Kathy Lynn Emerson

If your writing takes you into the England of the Renaissance, you've surely researched the period's sweeping cultural changes. But the Renaissance is a large tapestry, and it is the often-elusive day-to-day details you weave into your work that bring characters, settings and actions to life. You'll find your details here. In a book that's like a telescope through time, Kathy Lynn Emerson takes you to 1485-1649 England, to show you how people lived. You'll discover fashions of the day, including codpieces for men, bodices for women - many items with some assembly required; what people ate, table customs, and the ubiquity of alehouses in the land; family life, the elaborate customs of courtship and marriage, the problems of infidelity; what the Royal Court was like; the litigious society that was Renaissance England - and the punishments meted out; the work, food and discomfort of seafarers engaged in commerce or piracy; causes for celebration - the major religious and secular festivals; life in the cities and the rural areas, and much more.

The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in Renaissance England

London, 1582: Mistress Rosamond Jaffrey, a talented and well-educated woman of independent means, is recruited by Queen Elizabeth I's spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, to be lady-in-waiting to Lady Mary, a cousin of the queen. With her talent in languages and knowledge of ciphers and codes, she will be integral to the spymaster as an intelligence gatherer, being able to get close to Lady Mary just at the time when she is being courted by Russia's Ivan the Terrible. However, there are some nobles at court who will do anything they can to thwart such an alliance; and Rosamond soon realizes the extent of the danger, when a prominent official is murdered and then an attempt is made on both her and Lady Mary's lives. In her quest to protect her ward--and her estranged husband--Rosamond must put herself in mortal peril.

a Mistress Jaffrey mystery

Murder in the queen's wardrobe

Left alone to handle the uproar following the poisoning murder of the steward, Lady Susanna Appleton, an expert herbalist, seeks to identify what killed the steward while unmasking the killer. Reprint.

Face Down in the Marrow-bone Pie

The Art & Adventure of Sleuthing Through the Past

How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries

Sight Unseen

Ariadne Palmer, part-owner of an antiquarian bookshop in Maine, doesn’t believe Clay Franklin when he tells her she has a twin sister and grandparents that she’s never known. As a lawyer, Clay has sworn not to tell her the whole truth about her parents, but his immediate and growing attraction to her argues strongly against his promise. Originally published as a Silhouette Special Edition under the title SEPARATED SISTERS and the pseudonym Kaitlyn Gorton

Family Lies

Widower Russ Tandy, owner of a music and gift shop, recruits Tory Grenville to help his teenage daughter prepare for a beauty pageant at Sinclair House. In high school, Tory was a geeky nerd who had a crush on Russ when he was a basketball star. But now they’re on equal footing, and if they fall in love, will she be able to handle instant motherhood and giving up the job she loves? Contemporary Romance by Kathy Lynn Emerson; originally published by Bantam Loveswept

That Special Smile

When Mistress Rosamond Jaffrey is summoned to her childhood home for "a matter of life and death," she expects to find her foster mother, Lady Susanna Appleton, at death's door. What she finds instead is far more dangerous--a childhood friend, accused of a murder she did not commit, with nowhere else to turn. Godlina Walkenden stands accused of murdering her brother-in-law in order to avoid an arranged marriage to a loathsome Italian silk merchant and turns to Rosamond to prove her innocence and save her from execution. In order to find out who the real murderer is and set Lina free, Rosamond, with help from her husband and Lady Appleton, must navigate a treacherous path and avoid the emissaries of the enigmatic Sir Francis Walsingham.

Murder in the merchant's hall

In her useful, fascinating, and complete guide to writing historical mysteries, Emerson demonstrates how she and her colleagues bring history to life, rather than merely writing contemporary mystery in costume.

Susanna, Lady Appleton, learns that her dead husband’s former mistress, Constance Crane, will be tried as a witch for causing the death of a man. Susanna suspects the victim was poisoned, and aided by her suitor, Nick Baldwin, and her servant Jennet, she uncovers a plot involving a forgotten will and the canceled vow of a nun. Historical mystery by Kathy Lynn Emerson; originally published by St. Martins and Kensington

Face Down under the Wych Elm

“A genuinely gripping mystery, an appealing protagonist, and an eye-opening look at London life during the Renaissance” (Booklist). When Lina Walkenden is found clutching a bloody knife over the dead body of her brother-in-law and guardian, there’s only one person she can turn to for help: her childhood friend Rosamond Jaffrey. Rosamond vows to do all she can to prove Lina’s innocence, but when it turns out that Lina was being forced into a marriage against her will—and was instead besotted by her fiancé’s charming yet unscrupulous nephew—her motives for murder seem overwhelming. In desperation, Rosamond seeks out the help of the Queen’s spymaster himself, Sir Francis Walsingham. But when she overhears a conversation at the French Embassy, it seems Lina’s plight is irrelevant in the face of potential treason. Rosamond must do all she can to save her friend—and keep herself and her family safe from a desperate killer . . . “A diverting series, with lots of twists and turns and Tudor tidbits.” —Kirkus Reviews

