A Deadly Fortune by Stacie Murphy

 

A historical mystery in the vein of The Alienist, in which a young woman in Gilded Age New York must use a special talent to unravel a deadly conspiracy.

Amelia Matthew has done the all-but-impossible, especially for an orphan in Gilded Age New York City. Along with her foster brother Jonas, she has parleyed her modest psychic talent into a safe and comfortable life. But safety and comfort vanish when a head injury leaves Amelia with a dramatically-expanded gift. After she publicly channels an angry spirit, she finds herself imprisoned in the notorious insane asylum on Blackwell’s Island. As Jonas searches for a way to free her, Amelia struggles to control her disturbing new abilities and survive a place where cruelty and despair threaten her sanity.

Andrew Cavanaugh is familiar with despair. In the wake of a devastating loss, he abandons a promising medical career—and his place in Philadelphia society—to devote himself to the study and treatment of mental disease. Miss Amelia Matthew is just another patient—until she channels a spirit in front of him and proves her gift is real.

When a distraught mother comes to Andrew searching for her missing daughter—a daughter she believes is being hidden at the asylum—he turns to Amelia. Together, they uncover evidence of a deadly conspiracy, and then it’s no longer just Amelia’s sanity and freedom at stake. Amelia must master her gift and use it to catch a killer—or risk becoming the next victim.

Author Stacie Murphy kindly agreed to do an interview with me for my stop on the blog tour. 

Q1. What drew you to the era and setting of your novel?

In terms of setting, once I decided I didn’t want to set the novel in London, New York City was the obvious choice—vibrant, interesting, with lots of options for bringing in locations and historical tidbits that were easily researchable and would be recognizable to readers. The era was similarly easy. The Victorian/Gilded Age period is my very favorite time period to read in, so it felt very natural to write there, as well. As for what draws me to it, it’s a lot of things. Just aesthetically, the clothing and the very structured code of etiquette are fun to play with. And it’s different enough from our own time to be interesting and escapist, but familiar enough that people’s motivations still make sense. It’s not like the Tudor period, for example, which I also enjoy reading about, but often find myself baffled by the choices people make. You’re already a rich landowner. You’ve got it better than 99% of your countrymen, so why on earth are you meddling in royal politics? Haven’t you been paying attention to how many people get beheaded for that? 

 

Q2. What's a typical writing day like for you?

I started working on A DEADLY FORTUNE in early 2017, when my daughter was a toddler, so it was largely drafted in the evenings after she went to bed and during weekend nap-times. I’m fortunate to have a job with a generous vacation policy, so over the course of roughly 18 months I ended up taking several “writing vacations” where I worked on the book all day every day. I also wrote on airplanes, on public transit, and, on one memorable occasion, on my phone in a hallway in the Longworth building (one of the House of Representatives office buildings in Washington, DC), when a meeting got cancelled at the last minute and I had a free half-hour before the next one started. I don’t write every day, but I try to set deadlines for myself so I stay accountable and moving forward.

 

Q3. What comes first for you? Character or plot?

In this instance, character. I knew who Amelia was before I ever starting thinking about what might happen to her.

 

Q4. What are your beliefs about psychic phenomena? 

My heart is Fox Mulder: I want to believe. My head is Dana Scully: I just don’t see any evidence. I do think some people are more intuitive than others. They’re better able to synthesize bits of information they don’t even consciously realize they’ve collected. But I don’t believe in ghosts or psychics. It’s fun to pretend, though.

 

Q5. Will there be more books featuring Amelia?

That remains to be seen, although I very much hope so. It was always my intention for A DEADLY FORTUNE to be the start of a series. I have a half-drafted sequel and ideas for 4-5 more books, but whether or not that happens depends on how well the first book does. To that end: If you like it, please tell all your friends. If you don’t like it, I encourage quiet contemplation!

 

Q6. What are your own favourite books and authors? (old and new)

I love THE ALIENIST, which heavily influenced A DEADLY FORTUNE. I’ve adored Deanna Raybourn for years—her Julia Grey novels were the what really clarified for me that the Victorian/Gilded Age was my happy place. Sherry Thomas’s Charlotte Holmes series is an utter delight. Lyndsay Faye is my most recent discovery. I’m typically a really fast reader, but her Timothy Wilde trilogy took me longer than usual to get through, just because I kept stopping to re-read passages and really savor her use of language. Her turns of phrase are so satisfying. I love Philippa Gregory’s Tudor novels, with THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL at the very top of the list. I’m also a big science fiction and fantasy fan—I love Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files and Codex Alera series, and I’m so sad that the next Expanse novel is the last one. And with getting into publishing myself, I’m a lot more aware of other debuts coming in the next few months—Allison Epstein’s A TIP FOR THE HANGMAN and Ashley Winstead’s IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE are two I’m particularly excited about.

Thank you for such great answers Stacie. Thanks to Amy at HFVBT for organising the blog tour.

Get a copy of Stacie's book here Amazon UK

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