Y.S. Lee is the author of the Mary Quinn historical mystery series. The books skilfully blend historical detail, feminism, mystery, romance, and more. Needless to say, I’m quite the fan. So I was pleased to be able to interview Ying and ask some of my burning questions.

I know you have a PhD in Victorian Literature and Culture, but how did you become interested in the era in the first place? What is its primary appeal to you?
I am, first and foremost, a sucker for its fiction: Charles Dickens, George Eliot, the Brontës. But as a student, the more I learned about the period, the more I became entranced by its many contradictions. It’s an era we feel confident stereotyping (repressed, rigid, stuffy, blah blah blah), yet there are dozens of exceptions to each rule. And it’s a time of immense social and technological change, when people often felt that the world was really coming unmoored. You know how people now like to talk about our fast-paced society, how technology has never changed so rapidly, how our lives are moving at light speed? That’s exactly how the Victorians felt, too.

The Victorian era lasted for so long, why set The Agency books specifically in 1858-1860 (so far)?
It was really hard to narrow it down. But (you guessed it, in Q3!) when I read anecdotes about the Great Stink of 1858, I knew I had my setting. What’s not to love about a perfect storm of mega-pollution, heat wave, and the great public health panic of urban London?

If it has anything to do with the Great Stink, is this why you made James an engineer?
In part, yes; engineers are so useful. I also chose a professional background because I wanted James to be smart and quite well-educated, but simultaneously struggling to define himself and make his own way. He’s worlds away from Mary’s background, but not light years.

Anyway, the Victorian period seems to be *cough* fertile ground for mysteries. (I feel like I should be making some kind of night soil comment here…) Is there something about the period that makes it so conducive to mysteries? (Wilkie Collins, Conan Doyle, Jack the Ripper, et al.? Scotland Yard? Something else?)
Well, there are all the social contradictions and complications I mentioned in the first answer, which are so useful when building labyrinthine plots. It’s also the period in which the modern mystery novel was born. You mentioned Wilkie Collins, in your question. He and his good friend Charles Dickens invented the genre, between them! Also, I love night soil jokes. You deserve a prize just for musing about one.

Ooh, a prize!

One of the things I like best about your books is how you balance feminist elements without making Mary seem too modern, as well as the historical detail that doesn’t overwhelm or slow down the story. How do you go about trying to achieve this balance?
Thank you so much! I hope this answer doesn’t make you roll your eyes, but I don’t consciously know how I do it. I work hard to make Mary’s thoughts and actions historically realistic, although her stance is far from mainstream. Even so, she’s definitely a part of her culture – just a politically radical part. As for the historical detail, it’s already there in my head. Imagine stepping into a room and noticing the furniture – that’s kind of what I do, when I’m noting period details.

How much planning/pre-plotting do you do, both in terms of