It’s my privilege to introduce you to Hamish DeLuca – lawyer, runaway, devoted cousin, and burgeoning sleuth. Some of you may know him as the son of Ray & Jem DeLuca, if you have read of their adventures in Rachel McMillan’s Herringford & Watts Mysteries. 

Hamish’s journey begins in the first Van Buren & DeLuca Mystery, Murder at the Flamingo, a signed copy of which Hamish’s esteemed creator is gifting to one lucky winner (see the Rafflecoptor form below). For now, it’s over to Hamish himself in this fabulous Q&A!

******

Interview with Hamish DeLuca

Well, Hamish, you have got yourself in a bit of bother, have you not? How did you come to be caught up in a murder?

I ran away. Had a bit of a panic episode during my first real court case and needed to get away. My cousin Luca said I could stay with him while he opened his Flamingo Club in Scollay Square: Which is a really classy square in Boston –full of nightclubs. Opening Night and Regina grabs me from the dance floor because she’s found a dead girl. Of course our mystery starts long before that… it’s far more than a murder. Seems my cousin Luca is caught up in several things—which makes me caught up in them, too, I suppose.

Did you ever think you would be following in the footsteps of your mum with her penchant for solving crimes?

Absolutely not. I hold her on a bit of a pedestal.. I don’t think I am really that much like her. She’s so beautiful and poised and can fit into any social situation.  She is brilliant at solving crimes because everyone wants to be around her. She’s a bit of a magnet, see.  But, I am grateful that she taught me how to pick a lock with a paperclip and read me bits from M.C. Wheaton’s Guide to the Criminal and Commonplace.

Let me backtrack…you trained as a lawyer. Is that something you wanted to do, or felt you should do?

I felt that I needed to do something that would make my parents ( mostly my father ) trust that I could make them proud.  Despite all of my limitations and challenges.  I figured that the law would allow me to spend a lot of time in books.  I actually really liked articling and researching and the part of law that allows you to see a case from an unexpected angle or perspective. Now that I am in Boston, I am finding I am naturally appreciative for it because it helps me fight for people like Mrs. Leoni and her friends when they are taken advantage of. American law is, of course, quite different from my Canadian training; but I am catching up quickly.

Be honest now, what traits have you inherited from your mother? And any from your father?

I know I have my mother’s blue eyes and her dimple. But I think you want something different. My mother always wants to see the best in people and I think I do, too. I am too trusting sometimes.

My father? I am nothing like my father… I don’t want to be anything like…

That’s not true. I’m just projecting leftover feelings about a row we had that made me want to run to Boston. Maybe I’m too much like him?  Wonder what he’d think of that… I know for a fact we have two things in common: the moment I stepped into Boston I knew I had found home. Much like the story he told me constantly as a child about how when he saw the Toronto skyline from the deck of the boat that brought him there, he felt an affinity—an immediate connection. I also am learning that like my father I want to make sure that people who have no voice at all have some representation. That they are seen. He does this all the time as a reporter finding the stories in the “people whose life’s pages no one thinks of turning” (that’s one of his cleverer quotes). I want to make sure they are seen. That someone is turning their pages.  

What makes you happy, Hamish?

Lemon Cannoli. My bicycle. Playing chess with Nate Reis ( he works in the office next to Luca’s —he’s in housing and property development). A Red Sox game at Fenway with Luca. A night of dancing at the Palais Royale with Maisie Forth (she’s not my sweetheart or anything. We grew up together. More like a sister). Reggie. Reggie makes me happy. The way she wrinkles her nose so her freckles disappear.

Who is this young woman I hear you have taken a fancy to? What caught your eye?

She’s from a really high end background, of course. One of the New Haven Van Burens. Never heard of them in Canada; but they’re apparently quite the family of note in the States. Speaks with a clipped  glass voice like Katharine Hepburn or Clara Bow.  I love her voice. Yet she looks everyone she meets straight in the eye. She doesn’t duck her head or quiver. You could be the King of England or the kid from Mario’s Grocer in Quincy Market and she will look you straight in the eye and tell you what’s what. I love that about her.  She’s beautiful, too. Freckles and cranberry lips and big brown eyes.

You have a complex relationship with your cousin Luca Valeri. Tell us a little about your friendship growing up.

