Sarah Bain sits down for a Q&A with dru’s book musings responding to twenty or more questions so that we can learn more about her. So, let’s get to know Sarah.
What is your full name?
Mrs. Sarah Bain Barrett
How old are you?
34
What is your profession?
Crime scene photographer for the Daily World newspaper
Do you have a significant other?
Yes. My husband.
What is their name and profession?
Detective Sergeant Thomas Barrett of the Metropolitan Police
Do you have any children?
No
Do you have any siblings?
My half-sister, Sally Albert
Are your parents nearby?
My father, Benjamin Bain
Who is your best friend?
Mick O’Reilly and Lord Hugh Staunton
Do you have any pets?
No
What town do you live in?
Whitechapel, London
Do you live in a small town or a big city?
Big city
Type of dwelling and do you own or rent?
A rented shop house on the Whitechapel high street
What is your favorite spot in your home?
My photography studio on the ground floor
Favorite meal and dessert?
Traditional English tea with sandwiches, scones, clotted cream, cake, the whole works.
Do you have any hobbies?
Taking photographs of things other than crime scenes.
What is your favorite vacation spot?
The seaside town of Brighton
What music do you listen to?
Whatever the street musicians are playing around town
Do you have a favorite book?
I like photography manuals
What is your idea of a really fun time?
Breaking and entering
If you were to write a memoir, what would you call it?
The Ripper’s Shadow (the first book in my series)
Amateur or professional sleuth and whom do you work with?
I’m an amateur turned professional by accident. My partners in murder investigation are Lord Hugh Staunton, Mick O’Reilly, and Detective Sergeant Barrett.
In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
The doorbell rings, often before dawn, often multiple times a day, with a summons to a crime scene. I photograph the dead body, then develop and print the photos at the newspaper office. Sometimes that’s the end of it, and I can eat and sleep, relax and spend time with my family and friends, like a normal person. If the crime is high-profile and I’m assigned to investigate, I chase clues and suspects at all hours, until the final, dangerous confrontation with the killer.
Portrait of Peril by Laura Joh Rowland, Victorian Mystery #5
Genre: Historical
Release: January 2021
Purchase Link
London, October 1890. Crime scene photographer Sarah Bain is overjoyed to marry her beloved Detective Sergeant Barrett–but the wedding takes a sinister turn when the body of a stabbing victim is discovered in the crypt of the church. Not every newlywed couple begins their marriage with a murder investigation, but Sarah and Barrett, along with their friends Lord Hugh Staunton and Mick O’Reilly, take the case.
The dead man is Charles Firth, whose profession is “spirit photography”– photographing the ghosts of the deceased. When Sarah develops the photographs he took in the church, she discovers one with a pale, blurred figure attacking the victim. The city’s spiritualist community believes the church is haunted and the figure is a ghost. But Sarah is a skeptic, and she and her friends soon learn that the victim had plenty of enemies in the human world–including a scientist who studies supernatural phenomena, his psychic daughter, and an heiress on a campaign to debunk spiritualism and expose fraudulent mediums.
In the tunnels beneath a demolished jail, a ghost-hunting expedition ends with a new murder, and new suspects. While Sarah searches for the truth about both crimes, she travels a dark, twisted path into her own family’s sordid history. Her long lost father is the prime suspect in a cold-case murder, and her reunion with him proves that even the most determined skeptic can be haunted by ghosts from the past.
About the author
Laura Joh Rowland is the author of Portrait of Peril, the fifth book in her mystery series set in Victorian England, starring photographer Sarah Bain. Her other series features 17th-century Japanese samurai detective Sano Ichiro. Her work has been published in 21 countries, won RT Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Award, and made The Wall Street Journal’s list of the five best historical mystery novels. Laura is also a cartoonist. When she’s not writing mysteries, she’s working on a graphic novel based on the life of the poet Sylvia Plath. She lives in Queens with her husband Marty.
All comments are welcomed.
Thanks for dropping by Sarah.
An interesting story and character, Laura, and I love the cover!
Can’t wait to start reading mystery # 5. Read the other 4. Very good series. If you like historical mysteries. Which I do. Give this series a try. You won’t be sorry.