May I
Introduce Poppy Thornton?
by
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Poppy Millicent Thornton was born in 1899 to an upper-class
family in Philadelphia; her father, a younger son, became a travel writer, her
mother was a Suffragette. She has one, fairly obnoxious older brother, Tobias,
who is the headmaster at a very upper-crust prep school for boys. Poppy, being
college-educated instead of having gone to finishing school, is a reporter at
the Philadelphia Clarion, an evening paper, something most of her family
and some of her friends, disapprove of. After two years with the paper covering
lady-like things like garden parties, great books, societies, and galas, she has
recently been assigned to work the crime desk, in the first book of the Chesterton
Holte, Gentleman Haunt Series, Haunting Investigation.
This has come
about because there was an upper-crust man she knew socially who was found
hanged in his dining room, which was at first considered a suicide, but turns
out to be murder. Since Poppy can move about the upper-crust as one of them,
her editor, Cornelius Lowenthal, keeps her on it, and she uncovers a
complicated tangle of corruption and murder, and in the process is nearly
killed herself. Luckily, she has an ally: Chesterton Holte.
Chesterton
Holte, as his sobriquet suggests, is a ghost. Poppy does not believe in ghosts,
being a modern woman in 1924. Chesterton Holte, a Canadian academic and spy for
England in World War I, is responsible for Poppy’s father’s death: he was
killed by German soldiers in Belgium, having mistaken B. Oliver Thornton for
Chesterton Holte, and now Holte is attempting to make recompense for depriving
Poppy of her father. Having the capacity to move between the world of the
living and the dimension of ghosts, Holte is able to provide Poppy with
information from the murder victims themselves — when they can remember what
happened to them. He shares his information with Poppy, and leaves it to her to
find some way to verify his information. Holte is aware that a good portion of
what Poppy learns from him cannot be explained in a satisfactory manner, coming
from a ghost as it does. But Holte proves to be useful to her, and he becomes
involved in her life.
In the
second book of the series, Living Spectres, Poppy is following up on the
complicated fraud and Customs crimes she began to investigate in Haunting
Investigation, and is moving from her Aunt Josephine’s house — it is
considered incorrect for well-born young ladies to live on their own at that
time — to her Aunt Esther’s house. Aunt Jo is a very traditional woman,
distressed at Poppy’s work and her single state; Aunt Esther, on the other
hand, is over 70, still unmarried, and is a world traveler. She is a much
better fit for Poppy, and Poppy thrives in her company.
Poppy often
works with Inspector J. B. Loring, who is head of the Homicide Squad of the
Philadelphia police. He has grown very fond of Poppy — a relationship that Holte
encourages over Poppy’s many protests — and often shares information with her,
and sometimes finds that what she has “guessed”, courtesy of Holte, is helpful,
if bewildering in origin.
And then
there is Maestro. He is Poppy’s soot-colored cat, who, like most animals, can
see and hear Holte, but because Holte is non-corporeal, Maestro cannot attack
him, no matter how hard he tries. Maestro can be counted upon to hiss and swear
in High Cat whenever Holte is around.
Haunting Investigation and Living Spectres are available now. Shining
Phantoms will be out next fall. Now that you’ve been introduced to Poppy
Thornton, check my Facebook page for more information on Poppy’s forthcoming
adventures…
Fascinating! This gives us a glimpse into the mind of a writer, as well as all the character research we tend to do while planning a novel. So, thank you, Chelsea! :)
Readers, let's take a look at one of Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's books mentioned in her article, a paranormal historical mystery titled Living Spectres.
Here is the blurb.
Philadelphia, 1924
It’s been three months since crime reporter Poppy Thornton was left to die in an abandoned warehouse by her cousin Stacy, chief suspect in a high society murder. Rescued by the quick thinking of Chesterton Holte—her “gentleman haunt”—and Police Inspector J.B. Loring, Poppy is determined to get the real story and see justice done. But Stacy has fled Philadelphia with the widow of the man he is accused of murdering, and now an international manhunt is on for the suspected conspirators. As that search continues, Poppy, Holte, and Loring have a new mystery: the disappearance of GAD Pearce, 18 year-old heir to the Pearce fortune, who has vanished while traveling through Eastern Europe. The suspects range from the young man’s jealous siblings to a mysterious cult of Armenian refugees.
Once again Holte uses his ghostly powers to uncover answers and pass on what he learns to Poppy— who must then alert Loring without revealing her otherworldly source.
