Exclusive interview with author Stella Cameron, author of the latest Alex Duggins murder mystery
Rating: 3 Stars
By Gabrelle Pantera
“For a long time I’ve wanted to write mysteries set in the UK, where I was born,” says Folly author Stella Cameron. “That drove my choice of background…the Cotswolds and the village of Folly-on-Weir. I spend some time in the Cotswolds each year and find the gorgeous hills and valleys, the amazing villages, a constant inspiration.”
Folly has romance, mystery and suspense. Cameron writes romance and mystery books, and Folly is a great marriage between the two genres. The characters are a bit older and the mystery is the driving force in this novel. The humour and quirky characters add a nice balance. This book called be compared to a modern Agatha Christie novel.
In Folly, Alex Duggins’ marriage is over. She moves back to her Cotswolds home town in the middle of winter. While out walking Alex stumbles across a frosted corpse buried in the snow. The ensuing murder investigation will uncover old secrets of many in the town, including Alex. She’s at the top of the police suspect list. Determined to clear her name, Alex sets out to find the real murderer. But will she wind up the next victim?
For her research, Cameron says she read The Cotswold Journal with avid pleasure. “Research never stops,” says Cameron. “Throughout a book the writer has to delve and dig into so many elements. UK police procedure, of course. And that’s always a lot of fun.”
For each book or series, Cameron says she amasses her own collection of books and maps. “I use both non-fiction and personal accounts. Libraries have been my best friends all my life. For obscure historical facts I usually go to records on film.”
Cameron buried herself in village life to become comfortable with Cotswold people and the matters that concern them. Also the buildings, the stone, of course and the very rich history of the area. “Every story presumes the suspension of disbelief,” says Cameron. “But, the facts that support that story have to be solid if the writer and reader are going to be comfortable and absorbed.”
Cameron writes fiction and non-fiction, novels, novellas, short stories and articles. She has seventy books published. Originally published under the title Cold, as a short run on-demand book, the Folly story was picked up by Severn House and renamed. It’s the first in the series.
Cameron has won awards for Best First Historical, Best Selling Novel, Best Romantic Suspense Novel of the Year and a career achievement award from the Pacific Northwest Writers Association.
Cameron has completed Out Comes the Evil, the second Alex Duggins novel, and is now working on the third, If the Blues Don’t Kill You. “The Alex Duggins mysteries are feeding my roots,” says Cameron. “When I go home each year I feel so right, so comfortable. Everything slips into place naturally. I have discovered that this is my rightful milieu.”
Cameron lives near Seattle. She spends a month of each year in Britain. She was born in the Dorset seaside town of Weymouth.
Folly: A British Murder Mystery Set in the Cotswolds (Alex Duggins Mystery). Hardcover, 208 pages, Publisher, Crème de la Crime; First World Publication edition (May 1, 2015), Language: English, ISBN: 9781780290713 $27.95
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