The Good Luck Ghost — Welcome Back Mary Winters aka Mary Angela

Sherry, in Northern Virginia, where we are swinging back and forth between winter and spring

I’m so happy to welcome back Mary Winters! Murder in Masquerade, the second book in her A Lady of Letters historical mystery series, released on February 20th!

Thank you to the Wickeds for having me on the blog today and especially to Sherry Harris, who was one of the first people I met at Malice Domestic several years ago. She is the epitome of grace and kindness, and I’m so glad to count her as a friend.

The theatre has always intrigued me. Since attending my first performance as a young woman, I’ve been drawn to the space. In a word, it feels magical. Actors and actresses pretend to be somebody else, involved in a story that’s not their own. It’s fantastic in its own right, and when a play occurs in a book, even more so.

While conducting research for the second installment in the Lady of Letters historical mystery series, I came across a story about a theatre ghost, and it was then that I decided Murder in Masquerade needed to include a theatre. The year was 1848, and renovations were being made on the Royal Theatre, Drury Lane in London, a theatre which is reported to be the most haunted in the world. During the construction, workers found a skeleton dressed in gray rags, penned in the wall. A large knife pierced the skeleton’s chest. The person was obviously a victim of murder.

Some say the discovery explains a ghost in gray, a man seen by many generations of theatre goers at Drury Lane. The ghost is reported to wear a gray riding cloak and a tricorne (three-cornered) hat while walking the upper circle. He then disappears into the wall, the spot where the skeleton was unearthed.

Stories about the man’s death are probably more fictional than factual, but one I found in several sources states that the man fell in love with an actress, who already had a lover. When the man came to see her perform on stage, her lover killed him in a jealous rage. Afterwards, the lover hid the body in the wall so the murder wouldn’t be discovered. (It’s curious, though, that he didn’t remove his knife, isn’t it?)

The ghost or the story doesn’t deter actors or audience members. In fact, seeing the Man in Grey (his official British name) is a good omen. Every time audience members have spotted him, it has been a stellar season for the theatre.

Authors need as much good luck as they can get, and if book sales take off, I’ll thank the Man in Grey. After all, I mention his ghost in Murder in Masquerade, and some similarities exist between his murder and the one in the book. However, the theatre and the play get more attention in the novel than the ghost, who only gets a mention.

But something about a theatre loves ghosts, and I think it’s the stories that accompany them. If history holds true, stories about the Man in Grey will be told to new generations of theatre goers for years to come. In this place, fact and fiction can blend. If even for a moment, audience members suspend their disbelief and are transported to a different world. Like theatres, books have the ability to transport us to new places, and I really hope readers enjoy their excursion in Murder in Masquerade.

Readers: What places have books transported you to?

BIO: Mary Winters is the Edgar-nominated author of the Lady of Letters historical mystery series. Mary is also the author of two cozy mystery series and writes short fiction. Three of her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. When she’s not writing, she’s teaching, reading, or spending time with her family. She lives with her husband, daughters, and spoiled pets in the Midwest. Find out more about Mary at MaryWintersAuthor.com.

About the book:

Extra, extra, read all about it! Countess turned advice columnist Amelia Amesbury finds herself playing the role of sleuth when a night at the theatre turns deadly.

Victorian Countess Amelia Amesbury’s secret hobby, writing an advice column for a London penny paper, has gotten her into hot water before. After all, Amelia will do whatever it takes to help a reader in need. But now, handsome marquis Simon Bainbridge desperately requires her assistance. His beloved younger sister, Marielle, has written Amelia’s Lady Agony column seeking advice on her plans to elope with a man her family does not approve of. Determined to save his sister from a scoundrel and the family from scandal, Simon asks Amelia to dissuade Marielle from the ill-advised gambit.

But when the scoundrel makes an untimely exit after a performance of Verdi’s Rigoletto, Amelia realizes there’s much more at stake than saving a young woman’s reputation from ruin. It’s going to take more than her letter-writing skills to help the dashing marquis, mend the familial bond, and find the murderer. Luckily, solving problems is her specialty!