Authors Interviewing Characters: Vanessa Riley
Welcome to Murder in Drury Lane, book two of the Lady Worthing Mystery Series. Abigail Carrington Monroe, Lady Worthing, has just returned from an unsuccessful visit to Bath. She had hoped to meet with her world-exploring husband, James Monroe, Lord Worthing, but the former navy captain did not arrive. Instead, he sent a letter with excuses.
Abigail is coming to understand that her absent husband continues to find the world more fascinating than being married to her. Her fortunes go from bad to worse when she arrives and finds her home on Greater Queen Street in Westminster ransacked. Glass windows are shattered in her beautiful parlor. The dining room has splatters of something that looks like blood.
12: 10 AM
According to her maid, the magistrate and her godfather have requested that the baroness act normal and pretend nothing has happened. Her godfather, Mr. Neil Vaughn, a man connected to the Prince Regent, has escorted her to Drury Lane Theater. The staff expects her to return around 10, but it’s well past midnight. I’ll check with my sources to see if there’s been any trouble at tonight’s performance.
1:05 AM
Former Naval Commander Stapleton Henderson escorts Lady Worthing escorts to her door. I hear he’s a trained physician. Both may answer questions.
Reporter: [I step into their path.] “Excuse me, ma’am. Might I have a word?”
Henderson: [Before I can utter anything else, Henderson chokes me. His arm wraps tighter about my neck.] “When will any of you learn not to harass women!”
Reporter: [Struggling to breathe, I beat at his bicep.] “Not harass. Just questions.”
Lady Worthing: “Stop, Mr. Henderson. There’s been enough violence tonight. I know this reporter, Riley. He means no harm. Let him go.”
Henderson: “Fine.” [Henderson’s hold about my throat lessens.]
Reporter: [I take my first deep breath.] “Just a few questions. Then I’ll be on my way.”
Henderson opens the door, and when he sees the footman approaching, he turns to Lady Worthing. “Your staff is capable, but I can stay if you’d like, Abigail.”
Lady Worthing: “No. Go home. You have a situation there that needs your attention.”
Reporter: [I mentally note that something has occurred at her neighbor’s house.] “You should be more careful. You can’t choke everyone.”
Henderson: [Glaring at me, he bows to the baroness and leaves.]
Reporter: “Thank you, ma’am. I know it’s late.”
Lady Worthing: “It is very late. I’ve had a very distressful evening. Can you please return in the morning?”
Reporter: “You know how these investigations proceed. Nothing can wait.”
Lady Worthing: [She looks at me or through her lorgnettes as if she can use her theater glasses to find a clue to implicate me.] “Very well. Make this quick.”
Reporter. “Yes, ma’am. I spoke with your butler. I heard there was a lot of cleaning to do to your house when you returned from Bath.”
Lady Worthing: “Things happen to old houses. As you heard, my staff is very capable of taking care of things. I think we should end this—”
Reporter: “I know your house has been burglarized. I’ll not tell a soul and will work hard to keep this out of the papers. But I must implore you, do you know who did this?
Lady Worthing: [She looks around me, then takes her time folding the handle of her lorgnettes and shoving them into her reticule, a lovely satin bag that dangles at her wrist.] “No.” [Her voice is soft.] “I’m supposed to pretend that I’m unaffected. How does one do that? How does one pretend the place they’re supposed to feel the safest hasn’t been violated?”
Reporter: “I understand feeling scared or even feeling as if you’ve lost control. But you did not answer my question. Do you know who has done this?”
Lady Worthing: “No, I do not. The guilty will be found and dealt with. Now, if you will excuse me.”
Reporter: “Wait, ma’am. I heard there was a murder at Drury Lane. I know you have a box there. I also know your neighbor, Mr. Henderson, has a box. Henderson is friendly with the deceased. Your neighbor has returned you to your residence tonight. Are you protecting a friend?”
