Q&A with Mason O'Connor, Author of Manor of Buried Secrets

Manor of Buried Secrets delivers a thrilling tale of family, mystery, and hidden treasures set in the shadow of South Africa’s majestic Drakensberg Mountains. Set in a grand South African estate, it follows sixteen-year-old Peter Brewer as he uncovers love letters, mysteries, and unexpected dangers, while navigating friendship, first love, and the twists that come with unearthing the past. Full of suspense, curiosity, and the messy thrills of first love, this is a story about uncovering the secrets that shape a family…and discovering just how dangerous the truth can be.

Buy the book here.

Book Description: Nestled in the shadow of the majestic Drakensberg Mountains lies Woodwright Manor, a magnificent family estate. Yet beneath Woodwright’s faded grandeur, mystery—and danger—lurks.

When sixteen-year-old Peter Brewer’s unconventional great-aunt Patricia—one of the last heirs to the once-wealthy Woodwright family—passes away at the age of 105, Peter’s family travels to Patricia’s mansion for her funeral. Thrown into the hothouse of old feuds and eccentric characters, Peter finds himself drawn into the web of family secrets surrounding Patricia’s inheritance. Rumors swirl of a hidden fortune, and Peter’s curiosity grows with each obscure conversation he overhears. When Peter and his new friend Larissa find Patricia’s cryptic love letters to a young man, written decades before, they set out to uncover the hidden truths about Patricia's legacy—and how her secrets may still haunt the Woodwright family.

Falling for Larissa, Peter can't help wondering if he is doomed to torpedo this relationship because of his own foibles.  As Peter is pulled deeper into Patricia’s long-buried past, he starts to realize that others at the funeral might have their own hidden agendas ... and seeking to uncover the truth may put him and Larissa in danger of getting in their way.

Mason O’Connor’s suspenseful Manor of Buried Secrets is a gripping journey of mystery, friendship, passion, and the search for buried treasure.

Author Bio: Mason O’Connor grew up in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. He studied Mathematics at Stellenbosch University, and works as a data analyst in Cape Town. He has a passion for storytelling, music, games and puzzles, and the outdoors.

1. What inspired you to write a mystery centred on a South African family estate?

It’s one of the oldest tropes in the playbook – country house whodunnit. It’s centred on a South African estate (Underberg, KZN) because that’s where I’m from. To be honest I didn’t put much thought into it.

2. The prologue and opening chapters have a fast, gripping pace. How did you approach setting that momentum right from the start?

That’s funny – the comment I got the most from editors and beta readers was that the beginning was too slow, and it’s what I spent the most time editing to try get right. I’m glad that it seems to have paid off to some degree.

3. Patricia Woodwright’s story is fascinating. What inspired her character, and what role did you want her to play in shaping the story?

Patricia is named after my grandmother, Patricia O’Connor, who was murdered in 2018 at the age of 93. The character is nothing like my grandmother, who was quite a cranky old bat; but, after viewing her definitively as nothing other than my grandmother whilst growing up, when I finally reached a semi-relatable age and visited her on my own, she would tell me eye-widening stories about her life; about romance, heartache and tragedy. It was that sense of knowing someone from only one point of view and then realising that they had lived an entire life of their own that I was attempting to capture in this story.

4. The book includes interactive elements like QR codes. What sparked that idea, and how do you see them enhancing the story and the reader’s experience?

The interactive elements were actually Fourie’s idea (my editor). I mentioned I had written some music for the book (the way people make playlists for books), in particular the music that they find in the story, and he suggested we add QR codes for readers to actually see it and listen to it. I think it does a great job of fleshing out the world and creating the sense that the story exists beyond the pages of the book.

5. Pete’s cousins, Jesse and Daniel, feel like playful, exaggerated South African stereotypes – humorous and yet familiar. How did you decide to contrast them with Pete’s more thoughtful, quiet personality?

Jesse and Daniel are named after two of my cousins who, once again, are basically the polar opposites of the characters in the book. In fact most of the characters are named after family members who bear little to no resemblance.  Jesse and Daniel were two of my favourite to write—just two of the most stereotypical South African boytjies; everything they say is practically verbatim from mates at school. I wouldn’t say I decided to contrast them with Peter’s personality; more that they exist for that purpose.

6. Did writing from Peter’s teenage perspective present any unique challenges?

Not at all. It was like writing from my own teenage perspective. ‘Write what you know.’

7. Your descriptive passages on the estate, the Drakensberg, and architecture are described in such vivid detail. Why was it important to you to include this attention to place?

When Fourie edited my manuscript, there were loads of corrections, questions, and sections he had flagged to be checked. There was just one paragraph – a descriptive paragraph about the Drakensberg mountains catching the sun – he had highlighted and commented ‘Lovely.’ Out of the entire book, this happened to be the one paragraph I had asked my girlfriend to write for me because I’m not too good at descriptive writing.

I’m extremely fond of the area (hence why the book is set there). I guess the goal was for anybody who knows the area to think “yup, checks out,” and for anybody who doesn’t to think “I wouldn’t mind visiting that place.”