Luca never saw or cared if my hand shaking or I stuttered on a few words.  He just thought I was smart. He would come and suddenly the entire world opened up and it didn’t matter if we were seeing a Maple Leaf’s Baseball game or out for the night at the Palais Royale, he did all the social things: the talking and the paying and I just had to sit and let the world revolve around me. He’s like a suit of armour when you’re with him.

I know it’s challenging to talk about, but given the struggles you have managing your emotions and fears at times, how do you get through the hardest times?

The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  I imagine I am Quasimodo up in the bell tower and suddenly that’s all right.  Luca always helped— just by treating me as if I was a normal person.  I suppose that’s why he was the first person I called when I needed to get away. 

You ran away from home to Boston! What were your first impressions of the city? What do you love about it now?

I thought when I first arrived that it was full of a million stories and a million ghosts.  I love its history the most.  That people come to it to find a sense of freedom and liberty. After all, it was a cradle of liberty. It sparked a revolution.   I keep thinking if these brave men from Boston could spark a revolution that would change their history forever, maybe I can climb down from my bell tower for a little bit.

A little birdy told me your favourite book is Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. What appeals to you about that story in particular?

Ever since I was a little boy if I needed to hide away I would tuck into Notre Dame and imagine myself in Quasimodo’s bell tower with the gargoyles and saints guarding me.  The stone would protect me and no one outside could see that I was different.  There are long, vivid descriptions about the saints and the stone and Quasimodo’s bower and it feels like a safety blanket to me.  But even Quasimodo dares to love a beautiful Romany girl… maybe I thought that it was empowering in some way. Because he finally does step out of his bell tower— it is painful and he learns the truth about people he loves (perhaps blindly)—but he does step out…. Eventually…

What quote from the book speaks to you most?

“Spira. Spera.” It’s a short quote, eh? But it’s become my mantra.  It means “breathe, hope” in Latin. Most of my life sometimes seems to be about concentrating on my breathing, especially to make sure I don’t have an episode of nerves.

As you are quite the reader, what other novels do you recommend?

It’s not a novel but my friend Nate Reis has me reading these Action Comics. The latest volumes feature this reporter named Clark Kent (I know a lot about newspapers from my upbringing) who is gifted with superhuman powers. He can leap tall buildings and bullets don’t hit him. At first I thought this was rather ridiculous because bullets hit everyone…

Since throwing my hat in with Reggie to solve puzzles, I have taken to reading Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler and other gumshoe stories. My personal favourites are by Rex Stout. In them, Archie Goodwin, Nero Wolfe’s right hand man, frequents a club called the Flamingo and always orders a glass of milk instead of liquor. Preferring coke to spirits, I always find this kind of neat. I know more than a fair share of Sherlock Holmes stories thanks to my Aunt Merinda.

Everyone asks you about cannoli! I refuse to. What’s the best meal your mum makes for you?

My mom is a terrible cook. Truly. We always have a housekeeper because my mum burns toast and her oatmeal is always lumpy. But one thing she does do well is toast biscuits. She serves them with my Aunt Viola’s lemon jam. I’d much rather my father’s cooking. My great grandmother taught him and my aunt a lot about how to find their way around the kitchen.

What’s your biggest dream?

My biggest dream is Reggie. Before meeting her, I never knew that I could have a dream like Reggie. I certainly wouldn’t have allowed myself the luxury of a dream so perfect and marvellous and big. But now that I know her, I will never dream about anything else. She creeps in at the most unexpected moments. I close my eyes and she is there. I open them and she’s there the same.

Thanks Hamish! Have a great evening with your Reggie ~ I’m going to chat to Rachel now!

“Maybe it was time to land straight in the middle of the adventure…”

Hamish DeLuca has spent most of his life trying to hide the anxiety that appears at the most inopportune times — including during his first real court case as a new lawyer. Determined to rise above his father’s expectations, Hamish runs away to Boston where his cousin, Luca Valari, is opening a fashionable nightclub in Scollay Square.  When he meets his cousin’s “right hand man” Reggie, Hamish wonders if his dreams for a more normal life might be at hand.