Lady Worthing: “A friend? My neighbor? I wouldn’t. . . We are neighborly. I don’t know what you’re trying to imply. Mr. Henderson has had a harrowing evening, too. We were both in our box seats when the murder occurred.”
Reporter: “Did you find suspects? According to my source, you went backstage.”
Lady Worthing: “It’s the theater. Busy and full of people. Many could be involved. I’ll find out more in the morning. You know my reputation. I will not let this lie. Now please leave.”
Reporter:” Will Mr. Henderson help you find these culprits or perhaps culprit?”
Lady Worthing: “Culprit?” [She repeated what I said without the s. Then the baroness glares at me. “A reporter showing up at my residence on this particular day having knowledge of both my house being burglarized and a murder is a little telling. Perhaps there’s something you’d like to confess to Mr. Riley.”
Reporter: [I shrug.] “I haven’t found anything yet.”
Lady Worthing: [She steps around me and crosses her threshold.] “Then I suggest you head out and see if you can discover a clue. I have nothing else to say. Except, I intend to find Anthony Danielson’s killer.”
Reporter: “And the person you burglarized your house?”
Lady Worthing: “I’ll discover who’s trying to make me afraid. That person will be dealt with. No one will run me out of Westminster.”
Reporter: “Are you willing to do whatever it takes?”
Lady Worthing: “I’m more than willing, sir. I’m capable. I will have justice. Good evening, Mr. Riley. Do watch yourself. It’s dangerous out here.” [Her door slams with a thud.]
Reporter: “Till next time, baroness.” [Leaving, I pull up my greatcoat, cradling the collar against my sore neck, and watch for movement in the shadows.]
—
Vanessa Riley is an award-winning author of historical romance, mystery, and fiction featuring realistic multicultural communities and powerful persons of color. Her works have been reviewed by the Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Publisher Weekly, and the New York Times. Riley, of Southern, Irish, and Trini background, was named the 2023 Georgia Author of the Year Awards Literary Fiction Winner for Sister Mother Warrior. Riley holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering and an MS in industrial engineering and engineering management from Stanford University. She also earned a BS and MS in mechanical engineering from Penn State University. Riley’s research skills have helped NASA, GM, Hewlett Packard, and several startups. Yet, her love of history (Caribbean, Georgian, and Regency) and lattes overwhelmed her passion for math and has led to the publication of over twenty titles. A frequent speaker at literary, women’s, and STEM events, she lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her military husband and teenage daughter. To learn more please visit www.vanessariley.com.
Murder in Drury Lane (The Lady Worthing Mysteries Book 2)
Offering “a vibrant picture of the roles Black and mixed‑race people played in Regency life” (Publishers Weekly), this unique historical mystery series, featuring a mixed-race heroine with a notorious past, will appeal to Bridgerton fans who want a sharper edge to their drama.
Pressed into a union of convenience, Lady Abigail Worthing knew better than to expect love. Her marriage to an absent lord does at least provide some comforts, including a box at the Drury Lane theater, owned by the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Abigail has always found respite at the theater, away from the ton’s judgmental stares and the risks of her own secret work to help the cause of abolition—and her fears that someone from her past wants her permanently silenced. But on one particular June evening everything collides, and the performance takes an unwelcome turn . . .
Onstage, a woman emits a scream of genuine terror. A man has been found dead in the prop room, stabbed through the heart. Abigail’s neighbor, Stapleton Henderson, is also in attendance, and the two rush backstage. The magistrate, keen to avoid bringing more attention to the case and making Lady Worthing more of a target, asks Abigail not to investigate. But she cannot resist, especially when the usually curmudgeonly Henderson offers his assistance.
Abigail soon discovers a tangled drama that rivals anything brought to the stage, involving gambling debts, a beautiful actress with a parade of suitors, and the very future of the Drury Lane theatre. For Abigail the case is complicated still further, for one suspect is a leading advocate for the cause dearest to her heart—the abolition of slavery within the British empire. Uncovering the truth always comes at a price. But this time, it may be far higher than she wishes to pay.
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