Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 24
March 7, 2024
#CoverReveal! Christmas is coming in August…
By Liz, grateful for warmer weather!
Hey readers! I have news…
I’m so excited to share the next Cat Cafe Mystery with you! Shock and Paw is up for preorder now…and don’t you love the cover?
Here’s the blurb:
It’s the holiday season on Daybreak Island, and Maddie James is looking forward to stepping out of the limelight, watching the island’s Christmas decoration competition from afar, spending time with her boyfriend and family, running tours for visitors as part of the festivities and spreading holiday cheer through cute cats in jingle bell collars.
But trouble hits close to home when word gets out that Donna Carey, the publisher of the island’s only daily newspaper where Maddie’s best friend Becky is editor, may be selling the business. Becky is a diehard journalist and to her, selling the only newspaper on the island is a fate worse than death. She publicly opposes the potential sale, wreaking havoc on her relationship with her big boss.
Maddie is sympathetic, but she has her own problems – like getting pulled into a role on the Christmas event committee despite her best efforts to stay far removed, and solving the case of a mysterious cat breeder trying to sell expensive designer cats as holiday gifts on the island. But then Donna winds up dead―electrocuted by her own Christmas decorations―and it appears to be more than an accident. To make matters worse, Becky becomes suspect number one. Maddie is thrown into another murder investigation in order to save her best friend from a Christmas behind bars.
I’m happy to report that after the real killer made themselves known, finishing the book went much more smoothly. In case you missed it, I wrote about my wrong turn and how I got straightened out here.
And I can’t wait for you all to read it! How do you feel about Christmas coming early this year?
March 6, 2024
Wicked Wednesday- March Madness
Jessie: In Northern New England where the snowbanks are in retreat!
This month’s theme came to me in a dream. I swam back to consciousness with the phrase “mad as a March hare” floating through my brain. Bingo, I thought, madness is a perfect theme, especially for writers! Although truth be told, we will play with the word mad as well as madness as the month moves along! So first off, Wickeds, do you have an idiomatic expression, like mad as a March hare, that you use or that piques your curiosity?
Edith/Maddie: That’s a great phrase, Jessie, and a perfect theme. I’m fond of “Waste not, want not,” which can also apply to writers – never throw away a short story draft or a cut scene that didn’t fit in that book but might in another. I’ve had so much finding quirky expressions for Buck Bird, my South Lick, Indiana police chief. “That went faster than green grass through a goose, is a favorite, as is “frog-strangler” for a heavy rain.
Barb: Most people know “Mad as a hatter,” refers to the health effects of the mercury that was used by hat makers in the 19th century when making felted hats. This post got me curious about “mad as a wet hen.” Why is the hen wet and does water make hens particularly mad? It turns out that when hens on nests get broody and depressed, farmers pour water on them to snap them out of it. Good to know! I would be mad if someone poured water on me when I was a looking little down.
Liz: I’ve always wondered about the phrase “you can’t have your cake and eat it too.” This always seemed odd to me – why on earth would you have cake if you couldn’t eat it? Then I realized the literal meaning is, once you eat the cake it’s gone. I don’t know, the whole thing is just strange to me!
Sherry: When my daughter was in fifth grade, she learned that the phrase raining cats and dogs came from old England. Because cats and dogs would live up on the roof of the houses, and when it rained they’d slide off.
Julie: This is a fun trail of phrases. Mine makes no sense. My grandfather used to say “he’d kick at a football game” which the family translated to he’d see the down side to or complain about any situation. Dessert cart comes out full of goodies. Person, “no fudge?” That person would kick at a football game. I am certain that this is a malapropism that has been passed down generations.
Jessie: I love all of these! Mine, like Julie’s, is a family saying. Northern New Englanders are a flinty sort of folks, generally speaking, and traditionally don’t care much for excuses or whining. If any displays of weakness showed themselves in my family, my father would proclaim “He’d complain if they hanged him with a brand new rope”. Stern stuff, indeed!
Readers: Share your favorite quirky expression!
March 5, 2024
Welcome Author Carlene O’Connor
Please welcome author Carlene O’Connor back to the blog. Carlene joins us today to celebrate the release of two Irish-themed books. Murder at an Irish Chipper, the tenth book in Carlene’s Irish Village Mystery series, was released on February 20. And, for Saint Patrick’s Day, which is coming up fast, the collection, Irish Milkshake Murder, which also includes novellas by Peggy Ehrhart and Liz Ireland.
I blurbed Murder in an Irish Village, the first book in Carlene’s cozy series, and have been a fan ever since.
