The following is an interview with author Connie Berry regarding the upcoming release of the Kate Hamilton novel, A Grave Deception, with Crooked Lane Books. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Berry about the creative process of crafting an intriguing murder mystery, what readers may take away from the story’s themes, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: Congratulations on the upcoming release of A Grave Deception! What are you most excited for readers to experience with this latest installment in the Kate Hamilton mystery series?
Connie Berry: Thanks so much! Every book I write begins with an idea, a mystery (usually involving history), that fascinates me. With A Grave Deception, two such ideas came together, both involving archaeology, a subject I’ve been interested in since elementary school.
First was a plague village, abandoned when all but a handful of its citizens died in the first wave of the Black Death that swept through England in the mid-14th century. I’d read about such a village, and the thought of exploring it, uncovering the remains of medieval life, appealed to me. The second idea came from the discovery in Cumbria in 1981 of the almost perfectly preserved body of a 14th-century man—St. Bee’s Man, subsequently identified as a knight who died in 1368 while on crusade in what is now Lithuania. His body was transported back to England for burial, and the process employed preserved the corpse so well that liquid blood was found in his lungs. Initially, the archaeologists thought they’d uncovered a recent burial.
These two ideas came together, and I asked myself, what if a student archaeological excavation from the University of East Anglia discovers a medieval body in the ruins of a church in an abandoned plague village—a young woman, murdered when she was about to give birth? And what if Kate and her colleague Ivor Tweedy are asked to appraise the grave goods? Could Kate learn the woman’s identity? The identity of her killer? And then what if the body of the lead archaeologist is found in the excavations? And then a third body. What might connect the three murders?
That was the germ of the plot for A Grave Deception. I like the idea that the past is never really past but lives on to impact our lives today—and the possibility of bridging the gulf between our lives today and lives lived centuries ago. There’s so much we can learn because human nature hasn’t changed. Beyond that, I hope readers are intrigued by the resolution of murders committed 700 years apart.
BD: How would you describe your creative process in crafting a murder mystery? It’s always thrilling to follow a mystery story as the reader, but I would imagine that crafting the narrative and staying 3 steps ahead of your reader is quite the challenge!
CB: I’m what some authors call a “tent-pole plotter,” meaning that I plan ahead for the major plot points in a novel but don’t outline. It gives me confidence that I’m headed in the right direction but also leaves room for the creative process. Sometimes, my preplanned plot points change.
The most challenging aspect of writing a traditional mystery is deciding where and how to plant clues and red herrings. My plots are pretty complicated, and I keep a spreadsheet of every scene that I can refer to as I’m writing. Obviously, revision is the key. I never feel that I really know my book until I’ve reached the end of the first draft. Then, I can see it as a whole and judge my structure and pacing. Revision is the best part for me. That’s where the magic happens.
BD: What makes Crooked Lane Books the perfect home for this story?
CB: Crooked Lane publishes a wonderful mix of mysteries, thrillers, and cozies. I will always be grateful to them for giving Kate a home. They produce wonderful covers, thoughtful editing, and marketing expertise. I can’t say enough about my editor, Faith Black Ross. She loves mysteries set in the UK—and so do I!
BD: At Fanbase Press, our #StoriesMatter initiative endeavors to highlight the impact that stories can have on audiences of various mediums. How do you feel that this story may connect with and impact today’s readers?
CB: Storytelling is part of being human, and the way a story unfolds is hard-wired into our DNA. We want to be drawn in and intrigued; we want to be touched mentally and emotionally; we want to be surprised; and we want to be satisfied with a conclusion. I hope I’ve done that in A Grave Deception. Readers can visit the fourteenth century. They can take part in an archaeological dig, and they can join Kate and her husband DCI Tom Mallory as they discover the truth hidden beneath layers of lies and deceptions.
Stories take us to worlds we’ve never known and introduce us to people whose lives are both familiar and utterly alien. That’s why we need storytellers from diverse parts of our human culture. I tell my stories, hoping they resonate on a human level, and I read stories that take me out of myself and allow me to live, for a time, in the mind and heart of someone I’ve never known. Storytelling is the closest thing we have to time- and space-travel.
BD: Are there any projects – past or current – that you would like to highlight for our readers?
CB: At the moment, I’m working on something completely new—a historical mystery set in Buckinghamshire in 1829. We’ll see what happens with that. And I have what I think is an exciting premise for a new Kate book. Also, I’d like to add another short story or two this year to my 1920s Inspector Henry Blackstone collection. That should keep me busy for a while.
BD: Lastly, what is the best way for our readers to find more information about A Grave Deception and your other work?
CB: Readers can go to my website – https://www.connieberry.com – to learn more about me and my work. There they can also sign up for my monthly newsletter and receive exclusive access to my short stories. I love connecting with readers!
