Luxembourg resident Susan Alexander will talk about her writing and read from her newly published mystery, The Ainswick Orange, at Bosso's in Luxembourg-Grund on Wednesday 29 January 2014 beginning at 18:30.
A native New Yorker, Susan Alexander has been resident in Luxembourg since 1989. A researcher in the social sciences, with a focus on public policy, economics and the financial markets, she wrote her first “novel” when she was ten. She enjoys writing about women who have led complex and interesting lives, their relationships and the choices they have made.
About the writing of The Ainswick Orange
In 2009, a friend from New York City announced he would be coming to the UK to pursue an interest he had developed in snowdrops — those small white flowers that bloom around February, frequently in the snow, so hence the name. He is what is known as a “galanthophile” – someone who loves and collects snowdrops (galanthus is the botanical name for snowdrops).
Susan began to accompany him on his visits to some extraordinary gardens and country houses and met a group of remarkable people. In 2012, when a single snowdrop bulb sold for £725 sterling, we began to hear stories about thefts of rare galanthus. As a result, one unique flower was put under 24-hour guard. Another well-known breeder was so paranoid about poachers that he kept the location of his garden a closely-guarded secret.
What was happening in the snowdrop sub-culture was too content rich to pass by and, as a reader, Susan Alexander is a great fan of the mystery genre. She had already written a novel, A Woman’s Book of Rules, available in Kindle format and soon in print, and immediately launched into producing a “snowdrop mystery.” The Ainswick Orange is the result.
"I found writing the book to be so much fun that there is now a series of the stories. The second, The Snowdrop Crusade, will be out in print later this month, with a third to follow in February. Please note that an interest in snowdrops is not necessary to enjoy the books."
The Ainswick Orange Synopsis
Maggie Eliot has a problem. The American academic is supposed to be writing a book during a sabbatical year from her position at Oxford and has come down with a bad case of writer’s block.
Her friend Anne arranges for Maggie to borrow a cottage in a picturesque village in the Cotswolds, where she can write without distractions. When even this fails to do the trick, Anne decides what Maggie needs is a complete break and convinces her friend to accompany her to a snowdrop study weekend. The small white flowers have been selling at stratospheric prices and Anne wants to see what all the fuss is about. So off they go to Rochford Manor, home of Lord and Lady Ainswick and their famous snowdrop garden.
The two women encounter an odd assortment of supposed galanthophiles — as snowdrop fanciers are called — and hear the first rumours of a priceless snowdrop called “the Ainswick Orange.” On a visit to a neighbouring snowdrop garden, Maggie meets Lord Raynham, a widower as well as the 28th Baron. However, while she is admittedly attracted to the man, in the end she decides it is all way too Jane Austen for her and that it is unlikely she will ever see him again.
Exploring the Rochford Manor gardens the next morning, Maggie and Anne discover a brutal murder. The corpse’s outstretched hand holds a gardening trowel that points to a hole from which a snowdrop has been removed. Lady Ainswick confirms that the Ainswick Orange has been stolen.
When a second murder is committed and the police become fixed on Lord Raynham as a suspect, Maggie and Anne join forces with Lady Ainswick to solve the crimes on their own. They discover that several members of the group do indeed have secrets they are trying to hide. But does that make one of them a killer? And what has become of the Ainswick Orange?