Welcome, Carlene!
Musings on Saint Patrick’s DayMarch is approaching and with it Saint Patrick’s Day. I’m thrilled to have two new offerings for the occasion, Murder at an Irish Chipper, and Irish Milkshake Murder. I do love Paddy’s Day, although I have yet to spend one in Ireland. But I spent many in New York City where the celebrations were mighty. My Irish friends often comment on how Americans often go all-out on the day—and of course we certainly do. In New York City I eventually learned to stay clear of the pubs on Saint Patrick’s Day, as it’s not for the faint of heart. But everyone can enjoy the parade. Despite how chaotic the celebrations can become, I do love the exuberance and celebration of all things Irish.
In my new release, Murder at an Irish Chipper, I take readers to the real seaside town of Lahinch, Ireland on the west coast. It’s a beach town, and I hope to visit it myself someday. Irish chippers are fish and chips shops and can be found in every city and town in Ireland. If you go, you must stop into a chipper!
In Irish Milkshake Murder I take readers to the Aran Islands, also on the west coast, a place I was fortunate enough to visit many years ago. If you find yourself in Galway City, (or many places on the west coast of Ireland), you can find out where to catch a boat to the Aran Islands. I promise it will be a trip you won’t soon forget.
It was there that I saw a lone cow sitting cliffside with the Atlantic Ocean thrashing in the background and I thought to myself, “What a great setting for a murder mystery.” I wasn’t even writing murder mysteries back then, let alone murder mysteries set in Ireland. Looking back, I feel like it was the first whisper from the Universe about the life I would one day be living. Or maybe there is something magical about Ireland itself, and it was the fairies whispering to me.
Either way, I couldn’t be more grateful to combine my two loves—writing and Ireland, and it all started with a lone cow on the Aran Islands. For those of you who can’t travel, or are between trips, I hope reading one of my mysteries will transport you to the Emerald Isle and infuse you with the love of the Irish and Ireland. And in advance, Happy Saint Patrick’s day to all!
Readers: How do you celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day? Out and about? Corned beef and cabbage, reading a good Saint Patrick-themed book, or something else?
About Carlene O’Connor
Carlene O’Connor is the USA Today bestselling author of The Irish Village Mysteries, Home to Ireland Mysteries, and the new County Kerry Mystery series. Her mysteries have been translated into German, Estonia, and UK markets thus far and the Irish Village Mysteries have been optioned for television. Readers are encouraged to get in touch via Facebook, Goodreads, Book Bub, or through the contact form on CarleneOConnor.net. An admitted wanderer, Carlene spends as much time in Ireland as possible.
About The Murder of an Irish ChipperFans of M.C. Beaton and Rhys Bowen, prepare for a delectable page-turner that mixes the charm of the Emerald Isle with the irresistible allure of a classic cozy whodunit. Siobhán and Macdara Flannery’s plans for a romantic honeymoon by the sea crumble like battered cod when they discover a dead body in the local fish and chip shop. This charming village harbors secrets beneath its culinary delights, but even a crafty killer is no match for these cunning sleuths.
Siobhán’s brother Eoin’s new family restaurant, The O’Sullivan Six, is so close to opening—but waiting on the necessary permits plus the heat of July in the village of Kilbane in County Cork is driving everyone a bit mad. Macdara Flannery comes to the rescue with a plan—take a holiday by the sea and stuff themselves with fish and chips to support the struggling business of the aptly named Mrs. Chipper.
But when they arrive, a crowd is gathered in front of the closed shop: a local fisherman with a fresh cod delivery, a food critic, Mrs. Chipper’s ex-husband who’s opening a competing fish and chips shop directly across the street, and a repairman to fix the vent for the deep fryer. With Siobhán and Macdara as witnesses, a local handyman gets the locked door open, only to find the proprietor lying dead and covered in flour at the base of a ladder, its rungs coated in slippery fat. Clearly this was not an accidental tragedy . . .
Even as the local garda take over the murder investigation, Siobhán and Macdara can’t help themselves from placing their long-delayed honeymoon on hold—at least until they can help apprehend an elusive killer.
Raise a glass for St. Paddy’s Day but keep a shamrock handy because some of these minty milkshakes are made with murder!
IRISH MILKSHAKE MURDER by CARLENE O’CONNOR
In advance of their St. Patrick’s Day wedding, Tara Meehan and Danny O’Donnell are off to the Aran Islands with their bridesmaids and groomsmen for a joint hen and stag party. The weekend kicks off with the ferry trip to Inis Mór, as the passengers enjoy boozy milkshakes on board and entertainment from a pair of famous Irish-dancing twin brothers. But faster than Tara can say “Oh, Danny Boy,” a murder shamrocks the boat as someone’s spiked shake turns out to be their final round. Stuck in a rural island cottage, while a storm rages outside, Tara must find the Celtic killer before her luck runs out . . .
