Fatal Locations By Daniella Bernett

Are you a kindred spirit and passionate about discovering new places? Or merely content to be an armchair traveler? Either way, I invite you on a spine-tingling journey into the dark heart of intrigue with A Mind To Murder, the eighth book in my mystery series featuring journalist Emmeline Kirby and her jewel thief/insurance investigator husband Gregory Longdon. Stretching from London to Madrid, it’s a contemporary story steeped in jealousy, revenge and deceit, where secrets are held captive by blackmailing tabloid reporter Verena Penrose. Supreme arrogance goads Verena into believing she can bend the Raven, an international assassin with Russian ties, to her will as she has with her other targets. 

Although killing another soul is anathema in a sane and ordered world, I will confess that I see murder everywhere. Even the most bucolic and genteel of settings are fair game. I can’t control it. My imagination is a free spirit—with lethal impulses hovering just beneath the surface. Don’t be shocked. I assure you my victims have only died on the printed page. Setting plays a prominent role in this story, as it does in all my books. I feel a strong sense of place helps to heighten the tension and bring the gruesome crime into sharper focus. 

Therefore, I’d like to provide a glimpse of the unique spots I chose to scatter the dead bodies. As you must have suspected, Verena will not be treading the Earth for very long. I felt her tumultuous life demanded a dramatic end. What place more suited for spectacle than the theater? A theater is where individuals, whose lives would never have intersected in the normal course of events, cross paths. A chance encounter can change everything. For good or evil. But not just any theater would do for the fatal performance simmering in the nether regions of my consciousness. Emmeline and Gregory discover Verena in her box at St. Martin’s Theatre with her neck snapped. I will confess this was my humble homage to Agatha Christie, my hero.

The theater, which opened in November 1916, has staged Christie’s The Mousetrap since 1974. In fact, the idea for my book came to me while I was nestled in my crimson velvet seat during a performance several years ago. The theater’s architectural style is known as English Georgian. The highly polished wood of the wall paneling, carved columns and curved balustrades is a rich African walnut. The plasterwork is decorated with gold leaf, while the crimson silk wallpaper is covered with a spattering of golden floral medallions that match the design on the carpet. My author’s restless thoughts are always seeking mischief and this dignified ambiance held an irresistible allure. 

Meanwhile, I’ve always been fascinated by history. It’s vitally important to know about the past to understand why things evolved to the way they are today. So, the next stop on murder’s trail leads us to Victoria Embankment Gardens on the north side of the Thames, which opened in 1865. Whenever I’m in London, I make time to amble along the winding loop that links the three gardens comprised of lush emerald lawns, manicured flower beds, ponds, shrubs and towering trees.

The meandering paths are graced by several statues. Among these are memorials to the poet Robert Burns; composer Sir Arthur Sullivan; the Imperial Camel Corps; and an Egyptian Obelisk, called Cleopatra’s Needle. In this arcadian retreat from the hustle and bustle of city life, I decided that a man hiding a plethora of sins would come to his untimely demise near the York House Water Gate, the Italianate-style archway made of Portland stone. The gate, which looks like a folly stranded in the middle of the park, was conceived by the renowned architect Inigo Jones in 1626 as an extension to the palace built by the first Duke of Buckingham. If I closed my eyes, I pictured the spot in December with the silken nightfall muting the sound of the traffic rumbling past. A cream-colored halo glowed against the cobalt sky from the string of lamps set at intervals along the curving pathway, where this man stalked back and forth. The cold was beginning to seep into his bones. But soon, poison would sluice through his veins and rob him of his breath. It would have been a crime to leave this scene out of my story.

Now, I’ll share another little nugget. Across Britain, many people have forsaken their homes on land in favor of a simpler existence on a narrow boat on the country’s vast canal network. The Little Venice area of London is an enchanting location, where the Regent’s Canal meets the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal. Boats line both banks, bobbing up and down on the gentle hiss of the water lapping against their sides. It has a hypnotic, soothing effect on one’s nerves. Alas, this was not the case for a woman who had conspired to kill before and eluded justice. My imagination conjured up a frigid gust of wind reaching down from the evening sky like a giant hand, which pushed her along the towpath. The bare branches of the trees cast strange, distorted shadows. All at once, she realizes that she’s not alone. Her footsteps come to a jarring halt on the icy pavement. The nearby boats are cloaked in forbidding darkness. No one would hear her cry out. I couldn’t allow her to escape her reckoning a second time. 

Murder and mayhem are a guilty pleasure. Why not indulge a little? I won’t tell a soul.

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Daniella Bernett is a member of the International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America and Crime Writers Association.. She graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Journalism from St. John’s University. Lead Me Into Danger, Deadly Legacy, From Beyond The Grave, A Checkered Past, When Blood Runs Cold, Old Sins Never Die and Viper’s Nest of Lies are the books in the Emmeline Kirby-Gregory Longdon mystery series. She also is the author of two poetry collections, Timeless Allure and Silken Reflections. In her professional life, she is the research manager for a nationally prominent engineering, architectural and construction management firm. Daniella is currently working on Emmeline and Gregory’s next adventure. Visit www.daniellabernett.com or follow her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008802318282 or on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/40690254-daniella-bernett.

A Mind To Murder, the latest Emmeline Kirby-Gregory Longdon mystery: 

The wicked kill…but the dead speak 

Journalist Emmeline Kirby and her jewel thief/insurance investigator husband Gregory Longdon were in the mood for intrigue at the theater. However, murder was only supposed to take place on stage. All too soon, the evening’s peace is shattered when the ceiling collapses in the Upper Circle. In the ensuing chaos of the evacuation, Emmeline and Gregory discover tabloid reporter Verena Penrose in her box. Her neck had been snapped. Verena had done a brisk trade in scandal, blackmail and splashy exposés. Her fatal error was tangling with the Raven, an elusive international assassin with ties to the Russians and ETA, the Basque separatist group.

Although Verena despised her, she leaves a cryptic message for Emmeline that is too tantalizing to ignore. But the layer upon layer of lies, jealousy and revenge touch too close to home when her brother Adam is implicated in the Raven’s schemes to infiltrate the London Diamond Bourse and to murder a prominent British official. To restore the family honor, Emmeline and Gregory race to Madrid only to walk into the Raven’s trap. 

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