The legacy of Bow Street Runners

Donna Hatch
MYSTERY AND INTRIGUE OF BOW STREET Next to Robin Hood’s Merry Men, few other groups inspire images of mystery and intrigue quite as well as Bow Street Runners. They were a unique and unprecedented fighting force that paved the way for London’s modern police, Scotland Yard. They are also no longer in existence, and very little is actually known about them. Hence the mystery. And the tragedy. A LITTLE HISTORY Before the Magistrate of Bow…

London Rookeries

Donna Hatch
During the late 1700’s London experienced a population explosion, and these newcomers—mostly working class—needed places to live. Unscrupulous landlords rented out rooms in medieval buildings. These areas became knowns as “Rookeries” and they were the very vilest of London slums. Entire families crammed into single rooms with little to no ventilation because windows were taxed, so they were removed or boarded up. Since candles were expensive, many of these families lived in perpetual darkness. The…

Regency Duels, Affaires of Honor

Donna Hatch
In England, dueling was part of a long-standing code of honor, far beyond mere tradition. Gentlemen took their dueling very seriously; they would rather die than be dishonored. Today, we’d call it misplaced pride, or an overdeveloped sense of vengeance, or really stupid, but hey, that was a different world with a different set of rules. And yeah, I’m extremely grateful the men we love don’t settle their differences like this. By the Regency Era,…

19th Century Firearms

Donna Hatch
Sometimes, staying true to the Regency era can create some problems, yet further research almost always provides fun answers. While writing my Regency Romance, The Guise of a Gentleman, my Regency lady grabbed her gun and faced down a group of bad guys. I knew if she were to defend the man and boy in danger, she’d only be able to get off one shot because of the time and difficulty reloading guns in that…

Book giveaway

Donna Hatch
***GIVEAWAY CLOSED**** THE WINNERS: Julie won A Perfect Secret and Jerika and Rebecca won The Suspect’s Daughter.  CONGRATULATIONS! Thank you to everyone who entered. It’s giveaway time! I am giving away 2 PROOF paperback copies of The Suspect’s Daughter, book 4 of the Rogue Hearts series. If you have not yet read any of my other books, don’t worry–you don’t have to have read them first in order to understand this book. It’s written as…