Palace of Justice: An Aristide Ravel Mystery

Susanne Alleyn

The granddaughter of children's author Lillie V. Albrecht (author of Deborah Remembers, The Spinning Wheel Secret, and three other historicals), Susanne Alleyn definitely doesn't write for children, unless, like her, they have found guillotines, high drama, and the French Revolution fascinating since the age of ten or so.

Susanne was born in Munich, Germany, and grew up in Massachusetts and New York City. After studying acting and singing, and earning a B.F.A. in theater from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Susanne eventually came to the conclusion that, as an actor, she was quite a good writer, and that sending out manuscripts to editors and agents was still easier on the nerves than going to auditions. (She can, nevertheless, still sing a high C when requested.) Having been unwholesomely fascinated by the French Revolution since she read the Classics Illustrated comic-book version of A Tale of Two Cities, she set out to write about it. Her debut novel, A Far Better Rest, a reimagining of A Tale of Two Cities (what else?) from the point of view of Sydney Carton, was published in 2000.

She had never considered writing mysteries, however, until she suddenly found herself creating a historical mystery plot suggested by an actual series of murders committed in Paris in the early 1800s. Police agent Aristide Ravel made his first appearance in Game of Patience and returned in A Treasury of Regrets, both set in Paris in the Directoire period of 1796-97.

The third mystery in the series, The Cavalier of the Apocalypse, a prequel set just before the Revolution, is now in bookstores. Susanne is currently working on the fourth Aristide Ravel novel and intends to cover the entire Revolutionary period in future novels if her publisher lets her. (Take that, Baroness Orczy!)

She is also the owner, manager, secretary, bookkeeper, shipping department, and janitor of the online bookstore Tricolor Books (link at right), specializing in out-of-print, rare, and academic books on French history. She would like to add that she speaks French very badly.

Susanne and her three cats live in Albany, NY.