I spent nineteen of my twenty-five years in law enforcement as a detective. Long before I became a police officer, I wanted to be a writer. But I feared it wasn’t a practical profession and lacked the confidence to an attempt at it. Shortly after I retired from law enforcement, I found the courage to try my hand writing a story that I had floated around in my imagination for years. I started taking classes to learn the craft and began my first book at the same time.
When I went to conferences and seminars the same question was asked: why don’t I write a cop story? I never had the desire to write a contemporary one murder/suspense. I enjoy a good police story as much as anyone. My favorite authors in the genre are Mike Connelly and Joe Wambaugh. I just didn’t want to take that road.
I love history and began a series of historical romances involving time travel. While writing that series I got the idea for an old-fashioned detective. I’d visited England and London many times. I knew he’d work in London and I couldn’t think of a better setting for murder/suspense than Victorian England. From that idea, Detective Rudyard Bloodstone (Ruddy) was created.
When I started the Bloodstone series, it hadn’t occurred to me how much of my personal experience as a detective would influence the stories. I used my years of interviewing suspects to enhance the mindset(s) of the killers. I found including the POV of the antagonists added a lot of interesting aspects to their characters. They remained villains, but they weren’t flat, black and white ones.
In the first book, Silk, Detective Bloodstone must battle politics and the class structure while pursuing his suspect. In Snifter of Death, the second book, he and his partner find themselves investigating a killer that is the last person anyone would suspect. In my latest book, A Venomous Love, there are two villains. An added twist to the case is the murderer’s use of a most unusual weapon.
My detective experience became important in the execution of Ruddy’s investigations. Silk is set in 1888, Snifter of Death in 1889 and A Venomous Love in 1890. He literally has no forensic science to help him. With each murder, I had to walk the scene with him, observe with him, and consider what could possibly serve as a clue. To stay true to the period, I had to strip away everything I knew from modern investigations and fall back on old fashioned police work.
Detectives everywhere, and over time, have all handled the occasional bizarre case. One of the main elements of A Venomous Love is the weapon used. It is based on an actual event related to me years ago by a London police officer friend of mine. The setting, the time period of the story, and the weapon add a colorful angle.
I found the challenge of writing a cop story with a Victorian setting surprisingly fun. Detective Bloodstone has become my favorite character to write. I love filling his world with people from all walks of life in that period. He definitely will get more cases to solve in the near future.
I am currently working on a fourth book in the Bloodstone series called, Killer Friends. It should be ready for publication sometime the middle or fall of next year.
Article Date: 11-18-2023
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About The Author: Chris Karlsen is a retired police detective. She spent twenty-five years in law enforcement with two different agencies. The daughter of a history professor and voracious reader, she grew up with a love of history and books.
An internationally published author, Chris has traveled extensively throughout Europe, the Near East, and North Africa, satisfying her need to visit places she read about. Having spent a great deal of time in England and France, she used her love of both places as settings for her Knights in Time (5 book) series.
Author Chris Karlsen presents her Historical Romance and Historical Suspense Thrillers and Historical Love & War series.
Her series now include Knights in Time series, the Bloodstone series, Love & War series, Dark Water series and a Holiday short story selection: Choosing Home or Heart. Her novels are available in digital, e-book, Android App, paperback, audio format, and some books are presented in foreign language format.
A Chicago native, Chris has lived in Paris, Los Angeles, and now resides in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two rescue dogs. A city girl all her life, living in a small town on a bay was an interesting adjustment. She’d never lived anywhere so quiet at night and where traffic wasn’t bumper to bumper 24/7.
Some of Chris’s favorite authors are: Bernard Cornwell, Michael Connolly, Joseph Wambaugh, Julia Quinn, Julie Anne Long and Deanna Raybourne.
Author Chris Karlsen Presents Her Historical Romance and Historical Romance Suspense Thrillers!
Knights in Time
- Heroes Live Forever
- Journey in Time
- Knight Blindness
- Losing Time
- In Time for You
Bloodstone Series
- Silk
- Snifter of Death
- A Venomous Love
Love & War Series
- The Ack Ack Girl
- Moonlight Serenade (New Historical Romance)
Dark Water Series
- Dangerous Waters
- Golden Chariot
- Byzantine Gold
Holiday Selection: Choosing Home or Heart (this is a Christmas story where my Victorian detective from the series, Rudyard Bloodstone, goes home to Wales for the holidays and to introduce his lady love to his family. No murder, just a warm-hearted holiday novella)
Amazon Author’s Page:
https://www.amazon.com/Chris-Karlsen/e/B005HYTQQI?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2&qid=1583106694&sr=1-2
Professional Website:
http://www.chriskarlsen.com
You Tube Video Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3Ms9lq6d_E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ6oRpQK0c0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FZp3NafSKI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWVJYtFDPYs
Author’s Page At Book Marketing Global Network:
https://bookmarketingglobalnetwork.com/book-marketing-global-network/chris-karlsen
