Authors Interviewing Characters: Lydia Travers
Murder in the Scottish Hills
When Maud McIntyre and her lady’s maid Daisy travel into the Scottish Highlands, the last thing they expect to find is a body on the train… Will these keen amateur sleuths stop a murderer in his tracks?
Edinburgh, 1911: When Maud McIntyre receives a letter from a maid called Rose, sharing her suspicions that something strange is happening in the house where she works, she and her assistant Daisy immediately travel to the Highlands to investigate.
But as they are changing trains, the body of a man falls from the carriage right in front of them, a bullet in his head. Maud and Daisy can’t believe it – they’ve waited ages for a new case, and now one has literally landed in front of them! And when the local police rule the death as a tragic accident, the pair have no choice but to investigate what they believe is a murder…
Arriving in the Scottish village, Maud and Daisy go undercover to begin their hunt for the murderer, while also investigating the strange behaviour of Rose’s employer, a local art dealer. As they begin to piece together the chain of events, Maud and Daisy wonder whether the cases might be linked. Is it possible the man on the train was killed to cover up something in the village? And, if so, who would do such a thing?
When a local artist is found murdered, Maud and Daisy become convinced the two cases are connected. Searching for the link between the deaths, will Maud and Daisy solve the case before another mysterious murder takes place?
A page-turning historical whodunnit, perfect for fans of the mysteries of Helena Dixon, Verity Bright, T.E. Kinsey and Catherine Coles.
INTERVIEW WITH MY CHARACTERS
By Lydia Travers, author of the Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency cosy crime series
Lydia Travers: So, Miss McIntyre-
Maud McIntyre: Call me Maud, please. After all, we have been friends for a while now.
LT: Thank you. So, Maud , what first attracted you to the handsome Lord Hamish Urquhart?
MM: I beg your pardon?
LT: I’m sorry, I meant to say what first attracted you to the idea of setting up your own private detective agency in Edinburgh?
MM: The complete absence of such a thing in Scotland. I felt sure that females would prefer to deal with another female involving…delicate matters.
LT: And yet your first client was Lord Urquhart?
MM: Not quite…
Daisy Cameron: I’ve been sitting here quiet for long enough. Do you want to ken about the agency or nae?
LT: Good morning, Daisy. May I call you Daisy?
DC: Aye.
LT: You were saying, Maud, there was a need for your agency from the point of view of females.
MM: That’s correct. And in fact our first actual client was the Duchess of Duddingston.
LT: Ah, the famous Duddingston case involving theft, robbery, murder and attempted murder.
DC: Dinna give awa any spoilers.
MM: I think that précis is acceptable, Daisy.
LT: And you have gone on to solve other crimes, although not all have yet been written about?
MM: Indeed. Daisy and I have dealt with the case of indiscreet letters stolen from Lord Urquhart, the gentleman you mentioned earlier; a missing fiancée; the murders of a retired farmer and a very much still working art forger…
DC: Nae to mention all those members of the choir in Fort William.
LT: That is an impressive list, especially as the M. McIntyre agency started only last summer. You obviously make a good team.
DC: Aye.
LT: I believe that you, Daisy, were Maud’s lady’s maid at one time?
DC: I was. Her faither gave me that job when Maud was eighteen, which was –
MM: Yes, Daisy and I have been together for a number of years and when I decided to open the detective agency, I knew she would make the perfect assistant. I’ve not been proved wrong.
DC: From Maud I’ve learned detective skills and from me she’s learned how to cook and sew. She’s nae very good at the domestic stuff yet, but she’s getting there.
LT: How exactly did you learn the necessary detective skills Maud?
MM: All a detective needs is common sense, an inquiring mind and a thorough knowledge of the books featuring Sherlock Holmes, Lady Molly of Scotland Yard and others of that ilk.
LT: They are fictional characters, of course…
DC: Aye, but we’re not.
LT: That is true. Tell me, is there one of your investigations that you’re particularly proud of?
MM: We’re proud of all our investigations, but I suppose if I had to choose one…
LT: Yes?
MM: I can’t. Daisy, do you have one?
DC: Maybe the choir murders. That’s because we joined the choir to carry out our investigation.
MM: It was also our most dangerous case, given what happened at the end.
DC: Now that would be a spoiler, Maud!
BUY HERE
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Lydia Travers was born in London. She moved progressively north until settling with her husband in a village on the edge of the Scottish Highlands. She has raised children, bred dogs and kept chickens; and for as long as she can remember has written for pleasure. A former legal academic and practitioner with a PhD in criminology, she now runs self-catering holiday accommodation, sings in a local choir and is walked daily by the family dog.
Category: On Writing
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