I’ve been reading about—and obsessed with—Tudor England since I was 14. Let me make this clear, though: I don’t generally read fiction about the Tudors. There’s really no need to, since the Tudors had more than enough drama than most novels could deliver.   My bookcase is filled with Tudor biographies, which made it difficult to choose only five for this list. But these, in particular, were instrumental in writing AN INCONVENIENT WIFE.   Catherine of Aragon: The Spanish Queen of Henry VIII by Giles Tremlett. Catherine, daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, was Henry’s first wife. She came to England to marry his brother Arthur, who was supposed to be king of England when his father Henry VII died. But Arthur died first, leaving 17-year-old Catherine a widow in a foreign country. When Henry VIII became king, one of the first things he did was marry his brother’s widow, and they were happy for years until the infamous Anne Boleyn turned Henry’s head—changing England’s history forever. Tremlett’s biography, the first full biography in decades, reads like a novel.   Young and Damned and Fair: The Life of Catherine Howard, Fifth Wife of Henry VIII by Gareth Russell. Catherine…

My fourth Annie Seymour mystery, SHOT GIRL, came out on Election Day. So far, reviews and comments from readers have been good. All are saying it’s the best in the series. It was the hardest one to write. I decided to do something different with SHOT GIRL. With each book, I embrace a different style. My first book was a traditional mystery, the second is what I call my Mafia book, and the third is much more fast paced and thriller like. In SHOT GIRL, Annie is an unreliable narrator. I had a friend express surprise that I would do this in the fourth — and last — book in the series. Wasn’t it a risk? she asked. Sure it was, but I wanted to see if I could do it, if I could pull it off. When I’d started writing the book, I’d just finished reading Scott Turow‘s PRESUMED INNOCENT, in which he masterfully portrayed an unreliable narrator. Could I do that with Annie? I thought. It was worth a shot. My goal was to have the reader ask throughout the book: Is Annie telling me the truth? What is she keeping secret? I know she’s not telling me…