DEATH AND A CROCODILE - Lisa E Betz - One Free Book

Bio: Lisa E. Betz worked as an engineer, substitute teacher, and play director before becoming an award-winning mystery writer. She brings her analytical mind, quirky humor, and positive outlook to all she writes. She draws inspiration from thirty-five years of leading Bible studies to create entertaining mysteries set in the world of the early church. 

Welcome, Lisa. What drew you to set a mystery in first-century Rome? My interest in ancient Roman culture stems from many years teaching Bible studies. I have tried to absorb as much as possible about the culture and history of the Roman Empire so I can bring the ancient world to life and make the Bible more relevant to modern Christians.

I chose the mid-first century because I couldn’t write a light-hearted story with a snarky main character that was set during the Great Fire of Rome, or the persecutions that came after that. I’ve chosen to set the novel during the reign of Emperor Claudius, which means the story takes place a dozen years before Paul first visits the city.

One of the challenges I faced when researching this time period is a lack of “inside information” about the earliest days of church history. Most of what we know about how the early Christian churches functioned comes from later periods, when persecution was a problem and the Christians had been forced to become selective about who they allowed into their fellowship.  I have imagined the church at this stage was open to curious visitors, and had not yet developed the lengthy catechisms that converts were required to complete in later centuries.

How much freedom did women have back then? Is it feasible for a female to be a sleuth in that period? The Roman Empire was very much a patriarchal society. That being said, women enjoyed more rights during the Roman Empire than they’ve been allowed in most of the centuries leading up to modern times. For example, women could inherit property, run businesses, initiate lawsuits, and divorce their husbands. A clever and determined woman like Livia could find ways to investigate a mystery, although she would encounter obstacles a male wouldn’t face.

I knew there would be limits to what a young female sleuth could do without ruining her reputation, so from the start I knew she would need male allies to collect information from places or persons inaccessible to her. She will be collecting those allies as the series progresses. 

I have taken my inspiration for Livia from a host of other female sleuths who solve crimes despite the constraints of their historical eras. A few examples include: Lindsey Davis’s Flavia Albia, Elizabeth Peter’s Amelia Peabody, Margaret Frazers’s Dame Frevisse, and Jane Finnis’s Aureila Marcella. (You might notice that two of the sleuths I mentioned also thwart crime during the Roman Empire. So Livia is in good company.)

What is the significance of the coin shown on the cover of the book? When my sleuth’s father is murdered, she finds an old coin on his body that has an image of a crocodile on one side. From the start she’s convinced it’s an important clue, although in the end it doesn’t turn out to mean what she thinks it does. Despite her incorrect assumptions, the coin leads her to important information and plays a part in the final solution.

This particular coin was minted in about 10 AD. The crocodile chained to a palm tree represents the conquest of Egypt, when Augustus defeated Cleopatra and Mark Antony. If Livia had been paying attention during history lessons, she could have told you it was the decisive victory that ended the civil war and allowed Augustus to become sole leader, which eventually led to him becoming emperor, thus ending the Roman Republic and starting the Roman Empire.

What kind of persecution does Livia face for her faith in Christ? At this time the Christian church was in it’s infancy. It was operating under the radar of the Roman government. When they noticed it at all, they thought it was a sect of Judaism, which meant the earliest Christians enjoyed the same religious freedoms that were granted to Jews.

Once the authorities realized Christianity was a new and separate religion things changed. At that point Christianity became a religio illicita, or an unauthorized religion, and therefore open to government persecution.

Due to the early date, Livia doesn’t face active persecution from the authorities. She does face disapproval from her parents and others. Her parents adhere to a strict notion of traditional and respectable behavior. They would interpret Livia’s adoption of any non-Roman religion as abandoning her heritage, which could bring dishonor to the family and risk the disfavor of the gods. They would insist she give up her new beliefs and ban her from visiting her Christian friends. To avoid this, she’d kept her faith a secret, but sooner or later she’s going to have to admit it and deal with the consequences.

One of the issues your heroine faces in the book is an arranged marriage. What could a woman of her day do about that? A marriage would typically be arranged between the girl’s father and the groom. According to Roman law, a father couldn’t force his daughter into a marriage if she didn’t consent to it, so theoretically a woman had a say in the matter. But I doubt many girls really had a choice. If a daughter defied her father’s wishes, she might face being disinherited or kicked from the house. Few women could afford to take that risk.

Livia understands the realities of her society. She daydreams about swaying her father’s choice, but she doesn’t really expect her father will listen to her. When her father dies before finalizing the betrothal, she thinks she’s been given a lucky break. Her brother will take over as her guardian and she’s confident she can talk him into letting her marry the suitor of her choice.

But then her brother is accused of murder and it looks like her uncle may gain control of the household. If he succeeds, he’ll force Livia to marry the husband of her worst nightmares. The rest of the story is Livia’s attempt to control her destiny by proving her brother is innocent so he can remain her guardian and protect her from her uncle’s schemes.

