The author, on how she and Rosy were united:It was all my daughter Julia’s doing. I have never had a dog growing up, never had a roommate with a dog, never really understood the charm of dogs, although I have met some nice ones. But Julia Wanted A Dog. Being eight years old, she launched a clever and persistent campaign. First, she recruited her father to her cause. Next, she started taking quizzes with him on-line to find out what sort of dog would do well with our family. Then she started sending me pictures of cute beagles. Then my husband found out about BeagleFest. (Who knew there were enough beagles in Arizona for a three-day festival?!) Well, we went down to Tempe; Julia found the Beagle Rescue Society booth; and somehow I found myself with a clipboard that had papers on it, and a pen in my hand … and … well … Rosy was perfect. A week in, and I was charmed. She’d hike with me, curl up on the couch with us to watch TV, never howled annoyingly, and made my son Kyle feel like...[read on]About Odden’s A Lady in the Smoke, from the publisher:
Karen Odden’s enthralling debut historical mystery transports readers to Victorian England, where a terrifying railway disaster plunges a headstrong young noblewoman into a conspiracy that reaches to the highest corridors of power.Visit Karen Odden's website.
Following a humiliating fourth Season in London, Lady Elizabeth Fraser is on her way back to her ancestral country estate when her train careens off the rails and bursts intoflames. Though she is injured, she manages to drag herself and her unconscious mother out of the wreckage, and amid the chaos that ensues, a brilliant young railway surgeon saves her mother’s life. Elizabeth feels an immediate connection with Paul Wilcox—though society would never deem a medical man eligible for the daughter of an earl.
After Paul reveals that the train wreck was no accident, and the inspector who tried to prevent it dies under mysterious circumstances, Elizabeth undertakes a dangerous investigation of her own that leads back to her family’s buried secrets. The more she learns, the more she must risk. Not only are her dowry and her reputation at stake; Paul’s very life hangs in the balance when he is arrested for manslaughter. As the trial draws near, and Parliament prepares for a vote that will change the course of the nation, Elizabeth uncovers a conspiracy that has been years in the making. But time is running out for her to see justice done.
Writers Read: Karen Odden.
The Page 69 Test: A Lady in the Smoke.
My Book, The Movie: A Lady in the Smoke.
Coffee with a Canine: Karen Odden and Rosy.
--Marshal Zeringue
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