The Lace Maker's Secret
Chloe Ellefson Mystery #9
This book features two separate timelines, delicately laced together.
The modern story takes place in late fall 1983 in the City of Green Bay, nearby Door County, and the Villages of Eagle and Palmyra, Wisconsin. The historical story begins in the Kingdom of Belgium during 1848 and continues in Door County from 1854 to shortly after World War I.
Museum Curator Chloe Ellefson needs distraction from the unsettling family secret she's just learned. It doesn't help that her boyfriend, police officer Roelke McKenna, has been troubled for weeks and won't say why.
Chloe hopes a consulting job at Green Bay's Heritage Hill Historical Park, where an old Belgian-American farmhouse is being restored, will be a relaxing escape.
Instead she discovers a body in a century-old bake oven.
Chloe's research suggests that a rare and valuable piece of lace made its way to nearby Door County, Wisconsin, with the earliest Belgian settlers. More importantly, someone is desperate to find it.
Inspired by a courageous Belgian woman who survived cholera, famine, and the most devastating forest fire in American history, Chloe must untangle clues to reveal secrets old and new . . . before the killer strikes again.
The Lacemaker's Secret includes photos of historic objects and places mentioned in the story, plus a locations map, and cast of characters.
This story is available as a 408-page trade paperback, a 547-page large print hardcover, and in Kindle and Adobe EPUB3 ebook formats.
Places
Many scenes in this book are set at places in the Namur Belgian-American Historic District, and at Green Bay's Heritage Hill State Historical Park, that you can visit.
See the custom map below to visit the book locations.
Related Blog Posts
The Belgian Heritage Center
When I first started considering a setting for a Chloe Ellefson mystery about Wisconsin’s Belgian immigrants, I knew it would primarily feature the Belgian Farm restored at Heritage Hill State Park.
Lacemaking in Belgium
As someone who gravitates toward folk arts, I knew almost nothing about Belgium’s lacemaking industry before starting research for The Lacemaker’s Secret. But one of the best parts about writing the Chloe Ellefson mysteries is learning new things, and this topic was no exception.
Sabots
When I went to work at Old World Wisconsin many years ago, one of my first assignments was working at the 1860 German farm. The curator who’d furnished the building left a couple of pairs of reproduction wooden shoes near the back door. “Aren’t those Dutch?” visitors often asked.
Libby’s Legendary Banana Bread Pudding
Sometimes you just need some comfort food—something steaming and fragrant and utterly delicious. The 9th Chloe Ellefson Mystery, The Lacemaker’s Secret, begins at just such a moment.
The Belgian Farm
Every Chloe Ellefson Mystery is set at a real historic site or museum. This lets me celebrate special places, and allows readers to visit the scene of the crime. When I planned the 9th book in the series, The Lacemaker’s Secret, I honed in on the Belgian Farm restored at Heritage Hill State Historical Park in Green Bay, WI.
Roadside Chapels
Belgian immigrants brought many religious traditions to North East Wisconsin. Signs of faith are still visible among their descendants, such as this shrine in front of a home…and this beautiful grotto in the St. Francis and St. Mary parish cemetery north of Brussels, WI.
Belgian Spice Cookies
The latest Chloe Ellefson Mystery, The Lacemaker’s Secret, celebrates Belgian heritage, so of course my research included foodways. I quickly came across references to Belgian Spice Cookies, also called Speculoos.
Why Belgians and Lace?
The 9th Chloe Ellefson Mystery, The Lacemaker’s Secret, is set in Green Bay and southern Door County, Wisconsin. It features the Belgian immigrants who arrived there in the 1850s. The primary settings are Heritage Hill Historical Park in Green Bay, where a gorgeous Belgian-American farmhouse has been relocated and restored, and the Belgian Heritage Center in Namur, a wonderful history and cultural center.
Our Lady Of Good Help
Adele Brise was born in Belgium in 1831, and immigrated to Wisconsin with her family in 1855. The Brise family settled about 16 miles northeast of the city of Green Bay in Robinsonville, now Champion, Wisconsin. Little is known of Adele’s early years, but she was remembered as a devout young woman.
Belgian Pies
There are lots of fun things about writing a mystery series that celebrates ethnic heritage. One of those is the chance to explore food traditions. When I started researching The Lacemaker’s Secret, which focuses on Belgian immigrants in northeast Wisconsin, I quickly discovered the importance of Belgian pies.
Where to buy the book
You can order The Lacemaker's Secret in trade paperback and large print formats from indie bookstores and large vendors.
Author signed and personalized trade paperback copies can be also requested through our Contact Us Form.