MURDER MOST IRISH by PEGGY EHRHART
St. Patrick’s Day is drawing near in Arborville, New Jersey and the folks at Hyler’s Luncheonette are getting into the holiday spirit with a new, limited-time, Irish-themed menu item–a festive green milkshake appropriately named, “The Leprechaun.” It’s a hit, until a patron is felled by one of the frothy concoctions during a sheep parade through the town. Now, it’s up to Pamela Paterson and her Knit & Nibble knitting club pal, Bettina Fraser, to catch a murderer and put a stop to the sheer madness . . .
MRS. CLAUS AND THE LUCKLESS LEPRECHAUN by LIZ IRELAND
Spring in Santaland means two things: the elves have more leisure time and iceball season is in full swing! To celebrate, April Claus’s friend, Claire, whips up some minty milkshakes for her bustling ice cream shop, Santaland Scoop. But when the St. Paddy’s promotion makes one elf the target of a decidedly unlucky strike, Mrs. Claus and her friends must figure out if the attack was a failed hit job, a crime of passion, or an extremely unfortunate accident . . .
March 4, 2024
Welcome Author Kate Gingold with Agatha Annotated and a #Giveaway
Recently, I attended a presentation author Kate Gingold did at the Key West Library and was immediately smitten with her project, Agatha Annotated. Kate has investigaged everything in Agatha Christie books that modern American readers might not understand, including
British period slangPoirot’s French phrasesExplanations of etiquette and customs of the timeReferences to places that maybe don’t even exist anymore (or don’t have the same names).Historical references, including the details of WWI that Christie’s original audience would have recognized by reference but require more context 100+ years later.Kate has compiled all of this for Christie’s books written during the 1920s in Agatha Annotated: Investigating the Books of the 1920s. Kate’s work is available in print, fully linked on Kindle, and online via subscription. Kate is offering an exciting giveaway to three lucky commenters below.
In her post below, Kate gives us some insight into her process and investigations. Take it away, Kate!
Reading Christie Like a FlapperAs a mystery lover, nothing’s better than a vintage Agatha Christie novel, but as a history lover, niggling details kept interrupting my reading. After all, her first novels were written over one hundred years ago. Few people today keep a tantalus in the house, play Bolster Bar, or know how to make medlar jelly.
After looking up some of these details for myself, it occurred to me that other Christie fans might appreciate knowing them, too, so I started seriously working on the glossary I call Agatha Annotated. I re-read all of the 1920s books and wrote down quotations, references, French words – anything that I thought might be unfamiliar to someone in the new millennium.
Many of the words and phrases I noted were easy to define, but some took me down deep rabbit holes. The internet, of course, has revolutionized research, allowing me to read books or newspapers shelved in libraries half a world away, and putting me in touch with experts in an astonishing number of fields.
As an example, in The Secret Adversary, Julius Hersheimmer gives a supper at the Savoy Hotel for Tommy, Tuppence, and his cousin, Jane. I wondered: Why supper and not dinner? Where was this private room? What kind of meal did “carte blanche” provide?
A little research told me that “dinner” was served earlier in the day because it took a lot of work to prepare and clean up. Still, late-night meals were popular among the upper class after attending an evening’s entertainment such as the theater. One didn’t hold these less formal meals at home, however, because it was an imposition on one’s servants. Instead, one hosted friends at a hotel restaurant.
The Savoy Hotel, adjacent to the Savoy Theatre, the home of Gilbert and Sullivan, offered three private supper rooms in the 1920s, all named for operettas. While changes have been made in the last hundred years, the Savoy still has those three rooms. The Savoy also has their own archivist on staff.
Rawpixel photo: In a Restaurant (1924) by Bernard, Poiret, Armand, Rijksmuseum; Free CC0 ImageSusan Scott, the archivist, was one of the experts I talked with over email. I shared with her a menu I found in the collection of the New York Public Library. It was for a 1927 banquet in honor of Charles Lindbergh. Susan enjoyed perusing it and pointed out that Lindbergh’s dinner was on “a bit of a budget” because “there is only one soup.” Julius’ supper would have been even grander!
