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| Deanna Raybourn (Holly Virginia Photography) |
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Deanna Raybourn is the New York Times bestselling author of the Lady Julia Grey and Veronica Speedwell historical novels, as well as the contemporary thriller Killers of a Certain Age, featuring four female assassins. Raybourn is a sixth-generation native Texan who makes her home in Virginia. Her work has been nominated for numerous awards, including the Edgar, the Macavity, and the Agatha. Kills Well with Others, the sequel to Killers of a Certain Age, will be published by Berkley on March 11, 2025.
Did you set out to write a series when you wrote Killers of a Certain Age?
Whenever I write a new book, I always like to develop characters that readers might want to see more of. I knew the plot of Killers of a Certain Age was going to end in a particular way, but I also knew that if readers wanted a sequel, I would have to leave the characters in situations where I could easily retrieve them. (No killing off any of my four main characters, for instance.) It was always my hope I'd get to visit their world again, and I was delighted when I got the green light to go ahead.
While writing Kills Well with Others, did your characters develop in surprising ways that you hadn't considered, or planned, in the first book?
I set them up in the first book to have very specific conflicts, both within themselves and with each other. Some of those were resolved in book one, but I had to decide which needed to carry over into the second book and how to develop them in ways that would feel fresh and authentic for who they are. I couldn't suddenly make Billie a domestic homebody who is annoyed at having to leave the island paradise I'd given her. Readers know that's just not who she is, so instead I gave her a motivation that works with the Billie that readers met in book one. I think one of the things readers look for most in a sequel or a series is a sense of continuity, a familiarity with characters they've grown to love--or at least have grown interested in seeing more of. It's always a delicate tightrope walk to bring a character back for further adventures because you want readers to find something expected in them, but you also want to offer them a few new surprises to keep things interesting.
Do you prefer to write a more self-contained story or is there the temptation to add cliffhangers between books in the series?
I always want to write a book that is self-contained but that leaves the door open for more. Cliffhangers are a little unfair to the reader, I think. People pick up a book expecting a complete story, and then they're left dangling. I like to wrap things up a little more neatly than that. But I also think it's great fun to leave a hint or two that there may be things left for these characters to do. I prefer a "happily for now" to a "happily ever after," but the bad guys usually get what was coming to them and the heroes have a chance to rest and know they did what needed doing.
There are several great flashbacks in this book that provide insight into these beloved characters. Have you ever considered writing a prequel?
I think it would be great fun to write a book that is a full prequel--something set in the early days of their work together when they're still finding their way as individuals and as a team. Maybe with some flashforwards!
Are there any real-life assassins or spies who have influenced the development of your characters?
When I started working on Killers of a Certain Age, I initially tried to limit my research to female assassins, and that took about half an hour. There are just so few female assassins in history, at least the ones we know about. So, I had to open it up and start reading memoirs of women who engaged in espionage since spycraft isn't a million miles removed from what my characters do.
I read accounts of women involved in the SOE--the Special Operations Executive, an arm of British intelligence in World War II. They recruited a number of highly skilled women and some of those stories are only just now beginning to surface. I also read memoirs of more recent agents in MI-6 as well as the CIA for a bit of background, and the thing they all seemed to have in common with my characters is a matter-of-factness about what they do. We tend to think of spying as a highly glamorous occupation--all Aston Martins and dry martinis. But for the people actually doing the work, it's far more often about routine surveillance and research than rappelling down skyscrapers or going undercover at a masquerade ball. It is foremost and forever a job to them. They are, above all, pragmatic.
There are some wonderfully clever, and scientifically detailed, assassinations in your book. Where did your inspiration come from and how did you research the forensics?
I knew my characters were going to be without their usual resources--the cutting-edge laboratories and sophisticated weapons--since they were on the run. I needed them to be able to kill their targets with what they had on hand. I already knew a little about poisons from writing my Victorian mysteries, and there are literally thousands of lethal things you can buy at the drugstore or openly carry across borders without anyone raising an eyebrow. And some things, like knitting needles or cigarettes, I repurposed because I love the juxtaposition of a really mundane item with an unexpected murder.
The assassins are all exceptional, with such fun and intriguing personalities. Is there one with whom you most closely identify?
I adore all of my killers, but I have a particular soft spot for Billie, probably because she's my viewpoint character. I made her a Texan in homage to the long line of strong, stubborn women I come from, and I gave her the same name as my favorite great aunt. They don't have anything in common besides the name and the fact that they are survivors, but it seemed fitting.
Your stories are set in beautiful locales around the world. Do you use that opportunity to travel or do you seek inspiration and details from other sources?
I love to travel to a location when I'm able, but if I can't I start with the Internet. There's probably not a square inch on earth you can't find on a YouTube video. I will grab an armful of library books on a country--history, geography, botany. And I will try to find memoirs written by people who lived in the area as children. Kids have a unique perspective on their environment, and they will often have extremely detailed and unique memories of a setting. In the case of Kills Well with Others, I was lucky enough to go to Venice and I wandered around taking tons of pictures and notes, working out scenes as I explored. When I went to write those scenes, it was absolutely magical because I knew exactly how it felt, how it smelled, what it sounded like. --Grace Rajendran, freelance book reviewer