Today, it’s my pleasure to share my interview with debut mystery author Bridget Walsh. Walsh’s historical mystery, The Tumbling Girl, is so fascinating that I immediately contacted her publicist and asked if I could interview the author. You can read my review tomorrow on the blog. In the meantime, I’d like to introduce you to Bridget Walsh.

Bridget, who were you before you turned to a life of crime? In other words, tell us about yourself, please.

I’m the child of Irish immigrants and I grew up in a working-class home, a heritage I’m extremely proud of. After a series of abortive career choices, I finally found my home as an English teacher at the age of 30, a profession I stayed in for the next 23 years. In 2017 I left my job and moved to Norwich with my husband to embark on a Masters in Crime Fiction at the University of East Anglia (UEA), where I won the Little Brown, UEA Crime Fiction award. I have two rescue dogs who — not coincidentally — share names with two of the villainous characters in The Tumbling Girl. At the age of 58 I am so excited and grateful to be embarking on a brand new career, one I’ve dreamed of my whole life.

Please introduce us to Minnie Ward. Tell us about Albert Easterbook as well.

Minnie Ward is feisty, funny and pretty much fearless. She writes songs and sketches for the Variety Palace, a somewhat down-at-heel music hall. Left orphaned at a young age, she’s had to fight hard to establish an independent life and she’s not willing to give that up for anyone. Minnie was named for my aunt Minnie. Sadly no longer with us, she was a real powerhouse, staying active well into her eighties and a fantastic advertisement for remaining single!

Albert Easterbrook grew up in a wealthy but loveless home. The murder of a family servant when Albert was just a young boy left him with the resolve to help those society neglects, first as a police officer and now as a private detective. Unlike Minnie, who moves through the world with swagger and purpose, Albert has never fully felt at home anywhere. Until he meets Minnie and is introduced to the world of the Variety Palace. Between them, Minnie and Albert can go anywhere. Minnie has the street smarts and the chutzpah. Albert has a cut-glass accent and a pretty mean right hook.

Tell us about The Tumbling Girl, with no spoilers.

London, 1876. Minnie’s best friend, Rose Watkins, is found dead at the start of the novel. The police are treating it as suicide but Rose’s mother, Ida, is convinced it’s murder. Ida and Minnie hire Albert Easterbrook to investigate Rose’s death. Before long, and despite Albert’s best efforts to dissuade her, Minnie has insinuated herself into the investigation. Together they navigate London, from its high-class clubs to its murky underbelly. But as the bodies pile up, they must rely on one another if they’re going to track down the killer and make it out alive.

The Tumbling Girl has been described as ‘delightful, dark and depraved all at the same time’, a description that fills me with joy.

There are quite a few mysteries set in Victorian England, but they usually deal with the upper class. The Tumbling Girl introduces readers to people working in music halls. Why did you pick this setting and group of people?

It was really important to me to have a working-class heroine whose position in life is not a disadvantage — quite the reverse in fact. Minnie is much more at ease in the world than Albert, despite his wealth and privilege.

I have a PhD in Victorian murder, so I knew a lot about the Victorian era and popular culture. The Variety Palace and its motley crew offers me almost endless opportunities to introduce new characters over the series and the chance to have a lot of fun. It’s a great opportunity to inject humour into my work. I think if you can laugh with characters then you’re more likely to invest in them, and be distraught when I do the terrible things I do to some of them.

What kind of research did you do for your book?

My PhD meant I’d already done a fair bit of research. But once I started working on the book I realised how much I didn’t know. I was able to do some site visits to London, to the Strand (home of the fictional Variety Palace music hall) and the Embankment. I was also very lucky to get shown backstage at Hoxton Hall, one of two surviving music halls in London still functioning as entertainment venues. Hoxton Hall was the inspiration for the Variety Palace. I also visited the Wellcome Institute where I was able to see Anatomical Venuses in the flesh, so to speak

I’m constantly reading about the Victorian era, anything that catches my eye, from biographies of music hall stars to accounts of medical curiosities. It’s my favourite part of the job.

Covid and isolation affected authors differently, just as it did the rest of us. Some were paralyzed, while others found a burst of creativity. How did isolation affect you and the writing and research for this book?

The Tumbling Girl went out on submission a few weeks before we went into the first lockdown in the UK. Being out on submission is a horrible process, as any writer knows, made worse by the fact it felt like the world was coming to an end. So I decided the best thing I could do was write the next book in the series. Lots of writers say they’re writing a series, write the first one, and then get stuck. I knew my agent, Isobel Dixon, had much more chance of selling the book if there was evidence that the second one was at least underway. So I set myself word targets each week, got my head down and just got on with it. To be honest, it feels like ‘The Innocents’ was written in a bit of a fever dream. I’ve just started re-reading it and there are parts I don’t even remember writing!

Minnie and Albert team up to investigate. Who are your favorite detecting duos?

Holmes and Watson is the obvious choice. Not sure if you get these TV shows in the States, but I also love Morse and Lewis (from ‘Morse’) and Cassie Stuart and Sunny Khan (from ‘Unforgotten’).

If you had to recommend 5 books to a person so they could get a feel for your reading taste, what five books would you recommend?

‘Fingersmith’, Sarah Waters

‘Duplicate Keys’, Jane Smiley

‘I Capture the Castle’, Dodie Smith

‘Our Mutual Friend’, Charles Dickens

‘The Poisonwood Bible’, Barbara Kingsolver

What’s the best book you ever received as a gift?

Two of my closest friends made me a tiny version of The Tumbling Girl as a Christmas present. It’s about two inches in height, they wrote their own blurb for the back with lots of in-jokes and printed out the entirety of chapter one for the inside. It’s absolutely beautiful and it made me cry. A lot.

Thank you, Bridget. Before we close, can you give us any hints about the next book, The Innocents?

Nine months on from the events of The Tumbling Girl, Minnie is now in charge of the Palace. Tansie is reluctant to take back the reins, but that isn’t stopping him poking his nose in at every opportunity. Bernard Reynolds, Palace stalwart, hires Minnie and Albert to find his brother’s murderer. Their investigation leads them to the trail of a serial killer with a tragic past. A second, somewhat less serious case involves the Palace’s performing monkey being kidnapped and held to ransom.