Regina “Reggie” Van Buren, heir to a New Haven fortune, has fled fine china, small talk, and the man her parents expect her to marry. Determined to make a life as the self-sufficient city girl she’s seen in her favorite Jean Arthur and Katharine Hepburn pictures, Reggie runs away to Boston, where she finds an easy secretarial job with the suave Luca Valari. But as she and Hamish work together in Luca’s glittering world, they discover a darker side to the smashing Flamingo nightclub.

When a corpse is discovered at the Flamingo, Reggie and Hamish quickly learn there is a vast chasm between the haves and the have-nots in 1937 Boston—and that there’s an underworld that feeds on them both. As Hamish is forced to choose between his conscience and loyalty to his beloved cousin, the unlikely sleuthing duo work to expose a murder before the darkness destroys everything they’ve worked to build.

Interview with Rachel McMillan

Always a delight to have you visit Relz Reviewz, Rach! Thank you for talking Hamish into chatting with us 😉 I’d love to know a bit more about the inspiration behind this series.

Why Hamish?

A few years ago, if I wanted to write, I couldn’t: mentally or physically. I was on a long leave of absence from work, I was at the Psychiatry hospital at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto almost every day and I was at the mercy of several different medication and several different doses. My doctor changing the prescriptions and combinations. The tremor in my right hand was so bad I had to have massages in my upper arm and my stutter was so prevalent, I wished I could have just had laryngitis to avoid speaking to people. Fortunately, the right balance of medication was found and my amazing psychiatrist was able to get me back on track and I have been able to live a semi-normal life since. While I had suffered from panic and anxiety for most of my life, this was a dark and prolonged period and I promised myself through the shakes and nerves and really dark “Zombie Rachel” (as I called myself) days that when I got better I would use it for something. Hamish is my response to the challenge I gave myself.  He just happened to show up in my brain and heart with every symptom I had ever suffered from. And the timing was right. I think that it is important to spotlight heroes and heroines who lead us to greater empathy. I have had several messages from early readers saying that Hamish has helped them better empathize and listen and comprehend people in their lives or churches or communities that suffer from mental illness. But what, I hope, makes Hamish stand out is that yes he is bookish and vulnerable and flawed but he is endearing and as you say, smart. Hamish’s story is not the focus of an “issue” book. He has adventures, he strives to get the girl, he rips up the dance floor and eventually he recognizes that what he always thought was his greatest weakness is actually his greatest strength. He hopefully normalizes mental illness for readers. I love bookish and intelligent heroes because I feel their natural penchant for empathy leads to their cherishing the woman they fall for more. Perhaps because they feel they have to work extra hard and surmount so many obstacles and hurdles to win her hand.

What are Hamish and Reggie up to next?

Murder in the City of Liberty opens when Hamish’s country is at war. While America is still not involved in the conflict as far as fighting, its resonances are closely felt —especially in Boston’s vulnerable immigrant communities. Hamish has definitely inherited his father’s passion for social justice and Hamish and Reggie find themselves embroiled in not just one—but two cases of extreme, violent prejudice that mirrors the garish headlines from overseas. One hits so close to home for Hamish he ends up taking a drastic step that may sever him from Reggie forever.

For those of you who (like me) want romance in your fiction, I can guarantee I let my romantic nature fly in this one.  Not just the opportunity at romance for our two leads, but even for Nate Reis who is a personal favourite character of mine in the series.

Anything else you’d care to share?

If anyone has any questions at all about Hamish’s struggles, I hope they will find me on social media and ask me. I will give as honest an answer I can. I didn’t ascribe any symptom to Hamish that I hadn’t personally experienced so I am happy to try and shed a light on the challenges that make him a unique hero but also, hopefully, an example of a regular human who suffers from at times debilitating anxiety. I am very passionate and intentional about the conversation surrounding this series.

Love Hamish’s story and your story behind it, Rach – thanks for sharing!

Rachel McMillan is a history enthusiast, lifelong bibliophile, and author of the Herringford and Watts series. When not reading (or writing), Rachel can be found at the theater, traveling near and far, and watching far too many British miniseries. Rachel lives in Toronto where she works in educational publishing and is always planning her next trip to Boston. Facebook: RachKMc1; Twitter: @RachKMc; Instagram: RachKMc.

Relz Reviewz Extras
All Things McMillan @ Relz Reviewz
Website || Facebook || Twitter || Instagram
Buy from Amazon: Murder at the Flamingo or Koorong

a Rafflecopter giveaway