Murder in the Merchant's Hall

A female spymaster in Tudor England faces mortal danger in a mystery “recommended . . . for readers of Fiona Buckley, Karen Harper, and Amanda Carmack” (Library Journal). London, 1582: Mistress Rosamond Jaffrey, a talented and well-educated woman of independent means, is recruited by Queen Elizabeth I’s spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, to be lady-in-waiting to Lady Mary, a cousin of the queen. With her talent in languages and knowledge of ciphers and codes, she will be integral to the spymaster as an intelligence gatherer, being able to get close to Lady Mary just at the time when she is being courted by Russia’s Ivan the Terrible. But there are some nobles at court who will do anything they can to thwart such an alliance, and Rosamond soon realizes the extent of the danger, when a prominent official is murdered and then an attempt is made on both her and Lady Mary’s lives. In her quest to protect her ward—and her estranged husband—Rosamond must put herself in mortal peril . . . “First-rate storytelling, a fine choice for historical-mystery fans.” —Booklist “A diverting series, with lots of twists and turns and Tudor tidbits.” —Kirkus Reviews

Murder in the Queen's Wardrobe

“An almighty difficult puzzle…enjoyable for its historical insights and detailed descriptions of everyday life in Tudor England.”—Kirkus Reviews June, 1584. On hearing news of the sudden death of her stepfather, Sir Walter Pendennis, Rosamond Jaffrey must leave London for Cornwall to look after the interests of her young half-brother and try to mend her strained relationship with their mother. However, on arriving in Cornwall, Rosamond makes the shocking discovery that Sir Walter was in fact murdered—and, reluctantly, she agrees to work with an agent of the queen’s spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, in order to unmask the killer. Rosamond’s investigations will lead her into a dangerous maelstrom of smuggling, piracy—and rumors of treason, in a thrilling novel in the series recommended “for readers of Fiona Buckley, Karen Harper, and Amanda Carmack” (Library Journal). “The astute and fearless Rosamond, who’s a dab hand with knives, investigates…Those interested in the fashion and cultural history of the period, not to mention Cornish dialect, will find a lot to like.”—Publishers Weekly “This meticulously researched, cleverly plotted story has plenty of twists and wonderfully colorful characters.”—Booklist

Murder in a Cornish Alehouse

For the writer and anyone else interested in Renaissance England (1485-1649), this remarkable resource covers the day-to-day details: fashions, food, customs, family life, the Royal Court, law and punishment, holidays, city and rural living, seafaring and land occupations, alehouses, marriage, birth and death rituals—and a great deal more, written with authority in a wonderfully readable style. Included are bibliographies and internet addresses for further research. Nonfiction Historical Resource by Kathy Lynn Emerson; originally published by Writer’s Digest Books

Susanna, Lady Appleton is an expert on poisonous herbs, but she never expects to diagnose her own husband’s death as murder. Sir Robert, long believed lost at sea, turns up freshly dead in Westminster and Susanna is accused of the crime. To prove her innocence she must discover the real killer’s identify. Elizabethan mystery by Kathy Lynn Emerson; originally published by St. Martins and Kensington

Face Down beneath the Eleanor Cross

When the steward at her husband’s Lancashire estate dies under mysterious circumstances, Susanna, Lady Appleton suspects he was murdered. As an expert on poisonous herbs, she sets out to discover the truth but ends up unearthing more secrets than she bargained for. First book in the FACE DOWN mystery series by Kathy Lynn Emerson; originally published by St. Martin's Minotaur and Kensington Books

Face Down in the Marrow-Bone Pie

Diana Spaulding is a widowed theatrical columnist trying to survive in the scandal-fueled journalistic world of 1888 New York City. Her editor assigns her a story on horror-author Damon Bathory, whom he suspects of murdering two female journalists. Diana faces danger from a deranged artist, a matriarch with a warped sense of humor, a traveling acting troupe—and the elusive Bathory himself. Historical Mystery by Kathy Lynn Emerson; originally published by Pemberley Press

Deadlier Than the Pen

When her husband becomes one of the suspects in the murder of several Southwark prostitutes (known as Winchester Geese), Lady Appleton vows to uncover the identity of the real killer in order to prove her husband’s innocence. The year is 1563. Historical mystery by Kathy Lynn Emerson; originally published by St. Martin’s Press and Kensington Books

Face Down among the Winchester Geese

The Finder of Lost Things

When Thomasine Strangeways returned to Catsholme Manor, the scene of her unhappy childhood, things were not as they had once been. Nick Carrier, who had been her friend and protector then, was now a moody widower who could encourage her passion and spurn her kisses. To fulfill her mother’s deathbed request was proving dangerous—and loving Nick perhaps even more so. Historical Romance by Kathy Lynn Emerson; originally published by Harper Monogram

Kathy Lynn Emerson

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