When American author, Frances Powell made a recent visit to the UK she called into the Ross Gazette office. Frances first visited Ross 25 years ago and has made frequent visits since, and the town is the inspiration for her page-turning mystery, ‘Lady of the Wye’, a gripping tale of murder and intrigue set in the Wye Valley.

Frances fell in love with the area during her first visit, and after re-marrying and moving to England with her British husband, visited the area regularly.

Although Frances, and her husband, moved back to live in the States she has kept in touch with events in the market town by reading copies of the Ross Gazette.

When she returned to Britain with her husband to visit relatives two year’s ago, they visited Ross. At the time Frances was researching her sixth mystery and had decided to set it in the town of which she had grown so fond.

During her stay she visited Wilton Castle, and a walk around the grounds was the final inspiration she needed for her latest book, ‘’The Lady of the Wye’.

Her main character is Scottish-born Chief Inspector Cam Fergus who accepts a transfer from the Met to Ross to wind down his career.

He believes that the sleepy market town will be the perfect place to escape the crimes that he has dealt with daily in London. Everything seems to be idyllic, until a lazy summer afternoon when the Lady of the Wye surfaced. Although everything points to suicide, Cam’s instincts tell him that things just don’t add-up. When evidence indicating foul play is found at Wilton Castle, the case quickly develops into a murder investigation. As victims begin to pile up, Cam races against time to find the identity of the killer before more innocent lives are lost.

After Frances received a copy of the Ross Gazette, which included an article about her novel, she read about Rosemary Rigby, who helps run the lending library at the former telephone box in Wormelow. She sent a copy of The Lady of the Wye to Rosemary Rigby to be placed in the library.

As well as visiting the Ross Gazette at the beginning of May, Frances also met Rosemary and donated more of her books to the library.

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