May I recommend
Reading THE HONEYBEE EMERALDS…
I’m dedicating March to revisiting my debut novel, and one that I hold very close to my heart. THE HONEYBEE EMERALDS is a story of female friendship, history, mystery and romance set in Paris and it came out two years ago this month.
One of my favourite things about writing Honeybee, aside from spending a lot of time thinking about Paris, was all the random topics I had to learn about. I researched whales, perfuming, wine-making, magazine editing, Josephine Baker, Mata Hari and Marguerite Belanger, amongst lots of other people/things.
One subject I researched was the history of fancy jewellery in Second Empire France. That’s how I learned about Mellorio dits Meller, a jewellery house that designed tiaras for Marie Antoinette and is still in existence.
They often take inspiration for their designs from nature which in turn inspired me to have their fictional counterparts (Medici dit Beauregard in the novel) design my Honeybee Emeralds necklace.
Here’s an excerpt from the moment when Alice discovers the necklace:
Still chilly, she thrust her hands deep into the jacket pockets. Her fingers brushed against something cool and hard. Gently she pulled it out and gasped.
Alexander turned toward her.
She held the thing up to the light—it was a diamond necklace with a large golden bee pendant in its center and an enormous emerald shining from each wing.
Alexander’s eyes widened. “Fallegur!” he breathed. “Beautiful.”
She dangled it by the diamond chain, letting the gorgeous pendant glint and sparkle in the basement’s dim light. In a flash, she understood why she had wound up in the basement this morning, why she had stumbled upon the wardrobe room and pulled on the jacket. She was meant to find this necklace. This treasure. It was her destiny.
Want to hear a crazy story about this real-life jeweller who inspired my fictional Medici dit Beauregard? Years ago, before HONEYBEE was published, but after it was written — so maybe 2019 —I was working at my job at Canada’s national library and archives. I was the manager of a work unit and we were to host an international archives’ student for a few weeks, show her what we did, blah blah blah.
This young woman was French (France French, obvs, not Quebec French) and rocked up in a swirl of scarves, disdain for our pastries and a French accent that made me very self-conscious about my own “R” rolling. I sent her off to shadow various members of my team and apart from briefly experimenting with wearing a scarf (not successful!) I thought no more about her.
UNTIL one day she was scheduled to shadow me… Why? As a manager literally all you do is attend meetings to talk about all the things that other people need to do, look at Excel spreadsheets and buy cake for various team celebrations… Anyway, we were chitchatting and it emerged that this woman, who had a really berserk (France) French name like Églantine DeMontpassant or something, was going back to Paris after her Canadian stint to continue her internship at… the Mellorio Dits Mellors archives!!
Yup, in its infinite wisdom the universe had thrown this woman who was doing the job at the place that I had spent weeks researching in order to create a fictional version for my novel. How bizarre! What are the odds? What a marvellous, magical place this old planet of our can sometimes be!
Obviously, presented with this incredibly gift from the heavens, I spent hours grilling her for every single detail about what she did and how she did it, right?
Nopee.
Remember, I had not published Honeybee, or any book at that point, and I felt like a complete imposter whenever I told anyone I wrote novels (therefore I never told anyone I wrote novels). I was too shy and self-conscious to ask Byzantia Champs Elyssée for all the wonderful nuggets she undoubtedly held.
My silly hangup let this wonderful research opportunity slip through my fingers, but I still marvel at how weird and coincidence-filled the world is…
Anyway, here is the scene from THE HONEYBEE EMERALDS where my characters head to the Medici dit Beauregard archives to uncover clues… Just imagine how much more richly detailed it could have been if I had got up the nerve to ask Croissant de NôtreDameCathedral about her experience…
The offices were still dark as they walked through a front reception area.
Catherine ushered them along the plush carpet of a dim hallway. “I have your promise that we will not be mentioned in this article, yes?”
“Absolutely,” Lily agreed. “Your name will not darken the pages of Bonjour Paris.”
Catherine stopped. “Ah, is that the expatriate magazine?”
“You’ve heard of it?” Daphne was frankly surprised. Most born-and-bred Parisians would rather die than be caught reading an expat magazine.
Catherine shrugged. “We have many foreign clients, although they tend to read the other one—”
“La Vie en Rose,” Lily said, her nose crinkling in distaste.
Daphne loved her friend, but Lily could not hide an emotion to save her life.
Catherine nodded enthusiastically. “Yes,” she agreed. “Quite a fun read.” She stopped in front of an oak-paneled conference room in the back of the office. “I am sorry I arranged this meeting rather early,” Catherine explained. “It is best if we are discreet. The others don’t know of the incident that you helped me with.” She nodded toward Daphne, not quite meeting her eye. “They would not approve of me sharing our old business records. We are renowned for circumspection.”
Daphne was certain the Medici dit Beauregard had a lot of experience being circumspect. Emirati sheiks buying diamonds for their blond mistresses, wealthy arms dealers “investing” in jewelry to hide assets, the discreet sale of an heirloom piece to keep bankruptcy at bay—the list of people buying and selling jewelry for reasons best left undiscussed was long.
