Bedeviled by Her Suspicions follows a woman who fears that her cousin could be Jack the Ripper and hires a detective agency to find out the truth. What was the inspiration for the setup to this thrilling story?

I wanted to write a series involving three brothers who operate a detective agency in Victorian England. When researching that era for famous murderers and their crimes, Jack the Ripper was of course a prominent figure. Researching that case and the various individuals suspected of being the Ripper inspired Bedeviled by Her Suspicions.

Isabel is an intriguing and well developed character. What were some driving ideals behind her character development?

Isabel is intrinsically good and is torn between doing what she feels is morally correct, seeking the truth to save lives, and the guilt she harbors in suspecting her cousin of being Jack the Ripper. This laid solid ground work for her character development.

I enjoyed the mystery at the heart of this story. Was the mystery planned before writing or did it develop organically?

When I began research for my Zane Brothers Detective Series, I found a female criminal whose crimes were mimicked in Book 1 of the series. But because I chose my setting to be in 1888 London, naturally the crimes of Jack the Ripper and the Torso Killer needed to be intertwined with that mystery. That led to the mystery in Book 2, Bedeviled by Her Suspicions, in which historical suspects in the Jack the Ripper case were incorporated into the historical mystery. So, in the case of Bedeviled by Her Suspicions, I knew how I wanted the mystery to develop.

What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?

Currently I am writing my 26th book, Medley of Murderous Intent, which takes place in 1908 London where the 1908 Olympics were being held and during which the first African American won a gold metal. A new generation of Zane brothers must determine who is threatening the Olympian contestant…the historical personality John Baxter Taylor, Jr. This historical mystery will be available late 2021.

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