8. Peter and Larissa’s “meet-cute” is unique and memorable. How did that scene come to mind?
   

That scene is based on countless similar interactions of my own as a teenager – meeting a girl, not knowing what to say, feeling like she was way ahead of me, and completely botching it. The scene wasn’t really planned, either. I was writing about Peter at the museum, and it just seemed like exactly the kind of time a girl would walk in and throw his thoughts and day into turmoil.

9. Family is such a central theme in the novel. Did your own experiences growing up influence the way you wrote the story’s family dynamics?
   

I guess, to some degree. Definitely the interactions, perhaps not the dynamics so much. My own family has basically zero drama, so I had to go on what I’ve seen in other families. But the big family gatherings for Christmas, etc., were a big part of my childhood, so I obviously drew from that a lot. The biggest difference, at least to Peter’s perspective, is that where he was not too keen for family gatherings, I was positively stoked. I absolutely loved them. Still do.

10. Peter and Larissa are both naturally curious, but Peter is more hesitant while Larissa is bolder. Why did you create this dynamic, and what does it reveal about their partnership in uncovering secrets?
    

It felt more relatable that Larissa would be interested in Patricia’s story and finding out what happened, while Peter would just be interested in Larissa. So she’s the one pulling him into the mystery, while he’s just trying to do whatever he thinks will give him the best shot with her. For that reason, I wanted her to come across as attractive, so her personality traits are largely what I consider attractive. It’s probably fair to say she’s based on a number of teenage crushes. And in general, I think the line between envy and attraction can be a blurry one, so when we see our own shortcomings contrasted against someone else’s abilities, it can be both enviable and attractive. So the fact that she’s a bit bolder, where he’s more hesitant and shy, would also be attractive.

11. I love how you allow the young characters to remain innocent and thoughtful, rather than jumping to conclusions. How did you keep the suspense while maintaining their realistic perspectives?
    

I think the characters don’t need to feel suspense in order for the reader to feel suspense. This is largely the reason for the prologue: so the reader is aware of things that the characters are not, which means certain scenarios bring suspense for the reader who, with more context (and generally a basic understanding of how mystery novels usually work), knows the weight and implications of these scenarios, whilst the characters are free to act naturally, none the wiser. Peter and Larissa don’t really have any reason to assume anything untoward until about midway through the novel—and even then, they’re just guessing and questioning things. The reader, on the other hand, will be much more aware of the dangers.

12. The coded letters and cryptography are a fun and clever element. How did they come about?
    

I love puzzles. If there’s something that can throw my whole day off course, it’s getting stuck on a good puzzle. But more than just doing them, I enjoy the mechanics of them—what makes a good puzzle, and how to create them. Games in general, in fact. So I’ve dabbled in quite a lot of game building. In this case, they were sort of an afterthought; Once I had written the story, I thought, ‘What is this book missing?’

Puzzles. It was missing Puzzles.

13. The personal and political collide throughout the story, particularly in Patricia and Mandla’s love story. How did you weave historical and societal themes into the characters’ personal lives?
    

In all honesty, the historical and societal themes were kind of incidental. I liked the idea of Patricia having a forbidden love, and the obvious reason for that in South Africa in the early 1900s would be that he was black. Everything else was sort of as a result of that; if you’re going to talk about a forbidden love between two people of different colours from back then, you can’t avoid some of the themes that come up. It’s not supposed to be making a statement or anything; just the realistic playing out of that scenario. And the themes were born from that.

14. From land ownership to rock art, South African history is threaded throughout the novel. How did you decide which historical elements to include, and what role do they play in the narrative?
    

I threw in a couple of historical elements that were just fluff to add richness to the story, or so that some readers who happen to be acquainted with these arbitrary pieces of history might read it and go, “Hey I know that reference!” Like the Garda Hall performance, or the visit by the Prince of Wales. But mostly the historical elements are plot-related or relevant for context and theme. The story is essentially about how history has shaped the present, so those elements provide the backdrop. It’s not a coincidence that the plot is built around an inheritance, in a story with themes of the country and society we have inherited from our forefathers.

15. The book includes some Zulu language. Do you speak Zulu, and what guided your decision to include it in dialogue?
    

I do not, unfortunately. Wish I did. Had to ask some mates to help me out with those parts. The decision to include it is more that, for a story set in KwaZulu-Natal, not including it would be like trying to avoid it. You can’t have a realistic story in KZN with no Zulu.

16. Were there any moments in the story that surprised you as a writer, where the plot went somewhere you hadn’t planned?
    

I mean, the whole thing was supposed to be a murder mystery when I started writing it, but quite soon it became less about Patricia’s death and more about her life. From there, the plot was pretty much planned out, so no real surprises. However, everything in between the major plot points I just made up as I went, and sometimes that led to little side plots that I carried on and weaved into the story – like his friendship with Ellen, for example, came about very organically whilst writing; or the family feud between Kim and Karen. And Phillip’s drinking problem. And the scene where they exploited Phillip’s drinking problem. Those parts made it really fun to write – not knowing where it was going until I got there, as though I were reading the book rather than writing it.

Interview by Tayla Mocke.