Can you picture Belinda and Bennett parading around Portside in a carriage? Or taking a turn on the grounds, Belinda twirling a parasol and Bennett in a dapper hat? (Well, maybe you can picture the hat!) That’s essentially the image that laid the groundwork for The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries. Let me explain.
It all started because I toured a few of the old mansions of Newport, Rhode Island, which take you back to Gilded Age America – when industry moguls like the Vanderbilts dominated society (and didn’t have to pay income tax!).
It was the tour of Marble House and hearing about its mistress, Alva Vanderbilt, and her exploits and strained relationship with her daughter that sparked a story idea. (I won’t get into it here, but Alva was quite the character.)
When I walked away, I had an idea of a young woman returning from an extended stay in Europe. Her best friend’s British fiance is murdered and she works with a youngish detective to solve it.
I liked the concept, but I wasn’t really keen on writing period mysteries, though I’ve always read a ton of them. So I thought, Why not bring the time period up a few decades and see what happens?
That one change in perspective really set the idea on fire and it came together quickly.
Some of the basic ideas survived, but in the modern world. The main thing I changed was Bennett’s profession. I gave him a policing background, but I didn’t want to go with the default police detective or private detective role for him. Thanks to a family member, I came up with the event security business.
So, voila! A fun summer afternoon in Newport resulted in the birth of The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries. That happens. At least to me.