An Interview with Carmen Radtke

 

Today, I am chatting with Carmen Radtke about The Case of the Missing Bride, the first novel in her historical mystery series featuring Alyssa Chalmers.

Inspired by the true story of a group of young Australian women who sailed for Canada in 1862 and subsequently disappeared, the novel takes readers aboard a ship filled with women hoping to secure new futures through marriage. Among them is Alyssa, an independent and determined young woman who finds herself investigating when one of her fellow passengers mysteriously vanishes.

Carmen joins me today to talk about the remarkable true story that inspired the novel, creating a mystery within the confines of a nineteenth-century voyage, and introducing a heroine who refuses to be silenced or underestimated.

But first, let's check out The Case of the Missing Bride

Publication Date: 1st December 2019
Publisher: Adamantine Books
Print Length: 222 Pages
Genre: Historical Mysteries

A sharp tongue. An even sharper mind. A sleuth criminals overlook at their peril.

1862. Trapped on a ship sailing to Canada, a group of young Australian brides dream of security in a country they’ve never seen. Only fiercely independent Alyssa Chalmers has no plans to let matrimony decide her future.

When her closest friend disappears after a stormy night, she is the only one refusing to believe in a tragic accident. And if she’s right, there is a killer on board. A killer they can’t run from in the middle of the ocean…

With the captain dismissing her fears and no authority of her own, Alyssa must investigate in secret. Unexpected support comes from the ship’s doctor, a man torn between admiring her and judging her motives to be on the ship.

But every step closer to the truth also brings her closer to becoming the next victim.

Inspired by a true event.

The Case of the Missing Bride was inspired by a true event involving young Australian women sailing to Canada in 1862. What did you discover that made you realise there was a mystery novel waiting to be written?

I knew the second I read a short paragraph about the women and their unsolved disappearance. I couldn’t sleep that night, wondering what happened to them. They’d set out so full of hope! 

Alyssa Chalmers is travelling alongside women hoping that marriage will provide them with security, yet she is determined that matrimony will not dictate her own future. What kind of heroine did you want Alyssa to be when you first began developing her character?

I wanted her to be the smartest person in the room. She’s very aware of the restrictions forced upon her, so she’s using her wit and will to decide her own fate, as far as possible in a world made for men. She can’t even purchase her own passage although she has the money, just because she’s a woman! Despite the pushback she receives, she stands up for herself and for the other brides, who don’t have the luxury of money or education.

Setting a murder mystery aboard a ship creates an intriguing problem: the suspects and the potential victim are trapped together, with nowhere to escape. How did that confined setting influence the way you constructed the mystery and built the tension?

Everything had to develop slowly, with lots of undercurrents. Due to societal restrictions, Alyssa has to tread carefully and find male allies who believe her and assist her. She can’t even walk around freely or easily interview any of her suspects. 

When Alyssa's friend disappears, the captain is willing to accept a tragic accident while Alyssa refuses to do so. What gives her the confidence to trust her own judgement when those with authority are dismissing her concerns?

The captain is well-meaning but used to transporting goods and livestock, not women (or a killer!). And Alyssa knows her friend and she knows when a scenario sounds logical in theory but doesn’t fit. 

Alyssa has no official authority and must investigate without attracting too much attention. How did the restrictions placed upon women in the 1860s shape both the investigation and the methods available to her?

They gave me a framework where all Alyssa can rely on are her own power of deduction and her force of personality to convince the men who become her sidekicks that she’s right. Every step she takes is restricted by societal norms. 

The ship's doctor becomes an unexpected ally, although his admiration for Alyssa is complicated by his judgement of her reasons for being aboard the ship. What interested you about creating that tension between them?

The poor man! He feels sympathy and compassion for the brides because he understands that marriage is their only way out of poverty. But because Alyssa is different – she is well-educated, financially independent, and standing her ground – he struggles to understand why she’s willing to marry a man she’s never met. He’s as stubborn as she is but a lot less clear-eyed.

A ship carrying young women across the world in search of new lives must have contained an extraordinary mixture of hope, uncertainty and fear. What research did you undertake into the experiences of women making journeys like this in the nineteenth century?

I’m tempted to call it fate (or at least a stroke of good luck): A few days after I’d started my research, including ship’s lists, I stumbled upon a library sale that included a book with family letters covering the exact period I needed in Melbourne, giving me all the background I could wish for. And my local librarian helped me find a doctor’s memoir, covering the kind of journey my brides went on. He’d travelled as a ship’s surgeon and described his tasks as well as the entertainment on board. My brides owe him for the deck games.

Before becoming a novelist, you worked as a newspaper reporter on two continents. Do you think your journalistic instinct to question accounts, look for inconsistencies and keep digging for answers finds its way into the way you construct a mystery?

I think so! It also means I can’t resist doing just a little more research…

The novel was a finalist in the Malice Domestic competition. What did that early recognition mean to you, particularly as this was your first mystery novel?

It gave me an enormous boost, not just as a writer, but also because I don’t want these women to be forgotten.

The Case of the Missing Bride introduces Alyssa at the beginning of a historical mystery series. What was it about her character that convinced you she had more mysteries to solve beyond this first voyage?

She’s not the kind of character who allows herself to be ignored! I’m drawn to heroines who find a way to turn the disadvantages they face into a power. If men don’t take her seriously or ignore her, they’re making a big mistake. To add to that, I’ve been trying to give the brides the lives they should have had. Alyssa won’t settle for less.

A huge thank you to Carmen Radtke for joining me today and sharing the story behind The Case of the Missing Bride.

If you enjoy historical mysteries inspired by true events, resourceful heroines and investigations filled with secrets and intrigue, then The Case of the Missing Bride is certainly one to add to your reading list.

Pick up your copy of The Case of the Missing Bride HERE
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Carmen Radtke

Carmen has spent most of her life with ink on her fingers and a dangerously high pile of books and newspapers by her side.

She has worked as a newspaper reporter on two continents and always dreamt of becoming a novelist and screenwriter.

When she found herself crouched under her dining table, typing away on a novel between two earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, she realised she was hooked for life.

The shaken but stirring novel made it to the longlist of the Mslexia competition, and her next book and first mystery, The Case Of The Missing Bride, was a finalist in the Malice Domestic competition in a year without a winner. Since then she has penned several more cozy mysteries, including the Jack and Frances series set in the 1930s.

Carmen now lives in Italy with her human and her four-legged family.

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