Aspects of History - Sept Book of the Month Interview

 

What attracted you to the time and place you write about?

When working as a consultant for UK security agencies, I spotted similarities between the Elizabethan and early Stuart periods and our own time. Back then, the printing press was disrupting lives and creating new threats, as the internet and social media are doing now.

Lincolnshire attracted my attention, particularly the disparity between popular positive views of those reigns, and realities which propelled the Mayflower Pilgrims and other Independent Protestants to flee the country illegally. Visiting the county helped me imagine the early seventeenth century through the eyes of aspirational ‘middling folk’, not just those trying to govern the country from Westminster.

What do you draw inspiration from?

I am inspired by the resilience and courage of ordinary people in the past. Growing up in Portsmouth, I was fascinated by stories of press gangs and powder monkeys when touring HMS Victory, also the first hand accounts of those who endured World War II. My father’s family suffered a direct hit in the Portsmouth blitz, and lost what little they had. His parents struggled to feed and clothe nine children, yet my barely literate grandmother never complained.

More recently, I have been privileged to work alongside staff in UK Intelligence Agencies. Often, their own families do not know the vital roles they play in keeping the country safe.

 Is physician Alexander Baxby a historical character?

Baxby is fictional, although typical of many young men who came of age during the early 1600s. They were precarious years, with poor harvests, famine, plague and an increasingly cold climate. Those without wealth and family connections flocked to London looking for work, which is where Baxby met fictional spymaster Geoffrey who features in my first mystery Paying in Blood.

In contrast, the bishops, statesmen and Independent Protestant leaders are historical characters. John Robinson and William Brewster went on to lead the Mayflower Pilgrims who sailed to New England in 1620. John Smyth and Thomas Helwys formed the first English Baptist church, in Amsterdam, and subsequently petitioned King James for religious liberty.

Is his personality based on yourself or someone you know?

Baxby shares some biographical details with myself and my late father. We both benefited from apprenticeships too, worked on Top Secret government programmes, and found a second home in friendly non-conformist churches.

 However, Baxby is far less cautious than me, and more willing to question authority and injustice from a young age. He makes many mistakes, and is unduly influenced at times, but maintains deep loyalty to his friends and concern for his patients.

How did your ideas for Paying in Blood develop?

Initially, I imagined two soldiers who return to England after fighting overseas, and discover that one’s wife had died in suspicious circumstances while they were away. The bond between them would be key in eventually solving the mystery. My earlier consultancy career and prison chaplaincy gave me insights into crime, espionage, politics and religion, on which I could draw, but still had lots to learn!

However, once I started researching the period, many things fell into place. I was particularly excited to discover the 1600 Battle of Nieuwpoort had been fought at the right time for Baxby. Similarly, the 1601 Essex Rebellion, 1603 succession, 1604 Hampton Court Conference and contemporary Shakespeare plays seemed to dovetail well with his crime-solving story.

Strangely, getting cancer helped my writing, as I had to stop other activities which previously absorbed time, and I am grateful to Sharpe Books and everyone else who has encouraged and supported me along the way.

What next for Alexander Baxby?

The second Baxby mystery Naming the Dead continues in 1608 Amsterdam, with more murder mystery, intrigue and espionage. The physician-detective appreciates more freedom, but finds it hard to start his life anew, whilst living amongst other immigrant communities who have taken refuge there.

In both Paying in Blood and Naming the Dead, Baxby tells his story to cell-mates in gaol. In the third book, which I am currently editing, he will return to England in very different circumstances from those in which he left, and the two timelines will meet when King James’ daughter Princess Elizabeth marries Elector Frederick of the Palatinate in 1613.

  

Karen Haden’s historical murder mysteries are available from Sharpe Books on Kindle Unlimited and to buy at Karen Haden Books