Many of your characters, including the sleuth and her sidekick, are misfits.  Explain your reasons behind this choice. I have never been good at fitting into the accepted mold of whatever group I was with. I guess that’s why I’ve always been drawn to stories that feature misfits and underdogs. I understand the pain of not being cool or popular, and I respect others (real or fictional) who are brave enough to overcome and succeed despite their underdog status.

Living with authenticity is one of my core beliefs. In my blog I encourage my readers to appreciate their true selves and risk revealing their real persona to the world. In my novels I intentionally include characters who don’t fit the conventional mold. Then I show the heroic or honorable qualities hiding inside these people whom others see as flawed or useless.

My heroine is a free spirit who flaunts convention more publicly than I would dare. She needed a sidekick that could keep up with her, so I gave her a streetwise maid who speaks when she should keep her moth shut and lacks the polish of a traditional lady’s maid. She’s the prefect servant for a woman who decides to investigate a murder without any idea how to go about it.

Have you tried any of the unusual ancient recipes you describe in the book? A few. I made a pork stew with raisin sauce that was quite delicious. Another thing I’ve experimented with is must cake.  In my book, must cake is a favorite of Livia’s aunt. Must is crushed grape pulp and juice, and was a common sweetener. The recipe I tried was adapted from Cato’s writings. It was fairly dense and strongly flavored with cumin, anise, and bay leaf, with only a hint of sweetness. I’m sure the ones Livia purchases at Pansa’s bakery for her aunt are sweeter, flakier, and more subtly flavored.

Roman cooking in the first century was very different from modern Italian cuisine. Many foods we associate with Italy, such as pasta with red sauce, polenta, and cappuccino were not available to the ancients. Tomatoes and corn, for example, are new world foods, which didn’t arrive in Europe until the sixteenth century. 

Also, ancient Romans favored certain herbs that are no longer typical, such as rue (very bitter and potentially poisonous) and sylphium, which they loved so much they ate it into extinction. Another popular flavoring was a salty sauce made from fermented fish called garum. They used is as a condiment and as a common ingredient in sauces and stews.

With ingredients like those, many of the recipes handed down to us by the ancients don’t sound very appealing. I’ll leave it to Livia and her friends to enjoy some of the odder recipes without me.

Is your sleuth anything like you? Yes and no. I don’t think I’m assertive enough or nosy enough to be a good sleuth. But I do enjoy solving challenging puzzles an I have an independent streak. Like Livia, I want to be appreciated for the real me, rather than pretending to fit somebody else’s mold. Plus, we’re both fond of cats and have strong opinions about food.

However, Livia is more determined and energetic than I am. I wanted a heroine who had both the smarts and the gumption to solve crimes even when the men around her were trying to make her stop. She also needed an outgoing personality so she could talk herself out of problems (when she chases after clues without considering the consequences) and into the houses of total strangers (when she needs to ask a few nosy questions).

Ultimately, she’s a combination of many women I have admired over the years who had boundless energy, a zest for life, and enough drive to make their goals come to pass no matter the odds. My grandmother is one of my role models for her.

You started your professional career as an engineer. How did you end up writing mystery novels? I wasn’t one of those kids who grew up dreaming about becoming an author. English was never my favorite class, or even my third-favorite. Throughout high school and college I focused on the analytical side of my brain, eventually majoring in mechanical engineering and taking a job at a manufacturing plant.

And yet, all along I was nurturing my creative side as well: reading tons of books, attending and participating in live theater, writing silly drama for my friends to perform. So you see, stories and storytelling were always a part of my life. I love math and science because they’re predictable and logical, but stories are what grab my full attention. Stories have the power to transport me away from my reality to another world.

Story’s power to transport me happens when I’m writing as well as when I’m reading a book or watching a movie. That’s what has captured my heart and sustained me through years of learning the craft of writing.

Where do you see this series going? I am hoping that Livia will be solving mysteries for many years. I have a novella and two additional mysteries plotted, with ideas for more. The second novel begins shortly after Livia is married. (You’ll have to read the end of book one to find out who her husband will be.)

As the second novel progresses, Livia and her husband slowly move from the wary mistrust of strangers to mutual respect. Neither entered marriage expecting to find love, but they will eventually get there. As the series develops, they’ll learn how to become a team when it comes to solving crimes.

What was your goal in writing this book? My primary goal was to create an entertaining story for readers who prefer novels that don’t include sex, violence, or swearing. However, I wasn’t interested in creating a typical Christian historical romance. I have always been drawn to books that were different than what everyone else was reading, and so I wanted to write a story that was a bit unusual. That’s how I ended up writing a mystery set in first-century Rome. It combines the intriguing setting of a far off time and place with the action and suspense of a mystery.

How can my blog readers find you on the Internet? https://lisaebetz.com/

Thank you, Lisa, for sharing your new novel with my blog readers and me. It sounds very interesting.

Readers, here’s a link to the book.

http://ow.ly/iUgS50Gg5R3

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