7.23.2017  Austin mystery author Joan Hess takes on the Elizabeth Peters legacy in addition to her own popular series

Fans of the Amelia Peabody mystery series—which features a female Indiana Jones-type archeologist/adventurer — know that creator Elizabeth Peters pseudonym of Barbara Mertz) had started a final book, but had not completed the title, when she passed away almost four years ago. Longtime friend and Austin author Joan Hess, a leading mystery writer herself, completed this work to give fans one last shot at the characters they’ve loved through the decades. Hess talked with us via email yesterday to tell us about the new book.

LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE: Joan, you are a mystery author, a member of Sisters in Crime, and a former president of the American Crime Writers League. You write two popular mystery series under your own name, and the Theo Bloomer mystery series under the pseudonym Joan Hadley. On top of all of that you’re a five-time Agatha nominee. When did you first want to be writer?

JOAN HESS: When I was in high school and college, I never wrote anything that wasn't “due on Monday.” In the mid-1980s, a friend urged me to write a romance novel, since the market was hot. I discovered that I really enjoyed writing prose, but all ten of my attempts to write romance novels were rejected: “great characters, snappy dialogue, smooth style, too much plot, not enough romance.” It seems I am not a romantic at heart.

What was your first break as an author?

I had decided to go back to school and get a PhD, despite the fact that my younger child was in half-day kindergarten. My third agent told me to write a mystery. I gave myself the spring semester to give it a try, and it was so much more fun. In my first mystery, Strangled Prose, I killed a successful romance writer. Ha! I promptly wrote another one, and both sold in April 1985. I've been killing people ever since.

Although you have lived in Austin for the past five years, you spent most of your life in Arkansas. How did that inform your writing?

The Claire Malloy series is set in a college town not unlike Fayetteville, Arkansas. My editor at St. Martin's Press urged me to start a second series. The [fictional] town of Maggody (pop. 755) is a combination of the many small towns surrounding Fayetteville. I drove around, meeting the locals and police officers to delve into their mindset. It was...enlightening.

You lived in Fayetteville, home of the state's flagship university, and now you live in Austin, home of the University of Texas. How do the two college towns compare?

I know every nook and alley in Fayetteville. My first three years in Austin included innumerable “spontaneous explorations,” particularly at night. Traffic is a nightmare, I rarely venture out of my neighborhood and I avoid downtown.

Your most recent project was to finish The Painted Queen, the final but unfinished book in the beloved Amelia Peabody series by bestselling author Elizabeth Peters — whose real name was Barbara Mertz). After a long weekend of cajoling and convincing, I understand, Mertz’s daughter, Beth, along with distinguished professor of Egyptology at American University Cairo, Salima Ikram, persuaded you to complete the story. Tell us about Barbara Mertz, and how you decided to take on the assignment?

I initially declined, but I knew I was the logical candidate to capture Barbara’s voice (slightly sardonic, perhaps). Barbara and I were very close friends. I visited her several times a year to gossip, chortle, and talk about politics or problems in our books-in-progress. She was a wonderful, caring mentor.

Could you tell our readers about The Painted Queen?

Well, [archeologists] Amelia and Emerson are back in Egypt and given the right to excavate in Armana, but only in the workmen’s village. Morgenstern, a noted Egyptologist who’s been granted the city site, has been behaving oddly and has disappeared. Amelia concludes he has discovered the bust of Nefertiti and taken it to Cairo for nefarious reasons. Interfering with her search for Morgenstern and the missing bust are crazed assassins are after her and other family members. Ramses and David suspect the German ambassador's attaché. Adventures ensue.

The Painted Queen has been in the works for a few years now, and we understand that there are fan-organized events on publication day at bookstores around the country! Will you be a part of sending off the finale of a series that has been celebrated for decades and honoring a long-respected author, Elizabeth Peters?

Beth and I will be at Centuries & Sleuths in Chicago on July 25 and Mystery to Me in Madison, Wisconsin, the following evening.

You are so incredibly productive. What is your creative process like?

I start with what I think might be an interesting situation or subject (non-violent) and concoct a story line. I have to integrate my series regulars into the brew, and a group of suspects. As I write notes about the characters, I discover their nasty little secrets and possible motives. When I first start the book, I have a vague idea where I’m going. Whimsical detours occur. I usually change my mind several times, but that’s okay. I have surprised myself with plot twists.

How has publishing changed since you started?

It ain’t what it used to be.

What's next for Joan Hess?

To be candid, hip replacement surgery (5th). I’m hoping to start a new Maggody once my mind is steadier.

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