Reflections

Welcome to this edition of Newsgram!

Sam – I hope you are ready for adventure because today we are going deep into Australia to the magical town of Walgett where I will introduce you to Irene Holmes – a mystery writer:

Irene – Just like Uncle Sherlock. With a name like that I have to write murder mysteries right?

Sam – Can you tell we’re in for a bit of fun today? Before we get to the Murder and mayhem let’s set the scene because I think it’s important to know where an artist finds inspiration so if you’ll indulge me it’s time for Sam’s Travelog!

If you’re a creative person like Irene, Walgett is basically paradise. It sits nestled at the intersection of the Barwon (Barwin) and Namoi (Namoi) Rivers and the view is spectacular. It is a very small town rich in culture and community. It’s in Northern New South Wales — which is about 400 miles from Sydney (642 Kilometers) in fact it’s an eight hour drive from Sydney, Canberra and Brisban — not to get to in fact it’s a place where four-wheeled drive vehicles are recommended bot not required. Once you get there you can enjoy a hot bath from a 2 million year old basin. Natural pressure sends the water to the surface through an artesian bore where it maintains a constant temperature of 102-104 degrees.

Are you starting to see it? Sounds pretty amazing right?

Walgett’s most famous resident is the renowned Aboriginal country music legend Jimmy Little, who lived here in the 1950s and sadly passed away in 2012. If you were to visit Walgett you’d see the beautiful mural that bears his likeness painted on a water tower. You can also pay your respects if you’re a fan because he is buried there. Jimmy Little is a story unto itself so perhaps we’ll go there on another show but for now suffice it to say that there’s something in the water in Walgett that inspires creativity.

Irene – Yeah, I did an arts degree, printmaking, art history, drawing. They were the core ones, core units. And then I did an elective, which was ceramics. And my husband at that time was also interested in ceramics. So we started our own little pottery in the back garden. And then with some other friends, I opened a gallery and sold our work through the gallery. And I loved it. I really did enjoy the creativity and the solace really. It’s quite a soothing thing to be doing. You don’t have any fingernails, mind you. They disappeared after about week one.

Sam – Ceramics is not a good hobby for those who like to stay well manicured. In addition to being a wife and professional potter, Irene Holmes is also a mother a recruiter and a teacher.

Irene – Well, being a teacher, you’re always a storyteller and a bit of a performer. And I could get kids engaged in stories. And I thought, well, I may as well write them down. So I was sitting and waiting for a friend one day. I was inside a little cafe and she was on her way to meet me. And I could see her coming up the street. But because of the reflections on the outside of the window, she couldn’t see me inside. And the way my creative, quirky, somewhat strange brain starts to work, I was sitting there and thinking, oh, I wonder what a criminal or a killer, how could they use that, see the other person but not be seen themselves. And so my little brain started to tick it all over. And that’s how this one started. That’s how this book started, really.

Sam – Interesting, feels a bit voyeuristic but that is the Genesis of “Reflections” her new mystery novel and like a polished window there are all kinds of reflections but none are more powerful than our own personal reflections and recollections.

If you’re a fan of who-done-it’s I think you’ll like this one. Here is the description from her website — In this gripping narrative, deception, threats, and a relentless quest for truth intertwine with the ordinary rhythms of daily existence. Will justice ultimately prevail?

Irene – Okay, well, it is a murder mystery. Okay, that’s no big surprise there.

Sam – Right but now we are going to leave Walgett Australia and go back in time to 1926 England where the story is set.

Irene – I’ve set it in England 1926 ish, because England and Europe and the whole world really was just picking up the pieces after the First World War, horrific time. And everybody in the book, well, everybody in the world was affected by that in some way or another. But in 1926, people were trying to put their families back together and villages and towns and the economy and all of that.

It’s a quiet, more gentle time where good manners are expected. And that’s just a social norm. People valued their privacies. No one being pushed around by a little telephone in your back pocket kind of thing. So that’s why I chose where I chose. But there was also the influence of the Spanish flu raging through England. And that does have a little tiny link with Lady Gregson. Good old Matilda. She’s a good joke.

She’s okay. Conveniently dies early in the story, which is fine. And then the snowball effect happens after her death. And it’s a fat death in her house. She was an old lady. She was ill. So it was expected, not friendly, but expected that she was going to die. So there was no big deal about that, really. But everybody in the house, of course, is affected by that.

