Pride and Prejudice

I'm a fan of Pride and Prejudice but I’ve always felt that poor Mary Bennet, the middle sister, was an undeveloped character.  What happens to her after Jane Austen's beloved story ended? In my novel, I show this "forgotten sister's" development as she goes from being a petulant teenager who compares herself to her beautiful sisters, tries to get her father to notice her, and complains about her mother’s melodramatics, who grows into young woman who learns that there's a wider world outside of Pemberley and the Bennet family.

The Forgotten Sister: A Sequel to Pride and Prejudice

By Louise Hathaway

In her twenties, she falls in love and considers a move to America, where her fiancé owns a plantation. She starts writing fiction and learns all about publishing during the Regency era.  When she walks in on an older chimney sweep holding lighted straw and threatening to burn the feet of a five-year-old boy who's up inside the chimney trying to keep his balance while cleaning, she helps the child and becomes a champion of those less fortunate, including the maids at Pemberley and the factory workers in London. This book isn't a regency romance, but Mary has two serious love interests and Mr. Darcy does make a few appearances (and passes away, doing a very heroic deed).  What makes The Forgotten Sister different from other books written about Pride and Prejudice is its depiction of the social history in Britain during the nineteenth century as seen through Mary's eyes as she tries to help the poor lead better lives.

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Books about Librarians

When was the last time you visited a library?  How long has it been since you asked a librarian a reference question? These days, it seems like the only people who go to the library are those wanting to use the Internet or check out DVDs.  It's a favorite hang-out for the homeless or those seeking either an air-conditioned or heated place to camp out all day and night until closing.  The times they are a changin' as Bob Dylan says.

Death Among the Stacks: The Body in the Law Library

I worked at a law library for several years. The people I worked with were all college educated and three were former lawyers.  We used to have enjoyable conversations about politics, TV, movies, and each other (there was a lot of office politics that I did my best to steer clear of). I'll never forget the time when the library's electronic compact shelving malfunctioned and almost crushed to death one of my coworkers.

I used that background for the first novel I wrote that takes place in a library.  It is called "Death Among the Stacks: The Body in the Law Library".  I had Agatha Christie's detective, Hercule Poirot, in mind when I wrote this book with my husband.  We wanted it to be a story with multiple suspects who, in the last chapter, are summoned by the detective, who then grills them in front of everyone, saying why he suspected each one and making everyone nervous until he finally reveals whodunit.

Watchin' the Detective: A Mystery Dinner Romance

 

The second book about libraries I wrote is a romantic comedy.  It's about a librarian who goes to a performance at a mystery dinner theater where someone is actually killed--definitely not part of the act.  A handsome detective comes to investigate and she falls madly in love with him.  She gets mixed up with some dangerous people when she tries to find out who the murderer was.  This is a little racy: her fantasies about him are quite graphic (and very funny).

The characters in Watchin' the Detective get married and spend their honeymoon in New Orleans. This book is mostly a travelogue about New Orleans and Louisiana and anyone planning to go visit The Crescent City would benefit by some of the travel tips it offers.

Honeymoon in New Orleans

My final book in the series finds the two librarians from earlier stories going to Europe.  Isabella is trying to recover from her husband's death and Nicole is looking forward to her first visit to Europe. Will either of them find love on this vacation? Where will they go and what will they do on September 11, 2001 when they find themselves stranded in London and cannot take a flight home as planned?

Destination Europe: The Summer the World Changed

These books are all available at Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, 

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Mystery Dinner Romance

Have you ever wanted to go to a mystery dinner theater where the audience has to figure out whodunit? That is where two lovers meet in this humorous and sexy romance novel. Isabella, a librarian in her early thirties, goes with her friends to a performance where an actual murder takes place. She falls in love with the handsome investigating detective, and gets herself mixed up with some dangerous people when she goes undercover—in spite of his warnings—to help him solve the crime.

