Ames author debuts book four in Edwardian-era cozy series
History, mystery and the location of 1905 York, England, set the scene of Ames author Anna Loan-Wilsey’s latest book “Murder at the Majestic Hotel.”
Writing under the pen name Clara McKenna, this is the fourth installment in her best-selling Stella and Lyndy series. The first three novels follow the meeting, courtship and wedding of Kentucky heiress Stella Kendrick and Viscount Lyndhurst (Lyndy), who is a member of the landed gentry whose family could benefit from the Kendrick fortune. Book four picks up mere days after their wedding. The pair — madly in love despite the initial nature of their relationship being an arranged marriage — honeymoon in the historic town of York.
Upon arrival at the Majestic Hotel, the pair discovers their suite has been given away to Horace Wingrove, owner of England’s largest confectionery. When Wingrove is later found dead in that very room, Stella decides to investigate.
“It’s a means I’ve wanted to use for a while,” Loan-Wilsey said of the cause of death.
She will sign copies of her book at Dog-Eared Books at 7 p.m. Nov. 9. during Cocktails & Convos. She said a special cocktail that pertains to a major theme in the book will be served.
Book one, “Murder at Morrington Hall,” published in 2019, begins with the announcement that Stella is engaged without her knowledge thanks to the ruthlessness of her social climbing father. Book two, “Murder at Blackwater Bend,” released in 2020, follows the courtship of the couple (and murder) over the summer of 1905. Set at the end of September 1905, “Murder at Keyhaven Castle,” which came out last year, finally sees the couple wed — with plenty of surprises along the way.
The author wasn’t sure there would be a fourth book in the series due to publishing and supply chain issues brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“My contract got pushed back and I wrote the book in record time — nine months. It usually takes me a year to write a book,” she said.
She said that luckily, she’d made a visit to England right before the shutdown to do some research.
“I fell in love with York. It’s so walkable. It has complex history: the Romans and Vikings, so many great museums packed into this small space. The people are really welcoming. It’s a really neat city,” she said of her experience.
Loan-Wilsey said York proved to be the perfect setting for her characters’ honeymoon because of its association with Stella’s passion for horses (it’s home to the world’s first grandstand for horse racing) and served as the ideal backdrop for real-life events that overlap with the book’s plot.
She was happily surprised to learn of York’s association with chocolate.
“I had a character in book three named Sir Owen Rountree, Lindy’s cousin, and I discovered Rowntree’s was one of the three main chocolatiers in York,” she said. “It developed Kit Kat and Rolo. I brought Owen back for book four.”
Book five in the series will be called “Murder on Mistletoe Lane” and will be set at Christmas 1905. It is due out next fall. Loan-Wilsey said she hopes to pen at least two more books in the series, with potential settings in Scotland and the United States.
“They have more adventures ahead of them and settling into that married life. They’ve got a lot more murders to solve,” she said.
Loan-Wilsey is also the author of the five-book cozy Hattie Davish series, written under her real name, where the traveling secretary solves murders in various cities in 1890s America.
“I’m definitely a historical mystery writer. I love the research and the ability to ignore most of the modern forensics; no cell phones. It’s definitely a simpler, more straightforward way of detecting,” she said. “It’s the closest thing I can come to a time machine. Why would I do anything else?”
Loan-Wilsey is a member of the Historical Novel Society and Sisters in Crime, a founding member of Sleuths in Time, and is a self-professed anglophile. She lives in a Victorian farmhouse near Ames. Originally from Syracuse, New York, she earned a bachelor's in biology from Wells College in Aurora, New York, and a master’s in library and information studies from McGill University in Montreal. She and her husband met in the biology department in Syracuse University while she was working there and he was earning a PhD.
Shortly after marrying, the couple relocated to Finland for a year, followed by Montreal, and then some time spent in Texas. The couple moved to Ames in 2001 to accept positions at Iowa State University.
All of her books are released through Kensington Publishing Corp.
To learn more, visit: www.annaloanwilsey.com and www.claramckenna.com
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Ames author debuts book four in Stella and Lyndy series