Even so, the Lindbergh menu served thirteen courses, all with French names that I needed to translate. One of my favorites is “Gerbes de Lauris, Sauce Divine” which translates as “Sheaves from Lauris with Divine Sauce.” I learned Lauris is a town in Provence known for growing asparagus, the “sheaves,” and Divine Sauce is made with lemon and sherry. Doesn’t that sound delicious?
All my research was collected in an online database and also published as Agatha Annotated: Investigating the Books of the 1920s. These tidbits of history help me and, hopefully, fellow Agatha Christie fans, appreciate Christie’s books just like flappers did a hundred years ago.
Next, I’m working on publishing the public domain novels with annotations from my glossary and trying to decide whether it’s better to have footnotes or endnotes.
Readers: Do you prefer looking for notes on the bottom of the page or finding them all together at the back of the book? Share your opinion and three lucky commenters will be chosen at random to receive their own copy of The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Agatha Annotated), an ePub of Dame Agatha’s first work with terms linked to pop-up definitions from Kate’s glossary. (If you’re not feeling lucky, it’s also available for Kindle on Amazon!) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CT8G15X3
Kate Gingold loves sharing odd snippets of history. Her first book, a “Little House” version of Chicago-area settlers, was honored by the Illinois State Historical Society. Newly released is the glossary, Agatha Annotated: Investigating the Books of the 1920s. When not researching and writing about history, Kate runs a web development company with her husband and blogs about digital marketing.
Website URL: https://agathaannotated.com
Social Media Handles:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KateGingoldAuthor
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kategingold/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kategingoldauthor/
Twitter: @KateGingold
Agatha Annotated: Investigating the Books of the 1920s is a comprehensive glossary covering the first decade of Agatha Christie’s mysteries with over 1800 terms, nearly 200 illustrations, and eleven “closer looks” on topics drawn from the novels to add new layers of enjoyment to these beloved stories.
Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Agatha-Annotated-Investigating-Historical-References/dp/0979241960/
March 1, 2024
Welcome Author Lynn Cahoon and a #Giveaway
Readers, please welcome author Lynn Cahoon back to the blog. Lynn is here supporting the release of Five Furry Familiars, the fifth book in her Kitchen Witch Mystery series. To celebrate, she’s giving away a copy to some lucky commenter below.
Take it away, Lynn!
Five Furry FamiliarsWhat’s with all the familiars?
Honestly, it’s kind of my dream. And it’s definitely, a dream of my husband’s. He’d collect all the homeless and abused dogs and give them a home. I love pets. My mom was a widow with five kids under 16 when my dad died. We didn’t have a lot of pets around since it was probably hard to keep the kids fed (and under control) on her own.
My first dog was a Peki/Pom mix named Cinderella. I think I’d just seen the movie in the theater. I loved this dog. My stepfather had a Siamese cat named Muller who adopted me as his person. I’ve been bi-lingual (a cat and dog person) since I was a kid.
When I married my first husband, he used our pets as a money-making proposal. So we had breeders. I wanted to keep all the pups and got attached quickly. He didn’t.
Then when I got divorced, I wanted that companion again. My boyfriend bought me Bella, a baby Pom. Then Demon, another Pom. And finally, Homer. By the time we lost Homer and Demon a few years ago, they were senior dogs (14 and 19) and had carved a hole in our hearts.
Now, we have the Keeshonds – Dexter, and Quinn. Quinn is under my desk as I write this – Dexter is a daddy’s boy so he’s wherever my husband is at.
Pets are a huge part of my life. And as such, they’re also a part of my character’s lives. They add flavor to the stories. Getting a box of kittens left on her doorstep made Mia wonder if this was a test from the Goddess. Was she supposed to find a new familiar in the bunch? Or was the kitten delivery a random, human event?
Trent’s new familiar appears to be the Goddess’s way of showing her approval. He gave up his magic to his brother. The magic flows from one generation to the next, but only to one child in each family. At least, that’s what is supposed to happen, yet Trent still has magic and so does Levi, his younger brother. Trent’s new blessing is going to be a handful as well.
It can’t be easy, right?
Readers: What about you? Are you a dog or cat person? Or maybe something else? Or do you have a no pets policy? Comment below. One random commenter will receive a signed copy of Five Furry Familiars. (Non-US authors will get a digital reward.)
@wickedcozys, #mystery #amwriting, #amreading
About Lynn Cahoon
Lynn Cahoon, author of Five Furry Familiars, a Kitchen Witch mystery, is an NYT and USA Today bestselling author of also the Tourist Trap, Cat Latimer, Farm-to-Fork, and Survivors’ Book Club mystery series. No matter where the mystery is set, readers can expect a fun ride. Find out more at www.lynncahoon.com
Five Furry FamiliarsIn the latest enchanting mystery from New York Times bestselling author Lynn Cahoon, kitchen witch Mia Malone is working as a catering director at a ski lodge, but when her roommate’s ex checks in, everything starts going downhill . . .
