I’m delighted that author Jolie Tunnell is joining me to celebrate the publication today of her latest historical novel, Shadows in Chinatown. Shadows in Chinatown is the first in the ‘Mrs Kelly Mystery’ series and is available to purchase as an ebook from Amazon. Better still, visit Jolie’s Book Boutique where you can purchase all her books, either singly or as a bundle. Read on as I chat with Jolie about Shadows in Chinatown and her love of writing historical fiction.
About the Book
Karine Kelly’s dream of a fresh start as a mail-order bride in booming 1882 San Francisco becomes a nightmare when her charming Irish husband is murdered on their wedding night. Waking to destitute widowhood and fiercely angry in-laws, she discovers a series of shocking secrets that her husband left behind.
Why did he tell no one about their wedding? Why was a Chinese assailant hunting him and now stalking her? Why do residents in the city shadows seem to know more about her husband than she does? And why does the irritating Detective Max Fisher keep turning up like a bad penny?
Faced with appalling apathy and growing suspicion from the police, Karine’s determined to follow the trail of lies to find justice in a lawless city.
Warily working around each other as the killer strikes again, Karine and Detective Fisher uncover a sinister web of corruption, bigotry, and betrayals that circles ever closer to the jade pendant she wears over her heart—all that’s left of her husband’s pledge—and a ticking bomb that threatens to destroy Chinatown.
Find Shadows in Chinatown on Goodreads
Q & A with Jolie Tunnell, author of Shadows in Chinatown
Shadows in Chinatown is the first in a new series of historical mysteries. What do you enjoy about this genre?
I love to write historical mystery! I am the keeper of my family tree, related flotsam, and memorabilia. Although I was an avid reader as a child, eavesdropping on my parents or grandparents or aunts as they gossiped about a distant relative over coffee was a real treat. These relatives had secrets. Rumors. Scandals. Ambitions. Quirks. There seemed to be only enough information to be tantalizing, so it came with built-in mysteries.
Determined to fill in the blanks like a Mad Lib, I continue to find myself pulling ancestors out of the closet to shape into new characters for my next mystery. I enjoy giving the past a voice and telling their stories with my own twist and it’s satisfying to finally have answers, fictional or otherwise. Research is half the fun.
Tell us about your main character, Karine Kelly. Did she change much during the course of writing the book?
Mrs. Kelly is a character created from one of my paternal great-grandparents. As a first-generation American of pure Norwegian heritage, she was to my way of thinking, above all, a Viking in the sense of a hard-working visionary who valued family but was comfortable considering new horizons. She leaves her dairy in Minnesota to pursue a marriage and new life in 1882 San Francisco.
Faced with circumstances beyond her control and thrown into a murder investigation, she has the grit to face what she must. She is a farm girl determined to be a lady, and this flash of Viking greed informs her decisions as much as the voice of her dearly departed Aunt Mary, who keeps Mrs. Kelly’s roots firmly in her family values.
Mrs. Kelly refuses to go back to Minnesota, but she can’t decide how to move forward in this unpredictable and lawless city. In this book, she gets her bearings, makes her decisions, and learns the hard way to not judge a book by its cover. And that not all that glitters is gold.
The book is set in late 19th century San Francisco. Why did you choose that time and place? How did you approach your research for the book and did you discover anything that surprised you?
I was already researching for my first historical mystery series, set in the San Jacinto mountains in 1912, California. Expanding the timeline led to some terrific ideas for other mysteries, all of which went into a truly spectacular spreadsheet for “later” in a vain attempt to remain focused.
There are many novels set during the Gold Rush and many more set in the great quake of 1906, but precious few immerse readers in the fascinating times between. After the quake hit, San Francisco was never the same again. Even the maps changed as rubble was dumped into the water and redrew the coastline. My series preserves a piece of something extinct.
In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, prohibiting the immigration of workers from China and immediately impacting San Francisco. The Felton Act originated with Police Chief Crowley, both of which went into my book. It lent some great overall tension to the plot.
Were there any scenes that were particularly difficult to get right? If so, why?
The challenge baked into the Mrs. Kelly series is portraying the diverse neighborhoods authentically while adding historically accurate layers, from menus to prejudices. The international city flavors have to remain beneath the plot without taking it over. I also spent a lot of time with old maps to get movement correct. The hills of San Francisco are still in place, but the buildings and coastline can’t be walked today to find 1882 accuracy.
You’re an experienced author but are there still parts of the writing process you find tough?
I continue to struggle with distractions as a writer working from home. I don’t believe in writer’s block, but a well-timed break to do laundry usually helps me organize the next scene in my head. The trick is to sit back down at the desk and finish it. With a large family, a belligerent cat, and several work obligations pulling me at once, it takes intention (and usually a nice bribe) to finish the day’s work properly.
There’s a second (and a third) Mrs Kelly book on the way soon and your Idyllwild series is made up of ten books. What do you like about creating a series?
I love to read series, so I write them! There is both comfort and an eager expectation when we come back again and again for the next installment of our favorite book, television show, or movie sequel. The best part of an ongoing series is reuniting with characters we love, so I have plenty of space to make sure each of my characters gets a turn at being in the thick of the next plot.
The more time we spend in a series, the more we learn about the secret lives of the characters, the world they live in, and, in turn, ourselves.
How will you be celebrating the publication of Shadows in Chinatown?
My online Zoom Launch Party for Shadows in Chinatown is Friday, June 13th at 2pm PST to include friends and family from all over the planet. Short and sweet, we’ll raise a cuppa to the new series, have a reading, Q&A, and giveaways. Please join us!
Watch for the second book, Death at the Wharf, on July 16th and the third, Murder at the Palace Hotel, on September 8th.
About the Author
Award-winning author Jolie Tunnell brings the past to life in suspenseful historical mysteries. Bringing the flavor of the turn-of-the-century Wild West to the isolated mountain town of Idyllwild and the writhing underbelly of Old San Francisco, her books gallop to the last page.
A Southern California native, she loves on her sprawling family, forces her freeloading tomcat to cuddle, and can drink her weight in Yorkshire Gold tea. Sign up for her extraordinary newsletter, get a free book, and settle in for a visit.
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