Fanny Newcomb and the Irish Channel Ripper
by Ana Brazil
Publication Date: November 1st 2017
Sand Hill Review Press
Formats: Paperback & eBook
Genre: Fiction/Historical/Mystery
BLURB
Gilded
Age New Orleans is overrun with prostitutes, pornographers, and a malicious
Jack the Ripper copycat. As threatening letters to newspaper editors proclaim,
no woman is safe from his blade.
Desperate
to know who murdered her favorite student, ambitious typewriting teacher Fanny
Newcomb launches into a hunt for the self-proclaimed Irish Channel Ripper.
Fanny quickly enlists her well-connected employers—Principal Sylvia Giddings
and her sister Dr. Olive—to help, and the women forge through saloons,
cemeteries, slums, and houses of prostitution in their pursuit.
Fanny’s
good intentions quickly infuriate her longtime beau Lawrence Decatur, while her
reckless persistence confounds the talented police detective Daniel Crenshaw.
Reluctantly, Lawrence and Daniel also lend their investigative talents to
Fanny’s investigation.
As the
murderer sets a date for his next heinous crime, can Fanny Newcomb and her crew
stop the Irish Channel Ripper before he kills again?
Buy
Links:
The Very Dark Shadows of Gilded Age New Orleans
Can
I share a secret with you? New Orleans scares me.
It’s
not just the hurricanes and the street hustlers and the
heat-that-takes-my-breath-away. Sometimes it’s the beads and trinkets that are
thrown-like-grenades from French Quarter balconies. Sometimes it’s the manic
crowds that follow Mardi Gras parades.
And
always, it’s the cemeteries that scare me. Even when I’m in a group of people.
Even in the daylight.
Unlike
other cemeteries in the south, the dead of old New Orleans are buried above
ground. And they’re buried on top of each other, so that in the oldest
cemeteries—like the Saint Louis cemeteries—the vaults are stacked high and
wide. Walking around the cemeteries is like walking around a city of the dead.
I’m
not afraid of the spirits of the
dead; no, I actually find the spirits comforting. What creeps me out is that
there are so many places to hide in
these cemeteries. There are so many tall crypts and so many dark shadows to
conceal real flesh-and-blood evil. Not to mention the solid brick walls around
most of the oldest cemeteries. It just feels like once you’re inside these
walls, no one can see you, no one can hear you, no one save you.
And
that’s just how I feel about 21st century New Orleans.
The
more I research and know about Gilded Age
New Orleans—those years after Civil War Reconstruction and before 1900—the more
New Orleans REALLY scares me. Because those late 19th century years
were filled with lynchings and duels and assassination. And yellow fever
epidemics and floods.
As a
mystery writer, those calamities are too fascinating, too extreme to ignore. I’m
totally seduced by New Orleans’ turbulent history.
Gilded
Age New Orleans was so dark that in my novel Fanny Newcomb and the Irish Channel Ripper, a Jack the Ripper
copycat stalks the city. The self-proclaimed Irish Channel Ripper threatens to
slash and kill any woman who crosses his path.
But
all is not lost! Just as my historical research exposed the darkness that
troubled Gilded Age New Orleans, it also revealed some clever and courageous
women who were ready to fight the social darkness that threatened their city.
I
found a woman who ran the Daily Picayune
newspaper, women who started kindergartens for immigrant children, and the
women founders of the Christian Women’s Exchange, an organization that helped
needy women sell their hand-made goods. (For the record, I also found a lot of
very socially conscious men!)
Those
real women helped to inspire my fictional heroine Fanny Newcomb. In 1889 (a few
months after Jack the Ripper’s killing spree in London), Fanny is an ambitious
typewriting teacher in the Irish Channel’s new settlement house. When her
favorite student is murdered, she launches her own investigation to find the
Jack the Ripper copycat.
Fanny
is brave and bold, and certainly thinks that she’s equal to the shadows and
secrets of the male-dominated city. But can she really outwit the corrupt police to actually
identify the Irish Channel Ripper? She’ll forge through
saloons, slums, a house of prostitution, and even a cemetery to find out.
I
might always be scared within New Orleans’ old cemeteries, but at least now I
have my heroine Fanny Newcomb, who will fight through the very dark shadows of
Gilded Age New Orleans for me.
Author Info
A native of California, Ana Brazil lived in
the south for many years. She earned her MA in American history from Florida
State University and traveled her way through Mississippi as an architectural
historian. Ana loves fried mullet, Greek Revival colonnades, and Miss Welty’s
garden. She has a weakness for almost all things New Orleans. (Although she’s
not sure just how it happened…but she favors bluegrass over jazz.) The Fanny
Newcomb stories celebrate the tenacity, intelligence, and wisdom of the dozens
of courageous and outrageous southern women that Ana is proud to call friends.
Although Ana, her husband, and their dog Traveller live in the beautiful
Oakland foothills, she is forever drawn to the lush mystique of New Orleans,
where Fanny Newcomb and her friends are ever prepared to seek a certain
justice.
Author
Links:
Giveaway
During the Blog Tour we will be giving away a
paperback copy of Fanny Newcomb and the Irish Channel Ripper! To enter, please
enter via the Gleam form
Fanny Newcomb.
Giveaway Rules – Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on
December 15th. You must be 18 or older to enter. – Giveaway is open
INTERNATIONALLY. – Only one entry per household. – All giveaway entrants agree
to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by
blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
– Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.
Blog
Tour Schedule
Monday, November 6 Feature at Passages
to the Past
Tuesday, November 7 Feature
at The Never-Ending Book
Thursday, November 9 Feature
at The Bookworm
Sunday, November 12 Review
at Carole Rae's Random Ramblings
Tuesday, November 14 Guest
Post at Let Them Read Books
Wednesday, November 15 Guest
Post & Excerpt at Historical Fiction with Spirit
Friday, November 17 Review
at History From a Woman's Perspective
Monday, November 20 Guest
Post at The Book Junkie Reads
Wednesday, November 22 Interview
at The Maiden's Court
Monday, November 27 Feature
at Myths, Legends, Books & Coffee Pots
Friday, December 1 Interview
at T's Stuff
Tuesday, December 5 Feature
at Just One More Chapter
Wednesday, December 6 Feature
at A Literary Vacation
Sunday, December 10 Review
at WS Momma Readers Nook
Wednesday, December 13 Feature
at CelticLady's Reviews
Friday, December 15 Review
& Excerpt at Locks, Hooks and Books
No comments:
Post a Comment