Hannah Dennison

British born, Hannah Dennison originally moved to Los Angeles to pursue screenwriting. She has been an obituary reporter, antique dealer, private jet flight attendant and Hollywood story analyst. Now living in Portland, Oregon, Dennison continues to teach mystery writing at UCLA Extension and still works for a west coast advertising agency. She writes the Honeychurch Hall Mysteries (Minotaur) and the Vicky Hill Mysteries (Constable Crime) both set in the wilds of the English countryside.

Dennison's new novel is Deadly Desires at Honeychurch Hall.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Her reply:

Like most writers, I started off as an avid reader. I still read a lot—not as much as I’d like to but I do get a chance on my bi-weekly commute from Portland, Oregon to Los Angeles, California.

Usually I have two or three books I’m reading all at the same time. I read mysteries and thrillers for plane journeys and commuting and non-fiction at bedtime (because I can just about manage a half-dozen pages before I fall asleep).

I’ve just finished Catherine Aird’s “forgotten novel” called A Most Contagious Game. Catherine Aird is better known as the author of the Inspector Sloan series so discovering this stand-alone—first published in 1967 and re-printed by Rue Morgue Press—was a real treat. It’s right up my alley since the plot focuses on the secrets of a Tudor manor house and it’s occupants throughout the centuries in rural England.

On my night table I have Todd Gray’s Remarkable Women of Devon, bought for me by my eighty-five year old mother who attended Todd Gray’s lecture at her monthly Women’s Institute meeting in Diptford, England. Since both my series—the Honeychurch Hall Mysteries and the Vicky Hill Mysteries—are set in Devon, the stories of these little known women fascinate me. From Dr. Mabel Ramsay “Medical Doctor, Suffragette and Soroptimist,” to the Misses Skinners and their “Hotel of Rest for Women in Business, 1878 to 1971.” Of course Agatha Christie does get a mention! One of the things I love most about delving into history is that it tends to put the present in perspective.

Visit Hannah Dennison's website and Facebook page.

The Page 69 Test: Murder at Honeychurch Hall.

My Book, The Movie: Murder at Honeychurch Hall.

--Marshal Zeringue