Catherine turned to Daphne. “The photo you sent me of that necklace reminded me of some of our work from the 1850s. As you said in your email, there was a mania for all things ‘ancient world’ at that time, and the honeybee motif was not uncommon.”
Lily looked at the boxes stacked around the table. Catherine noticed her glance. “We have not digitized our records yet, but one day, perhaps.” She gestured to the boxes. “These are our business files from 1800 to 1900. I hope they prove useful. I must emphasize again, that no matter what you find, our business won’t be mentioned as having assisted in your research.”
Daphne and Lily nodded, agreeing to this condition. Daphne had expected Catherine to excuse herself, but instead, she moved to a far corner of the conference table and plugged in a small laptop. Obviously, the Medici dit Beauregard business records were too precious to be entrusted to two outsiders, no matter how indebted Catherine might be to Daphne.
Lily was already opening the first ledger. Daphne hesitated.
“I urge you to begin,” Catherine said. “You only have two hours before staff will begin arriving.”
The records were beautifully organized in leather-bound ledgers. Neat columns listed the date of commission, a description of the desired object, occasionally accompanied by a hasty sketch, the name of the commissioner, and the date the item was picked up.
The ink in the ledgers was faded, and although the writing was careful, it had been so long since Daphne had read a substantial amount of cursive that she struggled to make out the words. The fact that it was in French, and written in an old and elaborate script, made it all the more challenging. They’d been reading for more than an hour and had plowed through ten ledgers between them.
They were now in the 1850s, and Daphne was starting to go cross-eyed with all of the jewelry she had read about—pendants, brooches, hat pins, chokers, cameos, rings, tiaras, bejeweled sword hilts, earrings, bracelets, and, of course, necklaces. So many necklaces. She read about solitaire diamond pendants, chokers brimming with rubies, filigreed snake necklaces, and delicate, carefully wrought floral chains of platinum, each petal a perfectly shaped sapphire.
At last, in May 1864, a commission that fit the bill.
“This is it,” Daphne squeaked.
Lily looked up, and even the poised Catherine raised her head. Lily came to stand behind Daphne to see what she was pointing to.
The line in the ledger, just another business transaction, was one of the answers to their questions. “A double strand of diamonds, forty in total, pendant a gold filigree honeybee with two large emeralds in the center of each wing.” To seal the deal, there was a sketch, hastily drawn, unquestionably of “their” necklace.
The person who had ordered the necklace, Louis Badinguet, had picked up his commission on the 27th of May, 1864.
Have you read HONEYBEE? Do you own a fabulous piece of jewellery? Do you have an outrageous French name? Tell me all about it (or anything else!) in the comments!
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Book Stuff
Book Launch
My actual, in-person launch is on April 25th. Let me know if you want to come and I’ll send you an invite (amytectorwrites@gmail.com)
Octopus Books - The Lady is a Sleuth
If you can’t make the book launch, come to a very fun event at Octopus Books the following week where I am teaming up with fellow Ottawa mystery writer, Katie Tallo.
Calling all crime lovers! Join Octopus Books for a discussion of strong female leads in mystery novels with two local women authors. Celebrate the launch of Honor the Dead by Amy Tector, the latest entry in the Dominion Archives Mysteries series which includes The Foulest Things and Speak for the Dead. Amy will be joined by fellow Ottawa mystery writer Katie Tallo, author of the international bestselling Dark August and its sequel, Poison Lilies.
Trade Review
Booklist, one of the publications that does trade reviews, reviewed Honor the Dead and they liked it! Yay and phew!
“Dr. Cate Spencer lives by the motto “Honor the Dead.” As an Ottawa coroner… she seizes an opportunity to assist community police when a man is murdered, offering her forensic expertise to the constables. Suspects and theories soon abound– was the motive a secret affair, growing drug culture, an old-fashioned family feud, or even rumors of buried gold? As the investigation deepens and Cate races to unravel the crime before she becomes another casualty, she must confront her conflicted ex-husband, revelations about Jason, and her own loneliness. Tector’s well-developed characters and vivid descriptions flavor this rousing entry to her Dominion Archives series.” –Booklist
I blurbed this book and it’s good!
I blurbed fellow author Sarah Reida’s debut adult thriller and it’s as good as my blurb says — compelling characters, great setting and funny! Pick it up - it’s out April 2!
"Fast-paced, compassionate, and hilarious, this [adult] debut from Sarah Reida grips from the first page and keeps the reader invested with every new chapter and every new character. A sharply written dissection of secrets, wealth and murder in the suburbs, its cast of compelling characters give the story its heart." —Amy Tector, author of the Dominion Archives Mysteries
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AMY! The story about Églantine DeMontpassant-Byzantia Champs Elyssée is fantastic. Thank you for sharing that.
I'm getting on a 5-hour train ride on Tuesday, and I'm starting Honor the Dead as soon as my butt hits the seat. Can't wait! XO