New mystery series to follow Imogene Durant through cities across the globe

In Victor & Me in Paris, the first in the new Imogene Durant Mystery series by Edmonton writer Janice MacDonald, retired academic Imogene Durant heads to Paris – with beloved French writer Victor Hugo as her guide – to read and to work on a followup to her notable book Fyodor & Me in Russia.

Imogene’s tranquility, however, is short-lived. Thanks to her police detective friend/neighbour, she becomes embroiled in a mystery surrounding disturbing discoveries in local hotels.

MacDonald is known for the Randy Craig Mystery series, which was set in Edmonton. The Imogene Durant series will be set in cities around the globe, a purposeful choice by MacDonald.

“When writing the last series,” she explains, “I used to get comments back about the locations that fell into three basic pots: a) ‘I didn’t realize Edmonton was so cool – I should visit’; b) ‘It’s so cool to be reading about a place I live in’; or c) ‘I’ve come to Edmonton having read your books and am using them as my tour guide. Can I buy you a drink at the High Level Diner?’

“And while that last category was much smaller,” she continues, “it got me thinking about the whole concept of reading something in situ. So, then I had to come up with a logic in which my character could do that, over and over. And incidentally help to solve crimes, because whenever I get stuck when writing, I tend to toss a dead body into the mix.”

MacDonald chose Paris as the first location in the series due to her personal connection with the city. “Paris was the promise that kept me sane through the initial alienation of the pandemic and lockdown,” she explains.

“I would walk to work where only one other person and I shared an entire office building floor, and visit with my excellent tiny pod of two people once or twice a week, and think to myself, ‘When things open up again, I am going to go to Paris, where I will be solitary by choice not circumstance.’ And Paris opened up her regal arms and embraced me.”

The Victor Hugo connection for MacDonald came about as a result of visiting the Victor Hugo Museum and seeing some of his first drafts and his made-to-order standing desk. This, she says, “really brought him to the forefront of my thoughts. I went off to reread him, and realized that all my earlier readings as a child, while in French, were actually expurgated versions. So, in a sense, I was reading him for the first time, even though I’d known the stories all my life.”

Readers can look forward to more Imogene Durant mysteries. According to MacDonald, Imogene is currently in Ireland, “working on her book and helping out an old pal from grad school whose daughter has landed herself in the midst of a murder investigation. After that she plans to head to Florence to reread Dante.”

MacDonald hopes after reading Victor & Me in Paris “that people fall in love with Imogene enough to go with her on some more adventures. She’s an intelligent, curious, sensual, intrepid older woman embarking on a whole new chapter when some people might be written off in epilogues.

“And of course, as always, I am hoping people realize what value there is in being a reader. It’s what Imogene brings to the table, and it’s always useful.”