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'I dreamed of seeing my book on the shelves'

Susie RackWest Midlands
News imageLucy Andrew A woman in a grey coat and colourful striped scarf stands next to bookshelves in a shop. She is wearing glasses and has long brown hair parted in the centre. She is smiling.Lucy Andrew
Debut novelist Lucy Andrew dreamed of seeing her book on shelves in her home city

"'This was my childhood bookshop, the place where I roamed in my teens and dreamed of seeing my book on the shelves. It feels amazing that this is now a reality."

Dr Lucy Andrew came up with the idea for a crime retelling of Jane Austen's Emma two decades ago when she was a Wolverhampton schoolgirl.

When her A-level English teacher asked her to write a piece of fan fiction, she reimagined one of the characters being involved in another's death.

"Clearly, it stuck with me as, over 20 years later, the idea has expanded into a published Austen murder mystery novel," she said.

Her debut novel, A Very Vexing Murder, the first of her Harriet Smith Investigates series, will be published on 5 March by Corvus.

She will launch it in Wolverhampton's Waterstones on 13 March.

"It's a dream come true to be celebrating my book launch in the city that introduced me to Jane Austen and taught me to write," Andrew said.

News imageLucy Andrew A woman holding up a blue paperback with A Very Vexing Murder written on the front. She has long brown hair and is smiling. She is wearing a blue and green patterned tunic. She is standing next to a black banner which says Wolves Lit Fest.Lucy Andrew
The author has appeared various times at Wolverhampton's Literature Festival

A former English Literature lecturer who led the degree course at the University Centre Shrewsbury (University of Chester), she is also co-organiser of the Society of Authors West Midlands group and regularly appears at the city's Literature Festival.

A launch event will take place for the novel at Penn Library on 20 March, a place where she volunteers and "holds a very dear place in my heart".

"I spent many hours there as a child, particularly in the school holidays, and it was where I picked up a copy of The Secret of Shadow Ranch—the book that began my Nancy Drew obsession and my desire to write and study detective fiction," she said.

Andrew also plans revisit her old secondary school, Wolverhampton Girls' High, to speak to the pupils about careers in the arts.

"In a climate where creative careers are not always valued, it's incredibly important to demonstrate to young people that there are creative career paths open to them and to demystify the world of writing and publishing," Andrew said.

"If it wasn't for the Girls' High, this book wouldn't exist."

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