Murder in Thistlecross

Eilidh Cameron comes to Wales from the Scottish Highlands following a tragic and bitter divorce. As the house manager for a centuries-old castle in the village of Thistlecross, it's her job to make sure the children of Annabel Baines are comfortable and entertained while they visit Annabel. And as Annabel's friend, it's her fear that Annabel's sons are hiding something. From the moment the first son arrives with his wife, it's clear there are tensions in the family that will have to be resolved for the sake of peace in the castle. And when a shocking murder takes place, Eilidh feels it is her duty to remain at the castle to help Annabel through the painful aftermath. But Eilidh's fierce devotion to Annabel may prove to be more dangerous than she could have imagined.

From the author:

           When I started the Malice series, my publisher asked me to write three books that were connected without sharing the same main character. I chose to write about three short branches of the same family tree, beginning with Greer Dobbins and her daughter Ellie in The House on Candlewick Lane, continuing with Greer’s sister Sylvie in Highland Peril, and finally, ending with Greer and Sylvie’s cousin Eilidh in Murder in Thistlecross.

           There were positives and negatives to writing three main characters instead of one main character, which is standard for most series.

           For example, I love varying the settings in my stories, and writing with three main characters allowed me to set my books throughout the United Kingdom without seeming herky-jerky. If the same character were to move to three different places during the course of a series, it might get a little unnerving for the reader.

           Here’s another example: each main character has personal interests, likes, dislikes, and issues that differ from the others. Writing the Malice series the way I did allowed me to explore each character’s backstory and personality traits.

           On the other hand, writing three main characters didn’t allow me the time and space I felt I needed to really delve into each character’s story. It also might have been fun to be able to populate the books with secondary characters and explore them in more depth, but there wasn’t time or space for that.

           Did it work to write a series with three different main characters over three books? The readers will have to be the ultimate judges of that, but I can say this: I enjoyed writing the books and I grew to love all the main characters. I hope you’ll agree!

Buy Links for Murder in Thistlecross:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2fObci7

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/2AXt1XO

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2rqpeyu

Google Play: http://bit.ly/2n2yseL

iTunes: https://apple.co/2Dvvw5M

Independent Bookstore: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781516100194

                                                   

Amy M. Reade is the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Malice Series, consisting of The House on Candlewick Lane, Highland Peril, and Murder in Thistlecross, all of which are set in the United Kingdom. She has also written a cozy mystery, The Worst Noel, and three standalone novels of gothic suspense: Secrets of Hallstead House, The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor, and House of the Hanging Jade.

Amy is a recovering attorney living in Southern New Jersey. She is active in community organizations and loves reading, cooking, and traveling when she’s not writing. She is currently working on a contemporary mystery set in Washington, DC, a historical mystery set in Cape May County, New Jersey, and a second cozy.