Watchin' the Detective: A Mystery Dinner Romance 

by Louise Hathaway

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RIP David Bowie and Alan Rickman

What a week this has been after losing two of my favorite British performers, both of them only 69 years old. I first heard an album by David Bowie in 1972 when I was a teenager.  At the time I was into country-rock like The Eagles and Linda Ronstadt, so I didn't appreciate him right away.  I watched his various transformations through the years and didn't become a huge fan until the 80s when I heard him sing the sublime song "Under Pressure," a duet he did with Freddie Mercury and Queen. It showcased the best of both of their voices.  I've listened to it probably one hundred times and never get sick of it; I love the way he and Freddie trade off singing lead, egging each other on, encouraging each other to soar to the next level of unbridled emotions.  I recently saw their performance in a YouTube video. Freddie is hot and sweaty, looking like he'd been on stage for a long time, offering his usual rousing set, and in walks Bowie, cool as a cucumber, in a green suit.  Only Bowie could pull off wearing a green suit. So stylish!  He looked the most handsome I'd ever seen him. Gone were all the Ziggy Stardust makeup and theatrics, and there he was, looking like a fashion model.  He was "Oh, so very British."

And then, there's Alan Rickman--one of my favorite British actors.  Sometimes it feels like I'm the only person on the planet who has not read and seen any of the Harry Potter books and movies. Everyone says Alan was great in it, and I believe it.  His performance in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility was what first got my attention.  I was immediately smitten.  It wasn't just his voice: it was his character.  There's nothing more painful than to watch a young woman fall head over heels in love with the wrong man.  We've all seen it: our sisters or our friends being so blind to reason that you want to shake their shoulders and say, "Wake up and smell the coffee!"  In Sense and Sensibility, Marianne is forever mooning over the studly Willoughby and all the while she can't see the forest for the trees.  Alan's character in the book, Colonel Brandon, has been there all along.  Only after she almost dies does she realize his true worth: he has been by her side throughout her illness. He is the rock she needs to counteract her school girl way of looking at romance.  So what if he's older and isn't as dashing as Willoughby.  He is the love of her life and she's lucky to have him.  Alan was such an awesome Colonel Brandon with his low and sexy voice.  Forget about Mr. Darcy--I'll take Colonel Brandon any day.  How about you?

Five Star Rating for "Honeymoon in Savannah: A Detective Santy Mystery"

I was so excited today when I noticed that our book, Honeymoon in Savannah: A Detective Santy Mystery, got a five star rating on Google Play.  This mystery, about a famous chef who was murdered in Savannah, Georgia, has been out for a couple of years now and has received four star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, but this is its first Five Star.  Yippee!  Out of the 23 books in our catalog, this is our favorite and it was a joy to write.  It also has sold the most (189 copies).  We are indie-writers, so you can see by our sales that we're not up there with Nora Roberts or James Patterson, but it's a pretty big deal for us.  Thank you to all our wonderful readers.

Honeymoon in Savannah: A Detective Santy Mystery

by Louise Hathaway

Available for $2.99 at Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, 

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Also Available in Paperback at Amazon

Here is what it's about:  While on her honeymoon in Savannah, Georgia, Detective Clarissa Santy hopes to spend a nice quiet time with her husband in one of America’s most beautiful cities. She and her husband are both big fans of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”, so they decide to make a pilgrimage to Savannah to see the sights mentioned in the book. Her time as a tourist is short-lived however when one of Savannah’s famous chefs is brutally murdered. The chef just happens to be Clarissa’s cousin--so this is personal--and Clarissa can’t rest until she finds out whodunit.

Romance in New Orleans

Planning a vacation? Why not New Orleans? It's one of my favorite cities in the world and I've returned to it many times over the years. I wrote this travelogue/romance novel about my favorite places to visit, dine at, and stay overnight at in The Crescent City and Louisiana. My travelogue also includes helpful websites to consider before planning your next vacation. Only $1.99.  Available at Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords.

Here's what a reader says about this book: "Light and enjoyable read. Highlights some of the best of New Orleans. I am a recent traveler to New Orleans and enjoyed Louise Hathaway's recount of this romantic city."