Amanda Taylor believes she was destined to write about crime, and no wonder. Her latest book, Aram, based on a true murder mystery that has fascinated her for most of her life. She first came across the name “Aram” when she was looking up the Yorke Arms, at Ramsgill, in Leeds Reference Library. She understood one of her family names was Ramsgill and her interest was piqued: could this coat-of-arms be connected to her?
“But far from any fine aristocratic heritage, it turned out my ancestor’s name had been Ramskill and he was a Pontefract miner,” she laughs. “I soon got over the disappointment of choking on my silver spoon, and with all the adaptability of the noble working class, I realised I had found something greater. I had stumbled on Eugene Aram.”
His story, which took place 300 years ago in Yorkshire, is one of murder, fraud, religious bigotry and incest, a gift for an author in search of a plot. “While researching Aram, I could almost hear the conspirators hatching their fraudulent plot in the alehouses and down the alleyways of 18th Century Knaresborough,” says Amanda. “What exactly did happen when a young shoemaker, and a historically ignored travelling Jewish servant-boy, simply vanished into a snowy northern night?”
read entire article here @ Northern Echo and visit Amanda's website HERE
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