Aspects of History

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The past is never dead, it isn’t even past

Karen Haden

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Biography

Karen Haden’s Alexander Baxby historical mystery series is set during the Tudor and Stewart years with their rich mix of domestic and foreign threats, when the printing press was still changing the ‘landscape’ as the internet and social media are now. Reflecting the broad nature of her earlier career, her writing includes the perspectives of ordinary people not just those at court.

In her debut crime thriller Paying in Blood ambitious young Baxby welcomes the opportunity to train as a physician in the city of Lincoln, hoping this will enable him to escape the clutches of his secretive patron Geoffrey. However, Baxby is drawn into a murky world of political/religious intrigue and espionage, after vowing to discover the truth about the suspicious death of his friend’s wife.

Paying in Blood was published by Sharpe Books in March 2024. The second Alexander Baxby mystery is scheduled for May 2025, in which the physician’s hopes of starting his life afresh in Amsterdam, free from Geoffrey and the Church’s control, are dashed when the body of a young Englishman is found in the River Amstel.

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Karen Haden left a career in consulting, including fifteen years with UK intelligence and cyber security agencies, to write historical novels about secrets, spies and evolving security threats rather than dealing with them in the office.

Born and raised in Portsmouth, she was immersed in history from a young age through family connections with the historic dockyard. Like her father she studied engineering, then performed a number of technical roles before settling into business analysis consultancy.

Working on top secret security programmes brought contact with a wide range of people, from those filling ministerial red boxes to those guarding the gates. Whilst volunteering as a prison chaplain she also met female perpetrators and victims of crime.

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Books

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A Burning Sea
A Burning Sea

Articles

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Who Tells the Story?

Who Tells the Story?

Who Tells the Story?In August 1999 Cornwall experienced a total eclipse of the sun on a cloudy day. Positioned along the south coast, BBC and other journalists reported the national disappointment. Locals and tourists on the north coast had a wonderful view, including perfect Baily’s Beads,
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Naming the Dead

Naming the Dead

My second Alexander Baxby novel Naming the Dead is an exciting tale of murder, mystery and suspense, set against the colourful backdrop of early seventeenth century Amsterdam. Political and religious intrigue are closely entwined, as in the first book Paying in Blood. Alongside Baxby’s ...
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The Succession of King James: A Robert Cecil Masterclass

The Succession of King James: A Robert Cecil Masterclass

The Succession of King JamesRecently, some have suggested that Scottish King James stole the English throne after Queen Elizabeth's death in 1603. Although it is impossible to prove Elizabeth really named him as her successor on her death bed, as is usually claimed, that does not mean he ...
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Author Interview

Karen Haden
Karen Haden, what first attracted you to the period in which you write, and historical fiction in general?Having previously worked as a consultant for intelligence and cyber security agencies, I was drawn to the Tudor and Stewart years, with their complex mix of domestic and foreign threats, when the printing press was changing the ‘landscape’, as the internet and social ...
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Karen Haden on Naming the Dead

Karen, congratulations on your new novel, Naming the Dead. How has the story moved on from the first in the series, Paying in Blood?

It is exciting to release my second Alexander Baxby mystery, set in Amsterdam during the so-called Dutch ...

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