Donna Fletcher Crow has written 38 books, most of which are novels dealing with British history. Her best known work is the award-winning Glastonbury, an Arthurian grail search epic covering 15 centuries of English history. She currently lives in Boise, Idaho with her husband.
Her latest release is A Darkly Hidden Truth, Book Two in her clerical mystery series The Monastery Murders.
Thank you so much for this interview, Donna. Can you tell us briefly what your new book, A Darkly Hidden Truth, is about?
Felicity Howard is a thoroughly modern American woman who, rather rashly— as she does most things— has gone off to study theology in a monastery in Yorkshire. Because she and her church history lecturer Antony solved the murder of Father Dominic in A Very Private Grave, book 1 in the series, Father Anselm has now asked them to find a valuable missing icon. But Felicity can’t possibly help. She’s off to become a nun. Then her impossible mother turns up unexpectedly. And a good friend turns up murdered. . .
In the midst of breathtaking chase scenes, mystical worship services and dashes through remote waterlogged landscapes Felicity learns the wisdom of holy women from today and ages past and Antony explores the arcane rites of the Knights Hospitaller. But what good will any of that do them if Felicity can’t save Antony’s life?
They say you can judge a book by its cover. Can you tell us about yours?
Naming the first book in the series was the trick. My agent suggested A Fine and Private Grave from the Andrew Marvell poem “To His Coy Mistress”
The grave's a fine and private place,
But none, I think, do there embrace
My English publisher liked it, but my American publisher said Americans wouldn’t get the reference, so we settled on A Very Private Grave. A Darkly Hidden Truth seemed to flow naturally for book 2.
Article comments
1 - Donna Fletcher Crow
Tracee, thank you so much for hosting me on your Blogcritics column. I'm delighted to have this opportunity to meet your readers!