To keep her cooking school and catering business, Mia’s Morsels, afloat, Mia handed off oversight to her boyfriend Trent’s mother while she focused on earning a steady paycheck. Too bad her mean-spirited boss at the lodge keeps the misery flowing as steadily as the money. At least her roommate, Christina, is still dedicated to Mia’s Morsels—though she’s also distracted, thanks to her clingy mother’s constant demands. The distraction only grows when Christina’s old flame shows up in Magic Springs, Idaho, in his Escalade, claiming out of the blue to be her fiancé.
The arrival of some homeless kittens, as well as Trent’s new familiar, a cute little Maltese, brings more chaos—as well as a strange spiritual energy that seems to emanate from the animals. But before Mia can figure out what kind of paranormal pets she has on her hands, she finds herself with a murder to solve—when a dead woman is found in the lodge rental of Christina’s suddenly attentive ex . . .
Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Furry-Familiars-Kitchen-Witch-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B0C6FTHCCF
Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/five-furry-familiars
BN – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/five-furry-familiars-lynn-cahoon/1143523652?ean=9781496740793
Apple – https://books.apple.com/us/book/five-furry-familiars/id6449609828
February 29, 2024
Welcome Back Author Ginger Bolton and a #Giveaway
Hi! On this every-four-years day of the year, author Ginger Bolton is here with some information and thoughts on leap day.
She’s here for the release of Double Grudge Donuts, the eighth book in her Deputy Donuts Mystery series, which was released last week. To celebrate, Ginger is giving away a copy to one lucky commenters below.
Over to you, Ginger–
According to the caption on the back of this picture, Mema and some of her progeny were rolling down a hill. I can’t vouch for whether or not Mema actually rolled in the grass. Her adult children joked that she was in her teens at the time because she had celebrated only about fifteen “official” birthdays.
Mema was born on February twenty-ninth.
A bonus day that comes around only once every four years is a natural for spawning traditions.
One common one was that women could propose to men. In certain places and times, men who turned down these proposals were expected to give the women they rejected a gift. Twelve pairs of gloves would help a scorned woman hide the embarrassment of a ringless finger! One pair per month? Or were the gloves supposed to last until the next leap year, and she’d have to make each pair last four months?
If the gloves wore out, what could she do? Maybe wear a glove on her ring hand and carry something that resembled a glove.
I know. Right and left gloves aren’t always interchangeable.
However, I once had to resort to that subterfuge. White gloves were necessary for wedding guests, even for girl who was about nine years old.
At the last minute, I realized I’d misplaced one of my white gloves.
My mother decreed that I would wear one white glove and carry a white hankie to pass as a glove.
I don’t remember the ceremony. I was industriously reconfiguring that hankie into finger shapes.
Some folks think that being born or getting married on leap year day brings bad luck. Marriages at any time during leap year are sometimes expected to end in divorce.
In my eighth Deputy Donut Mystery, Double Grudge Donuts, my amateur sleuth Emily is looking forward to her wedding. She didn’t do the proposing, but she could have.
While writing this, I realize that I set Emily and Brent’s wedding this coming August. It’s leap year! Don’t worry. Emily and Brent are never getting divorced. Remember, I (mostly) have control over them.
It seems to me that leap year day and all of leap year provides an excuse for celebrations, even if it only means eating favorite foods. Like—why do I always think of chocolate???
The town of Anthony, Texas, on the border of New Mexico, celebrates leap year, attracting people born on leap year day, plus everyone else, to a festival of music, arts and crafts, fun for kids, and (not surprisingly) food.
In Double Grudge Donuts, Emily and Brent’s smallish town in northern Wisconsin is also hosting a festival, the Fallingbrook Arts Festival. During the afternoons, performers put on mini shows on sidewalks in front of businesses, including Emily’s café, Deputy Donut. In the evenings, the performers compete in the bandstand in the village square.
Maybe because it’s leap year, the worst kind of luck befalls a bagpiper. With her café under suspicion, Emily will need to investigate—without causing problems with her fiancé. Brent is Fallingbrook’s detective. . . .
Readers: Do you have a suggestion for fun activities or yummy snacks on Leap Year Day? I’ll send a print copy of Double Fudge Donuts to one lucky commenter below. The winner will be chosen at random on March 2. U.S. and Canada only, please.
