An interview with mystery writer Jean Sheldon

Recently, I was given the privilege and honor of an interview with one of the best and brightest mystery writers working today, Jean Sheldon. She is the author of The Woman in the Wing, about the beginnings of female pilots during World War II and spies trying to sabotage an aircraft factory, and her latest novel, Seven Cities of Greed. It is set in the present day and is about a hand-carved leather journal found in Zodiac’s Rare & Used Books in Chicago, and a close-knit group of friends trying to use the journal’s clues to find a gold treasure in New Mexico before that they are defeated by the wealthy and ruthless Samuel Barnes and his minions.

Without further ado, Jean, let’s get to the questions!

Douglas R. Cobb: Jean, first I’ll ask you a question about your latest novel and about your background. Seven Cities of Greed takes place in Illinois, mainly Evanston and Chicago, and also in New Mexico. You write very authoritatively about each region, as if you’ve done a lot of research, lived in each state, or both. Have you lived in either state?

Jean Sheldon: Hi Douglas, and thanks for your kind words. I was born in Chicago and lived there until I was thirty when I moved to New Mexico. I spent twenty-five years in that fascinating state and it was a delight to wander around and let my imagination and characters run wild.

Douglas R. Cobb: In Seven Cites of Greed, a tight-knit group of friends who met at Northwestern University some thirty years before the events and their adventures in the novel are all co-owners of the Zodiac Rare & Used Book Store. She is named after Zodiac (also known as Zoey), a black cat who is the pet of one of the co-owners, Pat Sexton.

I was curious if you also had a cat.

Jean Sheldon: Ha. I am owned by a cat and have served several of them over the years.

Douglas R. Cobb: The journal Samuel Barnes is looking for goes to the highest bidder, which is Jacqueline (Jackie) Tracy, one of the co-owners of the bookstore and its main patron.

Why is Barnes so ruthless in his efforts to get the diary, who is Father Marcos de Niza, and what terrible thing happens a second time to Jackie?

Jean Sheldon: Let me start with Jackie. She had the dubious honor of being kidnapped twice in her life, nearly 40 years apart. In the book, his nemesis Samuel Barnes maintains the profile of a successful Chicago businessman, but is a sociopath who lacks empathy and morals. He developed a passion for all things conqueror related and believes that the diary contains the location of Cibola’s treasures and is meant to be his. Father Marcos de Niza was a real-life Franciscan priest who conducted the original search for the Seven Cities of Cibola in the northern New World. He claimed the land that is now Arizona and New Mexico for Spain.

Douglas R. Cobb: One more question about Seven Cities of Greed, if you don’t mind, I’ll move on to some questions about your other novels.

At the same time Barnes is trying to pursue Jackie and her friends to get the journal, even having his men track them down in New Mexico, someone else is attempting to get revenge on Barnes, and posts pictures of him dressed as a conquistador on the Internet.

Who is doing this to Barnes and why?

Jean Sheldon – Barnes’s brutality earned him many enemies over the years and more than one of his former conquests seek revenge.

Douglas R. Cobb: Has written a whole series of mystery novels starring police detective Kerry Grant. They include the novels A Chilling Goodbye, Should Old Conquaintance be Dead, and Identity Murder. I haven’t read these novels yet, but I’ve heard they’re very good reads, and if they’re anything like his other novels, I’m sure what I’ve heard is true.

Why did you name your hero Kerry Grant? Are you a fan of actor Cary Grant? Also, could you describe her a bit here and maybe tell us briefly about one or more of her novels?

Jean Sheldon: Thank you. The Kerry Grant books were the first I created when I started writing at the age of 53 and I love Kerry and her friends. Why the name Kerry Grant? I really do not know. Her name and her character just grew. Kerry is a computer-mad Chicago PD detective whose bad temper is often soothed by her loyal partner and friends. There are actually four complete books in the series, the fourth, Bidder Regrets, about online fraud, has never been published. The series is out of print, but I hope they will all be reissued in the near future.

Douglas R. Cobb: You are very good at creating strong, intelligent female characters in all of your novels. Furthermore, his novels often have as their main aspect something to do with history. There is the story of Cortés, Father Marcos and the Seven Cities of Cíbola in Seven Cities of Greed, for example, and her novel The Woman in the Wing portrays the struggles and labors of young women during World War II trying to become pilots in the WAFS and WASP forces.

One of the main characters in The Woman in the Wing is Char Mercer, and another is her friend, Maxine (Maxie) Davies.

What are some of the sexual obstacles and prejudices that they have to overcome that you mention in the book?

Jean Sheldon: I enjoy both research and writing. I was stunned when I started The Woman in the Wing and learned how much women had to overcome to work for their country. And not just the pilots. Factory workers faced the same types of ridicule and prejudice. They were doing what many considered to be ‘man’s work’ and were called everything from sinners to un-American. As for the pilots, there were actual incidents where sugar was found in the gas tanks of women’s training planes, and some male officers admitted to becoming trainers to keep women from flying. The good news, of course, is that they overcame prejudice and were great drivers. It is heartwarming to see pilots finally receiving recognition for their services. In 2009, President Obama signed a bill that awards the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor, to World War II Women Air Force Service Pilots.

Douglas R. Cobb: German spies/sympathizers attempt to sabotage the plane factory where Char and Maxi work, undercover for the FBI. Are these attempts based on real attempts that you have heard or read about?

Jean Sheldon: My investigation showed very little actual sabotage taking place in this country. Many of the events that occurred in the story are fictional, although the descriptions of the setting, such as the messengers on roller skates, are true.

Douglas R. Cobb: Two-woman teams were used in aircraft factories like the one Char and Ellie work at.

Why, and could it also tell us who Hannah Brown was in her novel and tell us her fate?

Jean Sheldon: Most of the jobs in the plants required teamwork, like the riveters. One person fired the rivets with a pneumatic rivet gun and the other held something called a bucking bar, which stopped the rivet and formed a cap like seal. Hannah Brown was a fictional WASP pilot who was originally sympathetic to Germany. She finally realized where her allegiance lay and she became instrumental in preventing a bomb planted by the German agent from going off. To my knowledge, there were no pilots whose loyalty was ever in doubt.

Douglas R. Cobb: Who are some of your favorite authors and who would you say have had the most influence on your own style of writing?

Jean Sheldon: Wow, I have so many. I will start with Cather, Markham, Vonnegut, Salinger, Woolf, Paretsky, Collette, Alcott, Sayers, Christie, Greenan, and many others. They have all influenced me as a person and, in turn, my writing. That’s what makes reading so wonderful.

Douglas R. Cobb: Finally, could you tell us if you are currently working on a novel, if we can expect you to write more Kerry Grant books, and when your next novel might be out in bookstores and/or on Amazon?

Jean Sheldon: I just finished a great whodunit called Flowers for Her Grave. I hope to have it and Monet’s Palette, an art forgery mystery, out in 2010, and yes, I hope Kerry is back in action very soon.

Thanks once again for agreeing to do this interview, John! It has been a pleasure and I look forward to reading more of your books in the future!

Jean Sheldon: Thank you!