Kate Ross
Katherine Ross, born in 1956, was a notable American author and trial lawyer who specialized in mystery novels set during the Regency period in England. Educated at Wellesley College and Yale Law School, she practiced law at Sullivan and Worcester in Boston before turning to writing. Ross is best known for her four mystery novels featuring Julian Kestrel, a young man navigating the upper echelons of Regency society. Kestrel, characterized by his impeccable behavior and attire, often finds himself embroiled in investigations that require both social finesse and a keen analytical mind.
Her debut novel, *Cut to the Quick*, introduces readers to Kestrel as he becomes an amateur sleuth amidst a tangled web of aristocratic relationships. Ross’s subsequent works, including *A Broken Vessel* and *Whom the Gods Love*, deepen Kestrel's involvement in criminal investigations, revealing both societal secrets and personal challenges. Her final novel, *The Devil in Music*, earned the Agatha Award for Best Mystery Novel in 1998, showcasing her exceptional understanding of the Regency era and her skillful storytelling. Despite her passing in 1998 after a battle with cancer, Ross's contributions to the mystery genre continue to be celebrated for their humor, intricate plots, and rich character development.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Kate Ross
Writer
- Born: 1956
- Died: March 12, 1998
- Place of death: Boston, Massachusetts
Biography
Katherine Ross was born in 1956. She was educated at Wellesley College and at the Yale Law School. After graduating from Yale, she became a trial lawyer for the law firm of Sullivan and Worcester in Boston. She lived in Brookline, Massachusetts. After a battle with cancer, she died on March 12, 1998.
Ross was the author of four mysteries set in England in the 1820’s, during the Regency period. The central character in all the novels is a young man-about-town, Julian Kestrel. While he does not possess a title, Kestrel’s lineage and his behavior are as impeccable as his apparel. As one of the bright lights of aristocratic Regency society, he has friends in the highest circles. If a murder takes place, Kestrel’s familiarity with his society makes it possible for him to pursue his investigations with the necessary tact. Should he need information from the criminal world, he can always rely on Dipper, a cockney lad whom Kestrel caught trying to pick his pocket and turned into his manservant.
In her first novel, Cut to the Quick, Ross shows how Kestrel becomes an amateur sleuth. Having agreed to be best man at the wedding of Hugh Fontclair, a young aristocrat who is being forced to marry the daughter of a money-lender, Kestrel goes to the Fontclairs’ country house in Cambridgeshire, where he meets an unwilling bride and two hostile families. When a dead woman turns up in his bed, both Kestrel and Dipper become prime suspects. Thus Kestrel is forced to turn his analytical talents to detective work.
In A Broken Vessel, Ross penetrates the London underworld. By chance, Dipper’s sister Sally Stokes, a prostitute, finds a letter in which a woman held prisoner begs for help. By the time Kestrel, Dipper, and Sally find the woman, it is too late. However, they can identify her, prove that she did not kill herself but was murdered, and expose the villains involved.
In Whom the Gods Love, Kestrel has become so well-known as an effective investigator that he is asked by a barrister to solve the murder of his son, a charming, law student. Working closely with a Bow Street Runner, Kestrel again exposes truths that members of his society are attempting to conceal.
Ross’s final book, The Devil in Music, is set in northern Italy, where the Austrians are using every possible means to defeat the rebel Bonapartist Carbonaris. When he is drawn into a search for a young English tenor who vanished four years before, Kestrel runs the risk of being killed himself. The Devil in Music is also interesting in that it readers learn a good deal about Kestrel’s past.
In 1998, The Devil in Music won the Agatha Award for Best Mystery Novel and was nominated for a Winn Dylis Award from the Independent Mystery Booksellers’ Association. In her brief career, Ross gained the admiration of critics by her exceptional knowledge of the Regency period, her captivating sense of humor, her skill in inventing plots, and above all, her powers of characterization.