FICTION:DOG TALE Chihuahua of the BaskervillesEsri Allbritten (Minotaur Books)
Author Esri Allbritten has just released her first mystery novel, with a rather unique title: “Chihuahua of the Baskervilles.”
The name evokes images of Sherlock Holmes tromping across the moor with magnifying glass in hand. However, Allbritten’s book is not set on the moor of southwestern England, rather down the road in Manitou Springs. No one in the book has a British accent, though one character does speak with a Scottish brogue.
And sadly (if you are fond of hounds), there are none of Holmes’ hounds in this one. Chihuahuas do abound, however, even one that glows in the dark.
Allbritten was the winner of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ general fiction category in 2005, and though a serious writer for many years, she has had to support herself with an odd collection of jobs including one stint at the U.S. Potato Board and another producing homemade skin-care products. She has wide ranging interests which have been called up to develop the book’s plot and the somewhat off-kilter set of characters that wander through the title.
The book combines elements of the paranormal along with Victoriana, Chihuahua fashion design, a magazine struggling for its existence and a healthy dose of cynicism.
Q:Esri?
A: I was born Laura Lee Allbritten and I never really cared for it; it was kind of garbled off the tongue, you know? So when I was 30, I left the corporate world and got licensed in skin care. I said to myself, “I need more air and fire in my name.” So I went with Esri Firiel Allbritten and changed my name legally and called my little business Esri Firiel Skin Care, which was actually a very poor name because nobody knew how to pronounce it.
Q:Colorado native?
A: No, I was born in Missouri and we sort of bounced back and forth between Missouri and Florida because my grandmother lived with us when I was growing up, and she was always happiest in the last place she had been.
Q:When you write a mystery, do you have an idea of your characters, or do you just plunge?
A: I’m driven by plot. I don’t feel comfortable unless I feel I have something clever and reasonably mapped out. And once you put it in the hands of your characters, some of them are going to say, “This doesn’t suit me,” or you get into actual logistical things and realize that such and such won’t work.
Q: Do you like Chihuahuas?
A: People have a perception that Chihuahuas are mean and nasty, yappy little dogs. That used to be more the case than it is now. The breed has actually changed. They used to breed more for size, and now they breed for temperament.
I started to meet all these wonderful Chihuahuas. And I also put them in because dogs sell books. I have gotten to be great friends with a lot of people in the Chihuahua community. Most of them are certainly women, but since more women buy light, funny mysteries, that’s not a problem. The women in the Chihuahua community have parties for their Chihuahuas, and they dress them.
Q: Up until Paris Hilton, a Chihuahua fashion boutique might have sounded bizarre.
A: Women have dressed Chihuahuas up for a long time, and it’s one thing I like about that crowd of people: They do not take themselves seriously.
Q: Why in this digital age are so many still fascinated by the paranormal?
A: My mystery is triggered by a seemingly paranormal event. Interest in the paranormal always goes up when the economy is bad. People like the idea that they can tap into something that will take care of them or that will give them inside information, when they don’t have jobs or they feel self-esteem issues.Q:Let’s talk about Manitou Springs.
A: I’m so in love with that town. It has a historic house, the Miramont Castle, which was all built by volunteer labor. It has a tremendous sense of community; it’s not a big town, and people really know and support one another.
Q.There seem to be an almost unlimited number of haunted places in Colorado.
A: I think the real reason, and one that is about 70 percent true, is that people discovered it was a great marketing hook. A good way to get people to your restaurant is to say it’s haunted. People love ghost stories; they love monsters and stuff like that. I’m a very delicate soul and can’t watch scary movies. I can look around the world, I can find many truly terrifying things.
Q:While your book is different from “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” what about the original?
A: I read the “The Hound of the Baskervilles” at least once a year. I think Conan Doyle is a fantastic writer. He grew to hate his character Sherlock Holmes so much that he killed him off, and the public got so annoyed at that he had to bring him back.
“The Hound of the Baskervilles” has everything. It has tremendous characters and character development and people that you feel for because they have lots of flaws.
Q: You mentioned this is the first book in a series.
A: I am finishing up the second in the series right now. The next book is “Portrait of Doreene Gray,” and it has twins in it, because I love me a twin story.
Q:But no Chihuahuas?
A: Oh yeah, there is a Chihuahua.
