Photo of Notre Dame in Paris, France: © Depositphotos.com/boggy22
My guest today is Susan Russo Anderson. She is a writer, a mother, a grandmother, a widow, a member of Sisters In Crime, and a graduate of Marquette University. She has taught language arts and creative writing, worked for a publisher, an airline, and an opera company. Susan discusses her work and what inspired her to write two different mystery series that take place centuries apart.
Welcome to my blog, Susan. You are the author of four books in the Serafina Florio Mystery series set in 19th-century Sicily. What enticed you to write about the adventures of a “midwife turned sleuth” in that period?
Great question, Sandra. Beyond the surface stories—there’s always a murder that needs to be solved—is the overarching theme of the Serafina mysteries in all the novels. And that’s migration—in the broad sense, that is.
I became interested in migration a long time ago when I became enthralled with the Lower East Side, an important neighborhood in Manhattan, teeming with immigrants from Eastern and Central Europe from the 1880’s to 1925. And they’ve left their mark. The neighborhood is still an amazing place, a real melting pot, and one of my favorite places to visit. But in the beginning, as I walked the streets of the Lower East Side, characters would appear in my head and they began talking and telling stories. That’s how the series began. My head is filled with them, all related to Serafina, by the way, generations of them.
About Serafina. She’s a 19th-century sleuth and a sleuth has to have a reason for getting around the neighborhood, and one of the best reasons for a woman in the 19th century was midwifery. Midwives were a vital part of the community. They knew everything about everybody. They had instant cachet, far more important than most local officials.
Murder on the Rue Cassette is the most recent book in the Serafina Florio Mystery series. Tell us a bit about it.
The book begins in Paris on April 15, 1874. A group of painters hang their works in a studio on the Boulevard des Capucines. Elena, a Sicilian countess estranged from her husband and living in Paris for the past seven years, attends the opening with her latest flame. She counts many of these artists as her friends, some as her former lovers. Three hours later, Elena’s body is found in the Rue Cassette, fatally shot in the left temple. Her husband, Loffredo—also Serafina’s lover—is charged with her murder and awaits trial in a Paris prison.
Serafina is commissioned by Elena’s father to investigate the countess’s death. The sleuth and her entourage travel to Paris where Paul Cézanne, Auguste Renoir, Édouard Manet, and other notables make cameo appearances as Serafina interviews friends of the countess. At the same time, she attempts to prove Loffredo’s innocence. As the plot twists and turns, Serafina and her friends find themselves in the dangerous grip of a mind gone feral.
It’s been a busy year for you, Susan. You’ve also written Too Quiet in Brooklyn, the first book in a new adult mystery series featuring private investigator Fina Fitzgibbons. What prompted you to diversify with a contemporary series?
The protagonist, Fina Fitzgibbons, has been rattling around my head for quite some time. She’s a descendant of Serafina, by the way, and has inherited her sleuthing talent and her jade eyes. Someday I’ll write more about the family.
Anyway, Fina had to write her story, and beyond the mysteries and making a living as a private investigator, she’s got issues that need to be aired. Issues that many of us have today, but especially new adults, adults in their early twenties. I think they grapple with these issues—like loving and leaving, friendship and privacy and being disillusioned with society’s constructs, and, for women, making it in a man’s world. Beneath the surface story of Too Quiet In Brooklyn—a murder and a kidnap—Fina struggles with these modern-day issues.
Which characters did you find more challenging to write about: the ones in the Serafina Florio series or the ones in the Fina Fitzgibbons series? Why?
Another great question, Sandra! Oh, I think historical fiction is much harder to write. For instance, I know Paris pretty well, but the Paris of 1874, well, that’s a different place than the Paris of today. I had to do a lot of research, and it takes me more time to develop the characters and to walk in their shoes. I have to be very careful not to give them a modern mouth and brain. But whether the characters are contemporary or historical, I spend a lot of time with them.
Thank you, Susan, for sharing your innermost thoughts with us today. We wish you continued success and look forward to more books featuring your strong-willed protagonists!
How to connect with Susan:
Twitter @susanrussoander
Where to find Susan’s books: