For our next Chapter Chat, we want you bring your favorite mystery. No matter what crimes are awaiting an answer, find a tale that will capture and hold your attention. Some can involve amateur detectives, some can involve secrets, and yet others could be historical puzzles. An icebreaker will start us off and then we go into a craft and a few other surprises followed by the book discussion. Expect tasty snacks and drinks to get your brains in gear!
Dates for our meetings are as follows:
Dillsboro: Saturday, October 8th @ 10:30 am
Aurora: Wednesday, October 12th @ 4:00 pm
As the great Sherlock Holmes said:
When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
“The Cater Street Hangman,” Perry’s first published book
1. Her first book wasn’t published until she was 41.
Perry began writing when she was in her twenties; however, her first book wasn’t picked up for publication until many years later. During the time in between, she held various jobs in clerical work, retail, and fashion, and was also a flight attendant and a limo dispatcher for some time. Despite all these jobs, she knew writing was what she wanted to pursue. She has now published over 100 books, including 3 published as recently as this past year. Her fifth Daniel Pitt book is scheduled to be released sometime in 2022.
2. She won an Edgar Award for her short story “Heroes.”
Perry’s story “Heroes” first appeared in the 1999 anthology Murder and Obsession and won the Edgar Award for Best Short Story in 2001. The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe, a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television, film, and theater published or produced in the previous year.
3. She had no formal schooling past the age of 13.
Perry was diagnosed with tuberculosis at the age of 6. She was so severely ill that she missed three years of schooling. Luckily, her mother taught her to read and write, so she was able to catch back up when she returned to school at age 10. However, at 13 she fell seriously ill again and left school permanently.
4. She’s lived in at least five different countries.
Perry was born in London, England in 1938. Her family moved around frequently in her younger years, and sent her to the Bahamas to live with a foster family in hopes that the warmer weather would be better for her illness. As a teen, she moved back with her family to a small island off the coast of New Zealand. In her 20s, Perry returned to England for a while, but eventually made her way to the United States for five years. She once again returned to England when her stepfather became seriously ill. She currently lives in Scotland.
Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme
5. Her real name is Juliet Hulme.
Perry changed her name after serving five years in prison for murder. At 15 years old she met Pauline Parker. The girls initially bonded over the debilitating illnesses they both had as children, but their relationship quickly became obsessive. When Perry’s family decided to send her to South Africa, the girls could not stand the thought of being separated. Perry’s parents offered to pay for Pauline to come along, but Pauline’s parents refused, thinking it would be best to separate the friends for a while. The girls decided that the only thing keeping them apart was Pauline’s mom Honorah. They believed the only way to stay together was to kill her. Pauline and Juliet planned an outing with Honorah under the guise of a goodbye for Juliet, who would be leaving soon for South Africa. The three of them went on a walk down a wooded path in Victoria Park when the girls bludgeoned Honorah to death with a brick. They were quickly caught, and were both sentenced to five years in separate prisons. The two have not spoken since.
If you enjoy cozy mysteries, but are looking for something with a different twist, with a bit of quirkiness, you really need to meet Flavia de Luce, the heroine of a long-running series of books by Alan Bradley. The hook is that the detective is a precocious 11-year old girl with an expert knowledge of chemistry, especially poisons. Set in a post-World War II English village, Flavia lives with her father and a pair of irritating sisters in their ancestral home. Call her inquisitive, or even nosy, but Flavia’s knowledge of her neighbors’ eccentricities comes in handy as dead bodies keep turning up. The books are best read in order, so start with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.
