Read the Kirkus Review of 'Lies Agreed Upon'

Kirkus, a trusted authority in book discovery since 1933, has posted a review of my self-published debut mystery, Lies Agreed Upon, and it's a generally positive assessment of my Indie effort. Quoting from the review: "Sharma portrays New Orleans as beautiful, corrupt, complicated, secretive and tragic—far more than just an atmospheric backdrop for Tess’ genealogical investigations. She skillfully shows how the family betrayals, murders, lies and vengeance Tess uncovers are inextricably linked with New Orleans’ history, racial and sexual politics, and geography. The author handles dialogue (and dialect) well, which gives vitality to her large, varied cast, and she depicts Tess herself [my protagonist] as likable, enterprising and sympathetic." There is criticism for the extra effort required to follow the "complicated family relationships," even with the family tree supplied for reference (which unfortunately doesn't render as well in e-readers). That's something some readers have also noted in their review posts on Amazon and Goodreads. But the Kirkus reviewer still concludes, as do most Goodreads and Amazon review posts, "That said, Sharma paces the novel well, gradually unfolding layers of mystery until the final truth is revealed." The novel is summed up as "an often engaging New Orleans mystery with romantic and humorous touches." To address the one recurring point of criticism, I am mulling whether to scatter excerpts of the family tree at strategic points in the book. Would it overemphasize genealogy and drag at pacing further, or would it help? What do you think, readers? For the full review, go to https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/katherine-d-sharma/lies-agreed-upon/

The Work of Creating Believable Fictional Places

The action in Lies Agreed Upon plays out against both fictional and real settings, and I tried to make the fictional environments as descriptively believable as the actual backdrop of historic New Orleans. In fact, it requires more research to successfully describe imaginary places as it does to describe real locations. To create a fictional place, I first look for historical models in my research reading. I also browse the Internet for tourist descriptions, local memoirs and news stories of similar places. I study photographs of sites that fit with the age, style, scenery and location. I look to my own experiences where appropriate. For example, in Lies Agreed Upon, the Lost Lady Restaurant does not exist. So I drew on dining experiences in the converted buildings of other old farms, plantations and inns, and I found descriptions of real-life Louisiana restaurants housed in old plantation outbuildings to use as models. Right now, I am researching for my next mystery set in Northern Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C. I must create a believable neighborhood, with look, history and demographics that fit with both local reality and the grimmer turns of my plot. I spent my teen years in this area and still visit my father there, so I can draw on memory and recent observations, but the final environment will be a composite of lots of research, imagination and a few experiences -- including some surprisingly dark ones for sunny suburbia!

A Basic Inspiration for Lies Agreed Upon

People have asked me what gave me the idea for the story of Lies Agreed Upon and why I chose a New Orleans setting. Like Tess, the main character in Lies Agreed Upon, I first encountered New Orleans as a tourist. In my visits to the city, I loved its historic architecture, its culture and, of course, its rich culinary heritage. But I chose New Orleans as the setting for a mystery about an inheritance and a family feud because of a real event in my own family. My maternal grandparents came from Louisiana, but I knew little about them except that they had once been well-to-do landowners and businesspeople. One day my mother and her siblings, who had grown up in very modest circumstances in Texas, were surprised to learn of inherited land near New Orleans. A legal dispute over ownership ensued between my mother's family and relatives still living in Louisiana. Eventually, the Louisiana courts ruled that the property belonged to all descendants of the original owner: a Spanish immigrant who arrived in Louisiana in 1838, like Antonio Cabrera in the novel. None of his many heirs benefited from the disputed property as far as I know. The life stories of the real people in my maternal family tree bear no resemblance to the events in my novel, but the surprise inheritance, its hidden history and its family feud inspired my mystery tale. For more detail, see my website at www.authorkatherinesharma.com.