Interview with Chris Karlsen, Author of Silk

Chris is a Chicago native. Her family moved to Los Angeles when she was in her late teens where she later studied at UCLA. She graduated with a Business Degree. Her father was a history professor and her mother a voracious reader. She grew up with a love of history and books.

Her parents were also passionate about traveling and passed their passion onto Chris. Once bitten with the travel bug, Chris spent most of her adult life visiting the places she'd read about and that fascinated her. She's had the good fortune to travel Europe extensively, the Near East, and North Africa, in addition to most of the United States.

After college, Chris spent the next twenty-five years in law enforcement with two agencies. Harboring a strong desire to write since her teens, upon retiring from police work, Chris decided to pursue her writing career. She currently writes three different series. Her historical romance series is called, Knights in Time. Her romantic thriller series is Dangerous Waters, and he latest book, Silk, is book one in her mystery/suspense series, The Bloodstone series.

She currently lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and five wild and crazy rescue dogs.

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Did you like thrillers and suspense novels when you were growing up?

Yes, I read and still read a variety of genres.

What was the first story in that genre that you wrote?

Silk is the first true thriller/suspense. I have two books that are romantic thrillers but Silk is not a romance of any kind.

What is your favorite part of writing in this genre?

I really enjoyed writing the protagonist. I knew everything about him before I typed a word. I had fun building his world. I also enjoyed getting into the mind of the killer and seeing things from his POV.

What do you find most difficult about writing in this genre?

It wasn't so much writing the genre as writing an investigation in this time period (Victorian London). I had to have my detective solve the murders without the benefit of forensic science. This was just before fingerprint analysis even.

Is there an author in this genre that you admire most?

Yes, Michael Connelly. I love his Harry Bosch.

What is up next for you?

Right now, I'm working on book 4 in my Knights in Time series. Those are historical romances. Then, I'm starting book two in the Bloodstone Silk is from.

Do you have anything to add?

There are several excellent thriller/suspense writers I admire. I didn't want to write a contemporary investigator though. I like writing different time periods and thought Victorian London had a great atmosphere for a classic suspense. I look forward to doing more. It's a fun period for this genre.

London-Fall, 1888

The city is in a panic as Jack the Ripper continues his murderous spree. While the Whitechapel police struggle to find him, Detective Inspector Rudyard Bloodstone and his partner are working feverishly to find their own serial killer. The British Museum's beautiful gardens have become a killing ground for young women strangled as they stroll through.

Their investigation has them brushing up against Viscount Everhard, a powerful member of the House of Lords, and a friend to Queen Victoria. When the circumstantial evidence points to him as a suspect, Rudyard must deal with the political blowback, and knows if they are going to go after the viscount, they'd better be right and have proof.

As the body count grows and the public clamor for the detectives to do more, inter-department rivalries complicate the already difficult case.

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