Most Secret
Sent to unofficially investigate a suspected smuggler, Alex Gordon uncovers a plot to send a cargo of muskets to Bonnie Prince Charlie in Scotland. Now Alex has been told to leave it to the professionals. He would do so—probably!—except that Jane Stowe, who provided the first clue to the plot, is suspected of murder and Rupert, her feckless half-brother, knows something about the muskets. It’s all connected, and the professionals have no stake in saving Jane from the gallows or Rupert from a charge of treason.
Alex, his family’s misfit, with no more than a talent for amateur theatricals and lock-picking, and a personal interest in Jane, has a plan. Or part of a plan, at least. It will take him to Scotland and make him a fugitive from both Jacobites and the Crown, and send Jane into hiding from the real murderer.
Most Secret: finalist, Historical Fiction, OKRWA Independent Digital Awards, 2018; finalist, Romance, 2019 Next Generation Indie Book Awards
About Kathleen Buckley (Albuquerque, New Mexico Author)
As soon as I learned to read, I wanted to write. It’s been a long, long road. In the 1990s, I sold two stories to Robert Bloch (of Psycho movie fame) for Psycho Paths and Monsters in Our Midst. In 2013 I self-published a coming-of-age novel, Getting By. As far as I can tell, nobody’s ever read it—not even the free sample—certainly no one’s bought it. You would think this might be depressing, and there have been years-long stretches when I wrote nothing but chatty letters and an occasional letter to the editor (the kind beginning, “I view with alarm …”). But the writing fits always re-surfaced, rather like malaria.
An Unsuitable Duchess germinated after I’d been re-reading Georgette Heyer’s delightful romances and contemplating the fact that there would never be any more, Ms. Heyer having died in the 1970s. I wondered if I could write a similar novel—accurate background, humor, romance, interesting characters. While An Unsuitable Duchess didn’t really resemble Heyer’s books, I thought it was worth trying to find a publisher. And here we are.
I worked the assortment of jobs typical of writers (customer service in a hospital billing department, light bookkeeping in a commercial print shop, paralegal, security officer). In 2008, I moved from Seattle, Washington to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