About Ginger Bolton
Ginger Bolton writes the Deputy Donut mystery series—coffee, donuts, cops, danger, and one curious cat. Double Grudge Donuts is the eighth Deputy Donut Mystery. Blame the Beignets will arrive on store shelves in the end of November, 2024. The tenth Deputy Donut Mystery will appear in stores near the end of September, 2025.
https://www.instagram.com/ginger.bolton
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorGingerBolton
About Double Grudge DonutsUnpaid pipers might call their own tunes.
Emily Westhill, co-owner of Deputy Donut, the popular Fallingbrook, Wisconsin café, is planning her wedding, and she’s also enjoying the six-day Fallingbrook Arts Festival.
Arts and crafts! Music! Comedy! Drama!
Too much drama . . .
On Musical Monday, a bagpiper wins first prize. Apparently, winning is not enough. Bagpipe wailing, he wanders through town day and night, annoying other performers, the audiences, and villagers desperate for a full night’s sleep.
With her intrepid cat Dep, Emily discovers the recently silenced piper near a piece broken from a Deputy Donut mug. To clear her name and allow her own celebrations to progress, Emily will need to figure out who paid the piper that final, fatal visit.
BUY LINK
February 28, 2024
Wicked Wednesday–It’s Traditional
by Barb in Key West, not ready for March to march in
We’ve explored some of the myriad crime fiction subgenres this month, and on the next to last day I’m going to indulge in my favorite subgenre–the Traditional Mystery. You know them, you love them. There’s a crime and sleuth and the hunt for the perpetrator and a resolution at the end. The sleuth can be amateur or professional, a public employee or private. The crime is usually, but not always, murder. None of the restrictions for cozies apply, but the crimes and characters can range anywhere from horrifying to quaint, and sometimes both.
Wickeds, tell us about your favorite traditional mysteries, contemporary ones, older books from authors no longer with us, favorite books, series, characters, authors. Go!
Edith/Maddie: Deborah Crombie’s long-running Duncan Kincaid / Gemma James mysteries and Julia Spencer-Fleming’s Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne mysteries are traditional, and they are two of my favorite contemporary authors. Also anything (everything!) by Ann Cleeves. I loved Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn and Chee series, although I haven’t read Anne Hillerman’s continuation of the stories. Farther back Dorothy L Sayers gets my vote, as well as Dame Agatha.
Julie: Edith, I recently started reading Deborah Crombie’s series, and I’m loving it. I love traditional mysteries, and there are so many authors writing wonderful stand alones and series these days. Gigi Pandian’s Locked Room Mysteries are wonderful. I’m looking forward to Kim Giarratano’s second Billie Levine mystery, Devil in Profile. I’m also looking forward to Anthony Horowitz’s next Hawthorne book, Close to Death.
Liz: Edith, I love Clare and Russ too! I have also completely fallen for the Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman has become one of my favorite authors. Deborah Crombie’s series is on my list for sure – I haven’t read it yet but have heard great things.
Sherry: One of my favorite books from 2023 is Time’s Undoing by Cheryl A. Head. It’s a mash up of mystery, thriller, and historical. It was just named a finalist for the Los Angeles Book Prize in the Mystery/Thriller category! I also loved All We Buried by Elena Taylor and am thrilled the second book in the series is coming out this summer. The all too short series, the Abish Taylors mysteries, by D. A. Bartley were also very good.
Jessie: I have to put votes for any of the novels by Vaseem Kahn, but especially the Malabar House books. I also love Elly Griffiths Ruth Galloway books. For older books I would mention the Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters, as well as books by Ngaio Marsh, and, of course, Agatha Christie. I have reread both of those authors many, many times.
Barb: I endorse all above, especially mysteries by Julia Spencer-Fleming, Deb Crombie, Richard Osman, and Ann Cleeves. I would add Louise Penny, Paul Doiron, Craig Johnson, and my all-time favorites, gone but never forgotten, Ruth Rendell and P.D. James.
Readers: Do you enjoy traditional mysteries? Add authors and/or titles to our recommendations list.
February 27, 2024
Welcome Back to the Wickeds, Traci Wilton and a #Giveaway
Please join me in welcoming author Traci Wilton back to the Wicked Authors blog. Traci is here celebrating the release of Mrs. Morris and the Mermaid, the eighth book in her Salem B&B series. She’s giving away a copy of the book to two lucky commenters below.
Take it away, Traci!
