For Dead Men Only
by Paula Paul
For Dead Men Only: An Alexandra Gladstone Mystery
2nd in Series
Historical Cozy Mystery
Random House LLC
Alibi (April 12, 2016)
E-Book ASIN: B01208WOJ4
Synopsis
The Temple of the Ninth Daughter sits on a hill at the edge of Newton-upon-Sea, an aura of mystery lingering over its tall, gray silhouette. Villagers whisper about the treasure housed inside, protected by local Freemasons who are bound by clandestine oaths.Dr. Alexandra Gladstone has no time for such nonsense. Between the patients in her surgery and the rounds she makes with her faithful dog, Zack, her days are busy enough. But Alexandra has no logical explanation when the Freemasons start dying, one by one, with no sign of foul play other than smears of blood on their Masonic aprons. And what to make of reports that a Knight Templar rides through the village before each passing?After the constable disappears in the midst of the crisis, Alexandra reaches out to her dashing, diligent friend, Nicholas Forsythe, Lord Dunsford, for assistance. Is someone after the treasure, or might a more sinister game be afoot? In order to solve this puzzle, Alexandra must somehow catch a killer who shows no remorse—and leaves no witnesses.Praise for Paula Paul’s Alexandra Gladstone mysteries“I love the way real personalities from the past keep popping up to intermingle with Paul’s fictional characters.”—Lois Duncan, award-winning and bestselling author of Killing Mr. Griffin and I Know What You Did Last Summer“A lively mixture of ruling-class murder, Victorian morals, and love.”—Bestselling author Tony Hillerman“I would recommend this to fans of the Maisie Dobbs series. There’s a strong female character in a historical setting. She’s determined, logical, intelligent and faces an unusual situation.”—The Reader’s Hollow
About The Author
Award-winning novelist Paula Paul was born on her grandparents’ cotton farm near Shallowater, Texas, and graduated from a country high school near Maple, Texas. She earned a BA in journalism and has worked as a reporter for newspapers in both Texas and New Mexico. She’s been the recipient of state and national awards for her work as a journalist as well as a novelist. Her previous novels featuring Dr. Alexandra Gladstone, including Symptoms of Death
, have appeared on bookstore and online bestseller lists. She is also the author of the Mystery by Design series, which she wrote as Paula Carter. She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
, have appeared on bookstore and online bestseller lists. She is also the author of the Mystery by Design series, which she wrote as Paula Carter. She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Author Link:
Webpage – http://www.paulapaul.net/
Purchase Links:
Interview
Q:
Where are you from?
A: West Texas. I was born on my
grandparents’ farm in Lubbock County, Texas, and I grew up on a farm/ranch in
Bailey County Texas, a county in far western Texas named for one of my
ancestors who died at the Alamo. You will notice I do not name a town. I was
not born in town and grew up thirty miles from the nearest town.
Q: Tell us your latest news.
A: My latest news is that I just
finished a mystery for my publisher that is quite different from the Gladstone
mysteries. The new one is set in modern times in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which is
near where I now live.
Q: When and why did you begin writing?
A: I can hardly remember not wanting to
be a writer, except for a brief period when I was in the third grade. I decided
then that I would be a librarian because I thought that all librarians had to
do was sit in the library and read books and stamp dates on library cards
people checked out. I soon learned there was more to being a librarian than
that, so I decided to be a writer. Like most writers I was a voracious reader,
and that often leads to writing. As to why I became a writer, it must be
because I liked finding my way through the tangled web of a story and decided
to try to tangle my own web.
Q: When did you first consider yourself
a writer?
A: I began to consider myself a
professional writer while I was still in college. I majored in journalism and
wrote for the college newspaper. My plan was to have a career as a journalist
and then write novels. I have stuck to that plan.
Q: What inspired you to write your first
book?
A: As I have suggested, my love of the
written word inspired me to try my hand at it. My first book was very poorly written.
When a friend asked to see that original manuscript, I couldn’t find it. I’m
convinced that is Freudian because I didn’t want to see or allow anyone else to
see that awful attempt.
Q: Do you have a specific writing style?
A: A writer who writes long enough
eventually develops a distinctive style; however, it seems to me that the style
is more easily identified by readers than by the writer herself. If I were to
attempt to describe my writing style, I would say it is somewhat lyrical but
tempered by a journalistic discipline.
Q: How did you come up with the title?
A: For this particular book, I came up
with the title The Curse of the Ninth
Daughter. My editor didn’t like that title and wanted me to come up with
something similar to the last Gladstone book which was Medium Dead. I wrote a list of six or seven possible titles, one of
which was For Dead Men Only. That
came from the fact that the book deals with the Free Masons, which is an
organization for men only. I liked that
best of all the possible titles, and so did my editor.
Q: Is there a message in your novel that
you want readers to grasp?
A: One of the most important messages in
this book as well as all the other Gladstone novels is that the role of women
in society has changed over the years, but the change has
been slow and at the expense of many sacrifices.
Q: What would you like my readers to
know?
A: I want readers to know that I need, I
love, I crave feedback. I want honest opinions of what readers like or don’t
like about my work.
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