Miss Althea Adler and Lord William Sheffield are visiting Ascroft, eh? to tell us about Holmes Away from Home, the first novel in the Althea Adler mystery trilogy.
Welcome to you both. Let’s get started, shall we?
Tell us about the novel that you live inside. Is it part of a series? If so, please tell us about the series too.
Althea: Holmes Away from Home is the first book in a trilogy set in London, 1911. Book two is set in 1912 and the third in 1913. And like every opera company, there can only be one diva in this book. And that is me: Miss Althea Adler. I am a student, a singer, and a thief.
William: Just wait a moment, Miss Adler. I am Lord Sheffield, but you can call me William. This story is just as much about me as it is about you.
Althea: You’re only a side-character that gets in my way.
William: I could say the same thing about you. I’m trying to investigate an anarchist group and a lovely American girl keeps popping up at the most unexpected and unwanted moments. And then an earl is murdered.
Does the writer control what happens in the story or do you get a say too?
Althea: The writer is nothing more than a chorus girl.
William: The writer is nothing more than a secretary who types.
How did you evolve as the main character?
Althea: There is no need for evolution. I am already beautiful, intelligent and talented; with a side of petty.
William: Against my better judgment, I ask Althea for help in solving the murder of an earl.
Do you have any other characters you like sharing the story with? If so, why are you partial to them?
Althea: My school nemesis is Miss Rosie Watson, daughter of Doctor Watson. I love serving her humble pie with a slice of friendship.
William: My mentor and employer have shaped my career and made me the man I am today.
What’s the place like where you find yourself in this story?
Althea: I have just broken into Sherlock Holmes’s safe and found the most extraordinary thing: a picture of my mother from twenty years ago!
William: I am tailing my mark in a department store when he meets a Pocket Venus. I use Slough’s interest in her to secure myself an invitation to a weekend party at his house.
Althea: I am the Pocket Venus.
William: It could have been Rosie.
Althea: Not a chance. She was making eyes at Slough.
William: Or Lady Sarah.
Althea: Now you’re being insulting.
Is there anything else you’d like to tell readers about you and the book?
William: If you’ll allow me to go first for once.
Althea: By all means.
William: I can never tell if Althea is trying to kiss me or kill me.
Althea: And my mother always taught me, “Never fall for your mark.”
Thank you for answering my questions, Althea and William, and good luck to you and your author, Samantha Larsen, with Holmes Away from Home, the first book in the Althea Adler mystery trilogy.
Readers can learn more about Althea and William and their author, Samantha Larsen by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook, Instagram and BookBub pages. You can also follow her on Twitter/X.
The novel is available to pre-order at the following online retailers:
About Samantha Larsen: Samantha writes cozy mysteries under Samantha Larsen and historical romances under Samantha Hastings. She met her husband in a turkey sandwich line. They live in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she spends most of her time reading, eating popcorn, having tea parties, and chasing her four kids. She has degrees from Brigham Young University, University of North Texas, and University of Reading (UK). She’s the author of: The Last Word, The Invention of Sophie Carter, A Royal Christmas Quandary, The Girl with the Golden Eyes, Jane Austen Trivia, The Duchess Contract, Secret of the Sonnets, The Marquess and the Runaway Lady, and A Novel Disguise.
dianneascroft.com 