And people in the village, the way you drop a pebble in a pond and all those little wrinkles go out to the edge. Well, that was what her death did to the household and to the village. Those little ripples started to wander off to the edge of the villages and houses.

Sam – So that’s where our story is set and why it’s set there. Let’s have a look at the cast of characters.

Irene – So you get to meet her nephew that she’d never really met before, but she didn’t have any male heirs to hand down her estate. And that’s the way it works in the British or did at that time in the British system. You had to go to a male heir. He didn’t have one. So young James was sort of popped into the picture there. And he’s a nice young lad. Well, 30, and we learned about him and how he grows from a business, a young business partner in London and how he grows into the man of the manor kind of thing and how he deals with people.

We also meet some of the staff in the household, two housemaids in particular, Lily and Ruby. They’re quite young, like Lily’s about 18 thereabouts and Ruby’s a bit younger than that. Good old country girls from Yorkshire, not really been anywhere in the world. And we watched them grow into one of them, quite a strong, courageous young woman rather than a little boppy housemaid. And then we get to know Ruby’s a bit more strong and a bit more feisty than everyone saw her as being initially.

Then we meet Mr. James’s intended Dorothy Bosworth. She’s not aristocratic, but just a tiny step down from there. But is she really as sweet and lovely as she presents herself? I love it.

And of course, you meet the nurse because she’s been hired as a contract nurse to look after Lady Gregson, knowing what the end result was going to be. But she’s efficient. She’s effective. She’s very professional, but she has her own secrets that affect decisions she makes from her introduction through to the end of the book.

Sam – Now that you’ve been formally introduced to these intriguing characters, each with their own reflections, it’s time to crack open the book and find out if it really is a captivating read or not — and keep in mind it is a mystery so we can’t take you into anything that will spoil the story for you.

Irene – Okay, now this is the part sort of just leading into Lady Gregson’s funeral which is happening tomorrow and James has gone to the train station to pick up his mother, Maud. All right, as he says to her, why did you leave your arrival until now, the night before the funeral, on the very last train? Ah, well, for several reasons, dear. You see, people in our position should do their grieving in private, don’t you think? Not make a spectacle in front of the villagers and the whole county.

We must maintain our position. And besides, I needed to be sure that Winifred had everything in order before I left the house, you see, to be sure that nothing goes amiss while I’m away. Mother, you will only be gone for one week and Winifred’s been running the house for more than 30 years. I hardly think she needs any extra instructions. Also, mother, you don’t live in this county and you don’t have a position to maintain. Oh, only one week, dear. Hmm, well, perhaps. You never know in these situations, do you? She asked with a smug smile. Oh God, thought James. That does not bode well. I wonder if father really did die of a fever or if he just held his breath long enough until his brain popped just to escape from her. I wouldn’t be surprised.

I love it. Maud was settled in the back of the seat Now that she was settled in the back seat of the car with James, she leaned across and patted his hand in a conspiratorial, domineering manner, saying, Now, I don’t wish to be indelicate, dear, but now that your position has changed and you’re a man of property and wealth, you really do need to start thinking about marrying. A gentleman who owns significant estate really does need a wife.

James just stared at her mouth agape, incredulous. You don’t mean to sound indelicate. Do you think perhaps we might at least lay your own surviving cousin in the ground before you start taking over my household and my staff and my private life and reordering the whole county as well, I imagine. He was really angry and loathing his mother with each additional word. Of course, dear, she smiled again, completely ignoring his anger. There’ll be plenty of time for addressing all those things after the funeral. Next week will be enough time to start. Really, mother, you are too much. Quite horrid, actually.

Sam – And there you have it, Reflections.

Irene Holmes – It’s not the standard formula of sex and violence, because a good story doesn’t need those things to make it a good story. It’s not the boy meets girl and everybody’s happy or the detective comes along and solves it all and takes it out of the hands of the characters. It’s the story where the characters are in charge of all the unveiling of information and putting things together. So I’d like the readers to think, well, that was a different way of writing a murder mystery. So, yeah, those kinds of things are what I’d like them to take away.

Sam – A tale of mystery and human drama, intrigue and some moral ambiguity to keep things interesting. Will justice prevail? Find out for yourself by downloading your copy of Reflections by Irene Holmes. You can get it online at Amazon.com but why not go straight to the authors website. Ireneholmes.com, spelled the same way Sherlock does it, and that will do it for this edition of Newsgram from Webtalkradio.com.

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