I am so grateful to be here celebrating the release of Mrs. Morris and the Mermaid. When I first started on this cozy mystery journey with my writing partner Patrice Wilton in 2018, I had no idea I would end up penning stories about paranormal beings within a mystery setting. It felt like home!
Even before being published, I would start my stories with a title and go from there so it’s a perfect fit that it also seems to work that way with my editor. It was suggested that the title for this book be Mrs. Morris and the Mermaid, which meant I spent considerable time researching mermaids. It was an easy rabbit hole to go down. Were they real? They’ve been in lore for a very long time, one of the first being the goddess Atargatis from Syria around 1000 BC.
I watched a fake documentary called Mermaids, the Body Found on Animal Planet. I knew it was pretend, but I enjoyed the mechanics of capturing a mermaid. Splash with Daryl Hannah was a must—the story was still so cute, and of course, I viewed hours of videos on the Coney Island Mermaid Parade. Deborah Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie were Queen and King Neptune in 2017. Right now, there is a mermaid series called MerPeople streaming on Netflix. The bottom line is that people love the mermaid lifestyle.
Which means, mermaids could be big business.
In this story I wanted Charlene’s bed and breakfast in Salem to be overrun with mermaids. Our oceans are very important, and I gave Serenity Flint, witch Brandy Flint’s daughter, a cause to raise money to clean them with this parade. Add in a frenemy situation for Brandy from her childhood, a recluse mermaid, fans gone wild, and a temperamental artist, and we have book eight in the series.
I don’t dismiss the possibility that there could have been mermaids a long time ago. I believe in ghosts, so why not? I’m keeping an open mind.
Readers: What do you think of mermaids? Do you understand the mermaid craze? I’ll be giving two copies of Mrs. Morris and the Mermaid to two lucky winners—US only—and all you have to do for a chance is comment below.
About Traci Hall/Traci Wilton
From cozy mysteries to seaside romance, USA Today bestselling author Traci Hall writes stories that captivate her readers. As a hybrid author with over sixty published works, Ms. Hall has a favorite tale for everyone.
Mystery lovers, check out her Scottish Shire series, set in the seaside town of Nairn, or the Salem B&B Mystery series, co-written as Traci Wilton. Her latest project is an Irish Castle cozy as Ellie Brannigan. Whether it’s her ever-popular By the Sea romances, an Appletree Cove sweet romance, or a fun who-done-it, Traci finds her inspiration in sunny South Florida, living right near the ocean.
https://www.instagram.com/tracihallauthor
https://linktr.ee/tracihallauthor
About Mrs. Morris and the MermaidB&B owner Charlene Morris expects Salem’s first annual mermaid parade will make quite a splash, until a high-profile murder threatens to sink the whole event . . .
Charlene and her handsome spectral friend, Dr. Jack Strathmore, are thrilled that their Salem, Massachusetts, B&B is overflowing with mermaids in advance of the town’s newest attraction—a mermaid parade! Retired Hollywood actress Trinity Powers has even agreed to appear on the lead float to commemorate her breakout role as the eponymous mermaid in the blockbuster cult classic, Sirena. The parade also features Trinity’s rival, an up-and-coming ingénue, who stars in the film’s recent (and somewhat controversial) reboot. Though their rabid fan clubs seem ready to tear each other—and the festivities—apart, the vying actresses are keeping it cool, for now . . .
But when Charlene discovers a mermaid murdered, she realizes a killer is out to steal the show. With the help of Jack and Detective Sam Holden, Charlene plunges into the case, determined to stop a killer from striking again . . .
Purchase links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1496741390
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mrs-morris-and-the-mermaid-traci-wilton/1143523680?ean=9781496741400
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/mrs-morris-and-the-mermaid/id6449609665
February 26, 2024
A Murderous Rage
Hi. Barb here. We’re taking a little stroll down Memory Lane today with a post I originally wrote for Maine Crime Writers during February 2012. I wish I could say things have improved, but if I told you about the series of conversations my husband had last month with our phone insurance company, Apple, and UPS after UPS lost the phone for which the insurance company had sent us the UPS mailer, you would know that things are not.
One day…Me: Dial, Dial, Dial
Automated attendant: “Welcome to the Aetna Health Insurance Member’s line. In order to improve our service, your call may be monitored for quality control. Are you an Aetna member?”
Me: Did I not just dial the Member’s line? “Member”
AA: “How may we help you? You can say ‘Claims’ ‘Benefits’ or ‘What are my choices?’”
Me: “Claims”
AA: “What is your member id? Your social security number? Your birthdate? Your mother’s maiden name? Your eye color? Do you prefer frozen or fresh-squeezed? Pulp or no pulp? Have you heard about that new one that kinda has a little pulp?”
