Deeds of Darkness;
Deeds of Light

Three years ago I had a crime novel published: The Wounded Thorn. It was the first in a new series, featuring the intrepid Hilary and Veronica. It was set in the wonderfully evocative town of Glastonbury, with its ruined abbey and its high tor crowned with a church tower.

I planned to write others set in similarly romantic places.I set to work on the second one, set this time in the ancient town of Totnes with its curious healing wells, and a wonderful medieval conference centre nearby.

I sent the proposal to my agents, but got no reply. Follow-up emails still brought no response. I pressed on and sent the completed...

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Crow said she was delighted with the October 28, 2018, UPI article announcing the up-coming remake of Jane Austen’s perennially popular novel 'Emma' starring Anya Taylor-Joy. "Emma has been described by many, including such literary leaders as P. D. James, as the first mystery novel. In 'A Most Singular Venture' my hero Richard presents a course on 'Emma' at a Queens of Crime conference at London University, exploring his theory of a possible hidden murder in 'Emma'."

"Earlier movie adaptations, including those featuring Gweneth Paltrow and Kate Beckinsale have focused on the romance elements of the Austen novel. It will be interesting to see...

I was absolutely thrilled when Torch Trust in the UK contacted me a few months ago to say that they would like to make my Monastery Murders series available in large print for the visually impaired. They produce materials at the request of their blind patrons, so I felt doubly honored that someone had especially requested my books.

I had assumed that the books would resemble the large print books Thorndike Press did of my Cambridge Chronicles many years ago. I was surprised when A Very Private Grave, the first in the series, arrived a few days ago. The book is published in 5 volumes, each bound in pale green card stock, 8 X 12-inch pages, bold face, 25 point type. This is truly the brave new world of large...

During their 1799 excursion to Bath, Jane mentions in a letter that her brother Edward had gone out "to taste a cheese." At this year's Jane Austen Society of North America AGM in Kansas City, we followed Edward's example with a Cheese Tour of Jane Austen's England. Juliene Gehrer, AGM chair and author of the wonderful Dining with Jane Austen Cookbook was our guide, offering references from Austen's letters, novels and family cookbooks as we nibbled cheese explained to us by a local cheesemonger.

We started in the north of England with Cheshire cheese. This was the cheese of the Royal Navy and would have been eaten by Jane's brothers Charles and Francis during their voyages in the navy. It's low moisture content meant that Cheshire cheese kept well. Cheshire was the largest cheese producing area...

I'll bet you thought I was going to write about all that the Jane Austen Society of North America does to promote an appreciation of and education about Jane Austen through our Essay Contest for high school, college and graduate student competitions. Or perhaps the work some chapters do through scholarships, book groups or work with libraries. All of which would be perfectly true. But actually, my topic today is much more frivolous--shopping.

Let me say clearly at the start. I don't like to shop. But I make an exception every year at the Jane Austen Annual General Meetings because the Emporiums are always just so much fun. A large room filled with period-clad shoppers, visiting booths that offer everything Anne Eliot...

I have just returned from the Annual General Meeting of the Jane Austen Society of North America in Kansas City, and a great conference it was. It was the largest AGM in history with more than 900 in attendance, 200 of whom were first-timers. Our theme, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the publication of Persuasion, Jane Austen's posthumously published novel, was "200 Years of Constancy and Hope." The Royal Navy, Captain Wentworth, Jane's sailor brothers, and seaside resorts such as Lyme with its famous cobb, featured largely.

My head is still swimming with the amount of knowledge imparted by the plenary and breakout session speakers. I took pages of notes from such Austen luminaries as John Mullan, Amanda Root, Sheila Hwang, Randi Pahlau, and Collins Hemingway which I...