What is the title of your latest release?
THE LADY ON ESPLANADE
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
In this third book in the New Orleans-set Royal Street series (note: each book is written so that they could be read out of order but why would you want to?), Nola Trenholm (a recent transplant from Charleston, SC) is settling into her new life in the Big Easy, and starting a new venture of flipping murder houses with business partner/nemesis and psychic, Beau Ryan. Between the ominous presence in the house they are renovating and the haunting mystery of Beau’s parents’ disappearance in Hurricane Katrina, Nola and Beau must untangle the tragedy that occurred in the house they’re working on and decipher the message Beau’s mother is trying to convey before it’s too late and the truth catches up to them with dangerous consequences.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
All my books are set in the South, but for this series, I needed Southern AND spooky. Since I went to college in New Orleans (Tulane), I was already familiar and head over heels in love with the city, so it was an easy choice.
Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
Absolutely. Nola is smart, funny, and far from perfect. And if she brings her best friend, Jolene, along with her, even better!
What are three words that describe your hero?
Stubborn, loyal, dedicated.
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
That even though Hurricane Katrina happened two decades ago, it still feels like an open wound to the people of New Orleans.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I edit as I draft. I’ve tried to do it the other way, but it’s mentally impossible for me.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Anything chocolate. Especially if it has sea salt and/or chunks of something yummy in it.
Describe your writing space/office!
I write mostly outside on my screened-in porch where I can listen to nature and get distracted by the birds visiting my 15 bird feeders.
Who is an author you admire?
Liane Moriarty. Despite her numerous books, she never repeats herself. Her characters are so real and three-dimensional, and their conflicts unique.
Is there a book that changed your life?
OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon. After reading the first 3 books in the series (the rest weren’t written yet), I had such a bad book hangover that I couldn’t pick up another book to read. In desperation, I opened up my computer and started writing my own book just to get over it. I only intended to write a few pages, thinking that’s all I needed, but I ended up writing an entire book. And that’s how it all started.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published). Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
It’s been so long that I don’t think I remember the actual call! It might have even been an email or an answering machine message. All I know is that I called my husband (who was in New York on business at the time) and asked if he was standing behind my future editor and forcing her to make the call!
What’s your favorite genre to read?
Domestic thrillers like GONE GIRL or THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN.
What’s your favorite movie?
GONE WITH THE WIND.
What is your favorite season?
Anything except winter. I’m allergic to the cold.
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
With friends and family—or maybe a trip. But cake must be involved.
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Love love LOVE the television show THE BEAR. The writing and the acting are superb, and I can’t wait for the next season.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Italian—especially in Italy.
What do you do when you have free time?
What’s free time?
What can readers expect from you next?
Book number four in the Royal Street series and another Southern fiction stand-alone. No pub dates as of yet but stay tuned!
THE LADY ON ESPLANADE by Karen White
Narrator: Sophie Amoss
A Novel
People and secrets from the past threaten to disrupt Nola Trenholm’s new life in New Orleans in the third novel of the Royal Street series by New York Times bestselling author Karen White.
Nola is ready to focus on starting over in the Big Easy. She wants to get back to work on the renovations of her Creole cottage, and she is eager to launch a new murder-house-flipping business with contractor, closet psychic, and part-time nemesis Beau Ryan. After a near-death ghostly encounter and the return of Beau’s missing sister, they are confident that the ghost of his mother can finally rest.
Nola believes the shotgun house on famed Esplanade Avenue is a prime fixer-upper for her first project. It may have been the site of a woman’s murder and the disappearance of an entire family, but the house will be perfect for new-to-town Cooper Ravenel—who happens to have caused Nola’s first heartbreak.
That’s the least of Nola’s worries, though. In addition to the elusive spirit of an angry young woman who accompanied Cooper to New Orleans, the house on Esplanade has its own ghosts, including one that is becoming increasingly dangerous as he tries to hide his dark secrets. And the wet footprints from the spirit of Beau’s mother have returned to let them know there is still unfinished business before she can rest. Spectral danger is headed toward them, and it’s up to Nola to convince Beau to help before it’s too late. . . .
Women’s Fiction | Mystery Private Eye [ Berkley, On Sale: November 4, 2025, Hardcover / e-Book / audiobook, ISBN: 9780593549490 / eISBN: 9780593549506 ]
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About Karen White
Karen White is the New York Times bestselling author of 28 books, including the Tradd Street series, Dreams of Falling, The Night the Lights Went Out, Flight Patterns, The Sound of Glass, A Long Time Gone, and The Time Between. She is the coauthor of All the Ways We Said Goodbye, The Glass Ocean and The Forgotten Room with New York Times bestselling authors Beatriz Williams and Lauren Willig. She grew up in London but now lives with her husband near Atlanta, Georgia.
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