Title: A VERY PRIVATE GRAVE, Book 1 The Monastery Murders
Publisher: Monarch Books
Cover blurb:
Felicity Howard, a young American studying at the College of the Transfiguration in Yorkshire, is devastated when she finds her beloved Fr. Dominic bludgeoned to death and Fr. Antony, her church history lecturer, soaked in his blood. . .
A VERY PRIVATE GRAVE is a contemporary novel with a thoroughly modern heroine who must learn some ancient truths in order to solve the mystery and save her own life, as she and Fr. Antony flee a murderer and follow clues that take them to out-of-the-way sites across northern England and southern Scotland. The narrative deftly mixes detection, intellectual puzzles, spiritual aspiration, romance and the solving of clues ancient and modern.
1) How did this story come to you?
I have wanted to tell St. Cuthbert’s story every since I encountered him at Durham Cathedral some twenty years ago. When my daughter went to study in a monastery in Yorkshire the story came together for me.
2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
And what a journey it’s been! I had been offered three previous contracts for this book but something always got in the way, such as another story seeming more urgent. Then, after publishing 30 novels, My career flat-lined and I was out of the publishing loop for 10 years, although I was still writing. Things came together for me when I finished this book and my agent Janet Benrey took it to Tony Collins at Monarch Books. Truly a case of “all things working together for good.”
3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
I am a former rodeo queen and runner-up for Miss Rodeo America.
I will do anything for research, including rappelling into a lava cave.
I have no sense of direction and maintain that I should be allowed to park in handicapped spaces because it’s a form of internal blindness.
4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?
I am organizing the research for Book 3 in the Monastery Murders while my publisher prepares Book 2, A DARKLY HIDDEN TRUTH for publication. Book 3 will be set in Wales and involves Antony and Felicity directing a Youth Walk to Welsh pilgrimage sites. For preparation I will visit these sites in Wales, then join a Youth Walk from London to Walsingham (126 miles) as an overage pilgrim.
5) Parting comments?
I am so thankful to be able to live out my passion by telling stories of the Christian history of Britain. I pray that my readers will catch a new vision of the treasured heritage that is ours to live and to share.
6) Where can fans find you on the internet?
My webpage: http://www.donnafletchercrow.com/ to see my book trailer and pictures of my research trips and my garden; http://ning.it/ia9SMY for my Amazon page; or http://ning.it/eLjgYp on Facebook for Donna Fletcher Crow, Novelist of British History.
