I want to say that I was firmly committed to creating a lesbian protagonist for my historic homes series, but to be honest, it was a case of my character overruling me, as was her right. As Stephen King wrote, “A good novelist does not lead his characters, he follows them.” I had planned for 30-year-old architect Wren Fontaine to begin a tentative romance with a man, an associate of her client’s. I put their meeting down on the page—and nothing happened. They didn’t connect. I shrugged and kept writing, planning to come back to it later. In the next chapter, Wren met her client’s female cousin—and that’s when sparks flew. The scene practically wrote itself. I didn’t see it coming—Wren knew before I did.
Fictional gay detectives have been around at least since 1970, when same-sex activity was still illegal in most of the U.S. A lot has changed since then: Wren comes from a long lineage. Today, I get questions and comments about Wren and her girlfriend Hadley, but none of them have revolved around their orientation. Sadly, homophobia still exists, but it was interesting to note how little commentary the fact of their relationship has generated from readers or reviewers. Most of them seem to simply look at Wren and Hadley as a love affair they will watch grow from book to book.
I’ve enjoyed developing Wren and Hadley. Or, more accurately, watching them develop. Their third mystery, “The Cadieux Murders,” came out in 2024. Wren is logical and introverted, happiest when working on the historic homes she renovates as an architect. Hadley is intuitive and extroverted, a chef/event planner who fits right in with the lively dinners and parties she organizes. They complement each other wonderfully. Ironically, they may be the most conventional couple I’ve ever written about. But again, it’s a matter of choosing what is right for them as individuals and as a couple, rather than meeting society’s expectations.
Indeed, Wren and Hadley have encouraged me to think about all kinds of relationships, which is exciting for me as a writer. I now see multiple ways to be a couple: In The Turnbull Murders, Wren must contemplate the romantic life of her long-widowed father. He has made an effort to understand her romantic choices—but can she understand his? And in her first outing, The Greenleaf Murders, Wren struggles with her growing feelings for Hadley, while contemplating the murky Gilded Age couplings that once existed in a great New York City mansion she is renovating. More than a century ago, men and women worked to forge relationships and succeeded—or failed—just as Wren will.
“I don’t understand all this,” Wren complains to her new girlfriend about Gilded Age bed-hopping.
“What can I tell you?” says the more worldly Hadley. “Straight people are strange.”