finds her long-buried past rushing back, bringing memories of the worst moment of her life—and secrets behind an unsolved crime that has haunted her for decades.
It is finally time for Miss Hortense to solve a mystery that will see her, and the community she loves, tested to their limits. The first novel from a bold, brilliant new voice, A Murder for Miss Hortense introduces a fearless sleuth who readers will never forget.
Multicultural African-American | Mystery | Thriller [Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, On Sale: June 10, 2025, Hardcover / e-Book , ISBN: 9780593701621 / eISBN: 9780593701638]
MEL PENNANT is a playwright, screenwriter and novelist. She graduated in 2014 with an MA in Screenwriting from the London College of Communication. In 2013, she won the Brockley Jack Write Now 4 award with her play, No Rhyme, and was involved with the Tamasha Theatre Company–writing for the Barbican Box. Mel has written audio plays with Tamasha and the National Archives and, in 2018, she was awarded a place on the Hachette X Tamasha scheme for aspiring playwright novelists.
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