Hi, Kate! What drew you to this setting and this time period? Are there any works of art or pieces of entertainment that made Oxford intriguing for you?

I love the voice of midcentury British authors and naturally gravitated toward jumping into that world for research. Postwar England is also a less popular story setting, and the ways it differed from America during that time (e.g. ongoing economic instability, a shifting class system) held fascinating story potential. Oxford has always enchanted me, and Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers and Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh are two of my favorite novels. The Endeavour series also left its fingerprints on this story.

Gin and Sidney are fascinating characters, and as readers find out more about their backstories, they become real in a very specific way. Are they based on real people?

Though Sidney is not based on anyone, he does share a few similarities to John le Carré (David Cornwell), whose background with the British Intelligence Corps made him an ideal recruit to infiltrate Oxford student groups for MI5 in the early 1950s. Both Ginevra and Sidney also ended up with pieces of myself which made them easy to embody (Ginevra got my snark, Sidney my endless capacity for overthinking). Their voices were so loud and clear while writing this story that I often followed their lead, even when it deviated from the outline, and the results were always better than whatever I had originally planned.

What’s more difficult to research and write about: The British class system, or the British intelligence organization?

A lifetime consuming British historical novels gave me a leg up on writing the class dynamics, but the Security Service required focused research. It was often more humorous than I think people imagine the internal workings of intelligence agencies, with everything from office drama to operations going comically awry that reminded me more of Yes, Minister or Thick of It episodes than James Bond. But that kind of subtle hilarity also made a perfect backdrop for amateur sleuthing amid some hijinks.

Did you come across anything surprising or intriguing while doing the research for this book?

Ginevra’s problems with her ancestral home came from a rabbit trail fascination with the destruction of manor houses during the 1950s (by mid-decade, one every week!). Few families could afford to repair the damage incurred during wartime requisitioning and many refused to accept government grants which required opening their homes to public tours. Going into service was also a much less popular choice for young people, and maintaining large houses became increasingly less feasible with reduced staff.

What’s next for Gin, Sidney, and the Rook? 

I was really interested in lingering class division in The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies, but book two explores the dynamics of a disparate group of people with a niche obsession that brings them together. There are new faces, new shenanigans, and new corners of Oxford to explore!

Will you be picking up The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies? Tell us in the comments below!

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