Is GAD still alive? Can Poppy keep her job despite social convention, the disdain of her male colleagues, and the dangerous attraction she feels to Loring? Will the authorities succeed in tracking Stacy down? What’s really going on behind the closed doors of the politicians and bankers who run the city and the state?
And as the search for truth takes Poppy and Holte deeper into a forest of dark secrets and official corruption, who will die next?
It’s been three months since crime reporter Poppy Thornton was left to die in an abandoned warehouse by her cousin Stacy, chief suspect in a high society murder. Rescued by the quick thinking of Chesterton Holte—her “gentleman haunt”—and Police Inspector J.B. Loring, Poppy is determined to get the real story and see justice done. But Stacy has fled Philadelphia with the widow of the man he is accused of murdering, and now an international manhunt is on for the suspected conspirators. As that search continues, Poppy, Holte, and Loring have a new mystery: the disappearance of GAD Pearce, 18 year-old heir to the Pearce fortune, who has vanished while traveling through Eastern Europe. The suspects range from the young man’s jealous siblings to a mysterious cult of Armenian refugees.
Once again Holte uses his ghostly powers to uncover answers and pass on what he learns to Poppy— who must then alert Loring without revealing her otherworldly source.
Is GAD still alive? Can Poppy keep her job despite social convention, the disdain of her male colleagues, and the dangerous attraction she feels to Loring? Will the authorities succeed in tracking Stacy down? What’s really going on behind the closed doors of the politicians and bankers who run the city and the state?
And as the search for truth takes Poppy and Holte deeper into a forest of dark secrets and official corruption, who will die next?
Check out Amazon's 'Look Inside' feature for an excerpt from this book.
Purchase
Links:
Amazon
Universal link: https://bookgoodies.com/a/B01JAFB6VW
This looks riveting!
Readers, don't forget to pick up your copy of Living Spectres!
Guest Blogger Bio
A
professional writer for more than forty years, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro has sold
over eighty books, more than seventy works of short fiction, and more than
three dozen essays, introductions, and reviews. She also composes serious
music. Her first professional writing - in 1961-1962 - was as a playwright for
a now long-defunct children's theater company. By the mid-60s she had switched
to writing stories and hasn't stopped yet.
After leaving college in 1963 and until she became a full-time writer in 1970,
she worked as a demographic cartographer, and still often drafts maps for her
books, and occasionally for the books of other writers.
She has a large reference library with books on a wide range of subjects,
everything from food and fashion to weapons and trade routes to religion and
law. She is constantly adding to it as part of her on-going fascination with
history and culture; she reads incessantly, searching for interesting people
and places that might provide fodder for stories.
Author
Links:
Website: http://chelseaquinnyarbro.net/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/QuinnYarbro
Amazon
Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Chelsea-Quinn-Yarbro/e/B000APXGJ2/
Additional: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Quinn_Yarbro
Chelsea's
Books:
Purchase
Links:
Amazon
Universal link: https://bookgoodies.com/a/B01JAFB6VW
This looks riveting!
Readers, don't forget to pick up your copy of Living Spectres!
Guest Blogger Bio
A
professional writer for more than forty years, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro has sold
over eighty books, more than seventy works of short fiction, and more than
three dozen essays, introductions, and reviews. She also composes serious
music. Her first professional writing - in 1961-1962 - was as a playwright for
a now long-defunct children's theater company. By the mid-60s she had switched
to writing stories and hasn't stopped yet.
After leaving college in 1963 and until she became a full-time writer in 1970,
she worked as a demographic cartographer, and still often drafts maps for her
books, and occasionally for the books of other writers.
She has a large reference library with books on a wide range of subjects,
everything from food and fashion to weapons and trade routes to religion and
law. She is constantly adding to it as part of her on-going fascination with
history and culture; she reads incessantly, searching for interesting people
and places that might provide fodder for stories.
Author
Links:
Website: http://chelseaquinnyarbro.net/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/QuinnYarbro
Amazon
Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Chelsea-Quinn-Yarbro/e/B000APXGJ2/
Additional: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Quinn_Yarbro
Chelsea's
Books:
Author
Links:
Website: http://chelseaquinnyarbro.net/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/QuinnYarbro
Amazon
Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Chelsea-Quinn-Yarbro/e/B000APXGJ2/
Chelsea's
Books:
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