Blog tour : The Paris Affair by Susanne Dunlap

I am very pleased to welcome author Susanne Dunlap to my blog today with a guest post as part of the blog tour for her new book The Paris Affair, which is the third book in the Theresa Schurmann series.

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Hooray! It’s a Series!

This may not seem so exciting to many people, but I grew up reading Nancy Drew, the all-time-most-popular middle-grade mystery series. I think ever since then I’ve wanted to write a series of my own. But the world had other plans for me for a while.

When I was being published by the big 5 publishers back when the publishing world was a different place (2005–2012), it seemed my editors only wanted stand-alone historical novels. Even though I’d written the sequel to The Musician’s Daughter as my option book for Bloomsbury Children’s, my editor asked for something different. That’s when I wrote Anastasia’s Secret.

Don’t get me wrong—I’m extremely grateful for the six contracts I had for my adult and young-adult historical novels. But I’d written that first YA mystery with the intention of continuing a series, and readers asked me about it all the time.

A year ago, in a much-changed publishing landscape, I decided it was time to relaunch Theresa properly into the world. I dusted off, revised, and edited the manuscript of The Mozart Conspiracy and self-published it. All I wanted was for her to have a chance at being out there for readers.

I’d forgotten how much fun it was to be in feisty Theresa’s head. I poured my young musician self into her and relived the experiences of practicing and performing—piano, not violin. And I didn’t want to let her go. I wanted to stay in that world, and I hoped readers would too.

That led me to the idea for the next mystery in the series, and The Paris Affair came into being. OK, so it didn’t just appear like magic: I spent months writing and editing and crafting this book.

The result: I can now claim to have a series! That makes me ridiculously happy. I have no intention of leaving Theresa now. I already have an idea for her next adventure. The only difficulty is that she’s really almost an adult now, so I may have to hope my audience is willing to follow her into that new phase of life. I’m gratified that The Paris Affair has already had some wonderful reviews. I’m looking forward to hearing more from readers—and getting stuck in to writing the next book in the series!

ABOUT THE BOOK

THE PARIS AFFAIR
BY SUSANNE DUNLAP

Publication Date: September 30, 2020
Paperback & eBook; 244 pages

Series: Theresa Schurmann Mystery, Book 3
Genre: YA/Historical Fiction




Apparently, false rumors about Marie Antoinette are all the fashion in 1783.

Marie Antoinette is facing hostility from the populace, inflamed by rumors circulated in pamphlets throughout Paris. The rumors claim that she has dozens of lovers, drinks the blood of poor people, holds satanic masses at Versailles, and more, when nothing could be further from the truth. On the advice of the handsome, enigmatic Captain von Bauer, Joseph II–emperor of Austria and Marie Antoinette’s brother–decides that mystery-solving violinist Theresa Schurman is the ideal candidate for a spy to discover the source of these vile slanders.

Theresa is only too glad to get away from Vienna for a while, unwilling to commit herself yet to marrying Zoltan–a Hungarian baron she met when she was fifteen–and running out of reasons to postpone her decision. She is eager, too, to explore a new musical scene and broaden her artistic education. But when the captain confounds her expectations and places her as a bookkeeper in the establishment of Rose Bertin, milliner to the queen, she begins to lose hope that she will ever achieve her musical aims–or the emperor’s goal of exposing the pamphleteers.

A chance encounter with the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, an extraordinary black violinist and expert swordsman, sets Theresa on the path to unraveling the mystery. But will the chevalier’s patron, the powerful duc de Chartres, confound her efforts and put her–and the captain’s–lives in danger?

Be prepared for music, mystery, love, and murder in this riveting tale of pre-revolutionary Paris.

“The settings and situations are enchanting and varied; Dunlap is adept at on-the-fly description and at lacing intrigue with romance…Dunlap proves an arresting tour guide through this rich milieu, summoning up the past without slowing down the storytelling. Author and protagonist alike boast an epigrammatic wit. The touch is light, but the scenery and chatter are sumptuous…Theresa stands as a fascinating protagonist, a woman whose nimble navigation of society’s expectations and several burgeoning romances are exciting and inspiring, even more so than the sleuthing that drives the novel’s plot. The people she encounters are likewise memorable, complex, and surprising, especially the chevalier…This sparkling historical mystery conjures up the salons, fashion, and gossip of Marie Antoinette’s Paris, with a winning emphasis on the power of music and the roles that society allowed women.” – The BookLife Prize

AMAZON | BARNES AND NOBLE | INDIEBOUND

About the Author

Susanne Dunlap is the author of nine works of historical fiction. A graduate of Smith College with a PhD in Music History from Yale University, Susanne grew up in Buffalo, New York and has lived in London, Brooklyn and Northampton, MA. She now lives in Northampton with her long-time partner, Charles, has two grown daughters, three granddaughters, a grandson, a stepson and a stepdaughter, five step-grandsons and one step-granddaughter—that’s a total of four children and eleven grandchildren!

In her spare time she cycles in the beautiful Pioneer Valley.

For more information, please visit Susanne Dunlap’s website. You can follow author Susanne Dunlap on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Instagram, Pinterest, and BookBub.

Blog Tour Schedule

Wednesday, September 30
Excerpt at Coffee and Ink
Review at Little But Fierce Book Diary

Thursday, October 1
Review at Pursuing Stacie

Friday, October 2
Feature at I’m Into Books
Review at Gwendalyn’s Books

Monday, October 5
Review at Chicks, Rogues, and Scandals

Tuesday, October 6
Review at YA, It’s Lit

Wednesday, October 7
Review at Books and Zebras

Thursday, October 8
Excerpt at Turn The Page

Friday, October 9
Review & Excerpt at Bookworlder

Sunday, October 11
Review at Bitch Bookshelf

Monday, October 12
Review at Nursebookie

Tuesday, October 13
Review at Rajiv’s Reviews

Wednesday, October 14
Review at Book Bustle

Thursday, October 15
Guest Post at Novels Alive

Friday, October 16
Review at Passages to the Past
Guest post at The Intrepid Reader

Saturday, October 17
Review at Reading is My Remedy

Giveaway

During the Blog Tour, one lucky reader will win signed copies of all 3 books in the Theresa Schurmann Mystery series! To enter, please use the Gleam form below.

The giveaway is open to US residents only and ends on October 17th. You must be 18 or older to enter.

The Paris Affair

Direct Link: https://gleam.io/competitions/ezV8f-the-paris-affair