Me: Answer, answer, answer, answer.
AA: “We have several claims for you here.”
Me: “That’s actually why I’m calling. You seem to have stopped paying my husband’s—”
AA: “For each claim, we need the provider number and the exact date and time of the claim.”
Me: “Wait, what? The time of the claim, not the service, because how would I know–AARRGGHH!”
Me: Dial, Dial, Dial
Automated attendant: “Welcome to the Aetna Health Insurance Member’s line. In order to improve our service, your call may be monitored for qual—?”
Me: “Member”
AA: “How may we help you? You can say ‘Claims’ ‘Benefits’ or ‘What are my choices?’”
Me: “What are my choices?”
AA: “Your choices are ‘Claims’ or ‘Benefits’
Me: “I hate you.”
Welcome to the Aetna Navigator website: For your protection, we’ve randomly assigned you a user name you will never remember and then we’ve hidden the area of the site where you can change it! Also for your protection, we require all passwords to have two consonants, three vowels, a number between 30 and 50 and any symbol that cannot be created by your keyboard. Good luck!
Aetna Navigator: We see you’ve accessed our site! What a surprise. Now that you’re here, our Automated Attendant Ann will answer any questions. Please click here.
Me: Click
Ann: No response
Me: Click
Ann: No response
Me: Click
Ann: No response
Me: “Ann, are you by any chance related to the Automated Attendant who works on the Member’s line?”
Aetna Navigator: Send a secure message to Member Services. We will reply to the e-mail address below.
Me: After 15 months, you have apparently decided my husband is no longer covered by our policy. This seems a little random to me because I am still covered by the policy, we pay on the same bill, and our payments are up to date. Please advise.
Aetna Navigator: For your safety, this response to your e-mail has been encrypted. Click on this link. No, not that link, the other link! No, the other, other link. Now download the document. Enter your password again. No! Not that password. You are never going to be allowed to read this message.
Me: Grrrrrrrrrr
Me: Dial, Dial, Dial
Automated attendant: “Welcome to the Aetna Health Insurance Member’s line. In order to improve our service, your call may be monitored for qual—?”
Me: “Member”
AA: “How may we help you? You can say ‘Clai—’”
Me: “REPRESENTATIVE!”
AA: “I don’t understand what you said.”
Me: “I HATE YOU. I HATE YOU WITH THE WHITE HOT HEAT OF A THOUSAND SUNS. WHENEVER I HEAR SOMEONE ON TELEVISION SAY WE HAVE THE BEST HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IN THE WORLD, MY HEAD EXPLODES AND FIRE SHOOTS OUT OF MY NECK!”
AA: “You can choose ‘Claims’ or “Benefits.”
Me: Dial, Dial, Dial
Automated attendant: “Welcome to the Aetna Health Insurance Billing line. In order to improve our service, your call may be monitored for quality control. Please listen carefully to our menu options because they have recently changed.
If you have questions about a payment, press 1.
If you have questions about an invoice, press 2.
If you like spicy food, press 3.
If you think puppies are cuter than kittens, press 4.
If you are a Starship commander, or are otherwise responsible for a Starship fleet, press 5.
If you are unhappy with your health insurance, wave your hands over you head and scream like a chicken.
Or, to speak to a customer service representative, press 7.”
Me: 7!
AA: Click, buzz, silence.
Me: Dial, Dial, Dial
Automated attendant: “Welcome to the Aetna Health Insurance Billing line. In order to improve our service, your call may be monitored for qual—”
Me: 7!
AA: “What is your member id? Your social security number? Your birthdate? Your mother’s maiden name? Your eye color? In what city were you born? Was it a difficult birth? How long was the labor? What do you think about that Kim Kardashian?”
Me: Answer, answer, answer, answer.
Human Being: “Can I help you?”
Me: “God, I hope so. I do not actually have a billing problem, but since Aetna deems it appropriate to have human beings solve billing problems, and not claims problems, let’s pretend this is a billing problem, okay?”
HB: “Okay. In order to help you, I’ll need your member Id.”
Me: “I just gave that to the computer.”
HB: “Yes, but it doesn’t come through to our system.”
Me: “That seems incredibly inefficient.”
HB: (placating tone) “If you think so.”
Me: “I am quite sure I’m not the only person who thinks so. Anyway, here it is.”
HB: “What is your question?”
Me: “You’ve stopped paying my husband’s claims.”
HB: “Yes, we need his social security number.”
Me: “He’s been a member and you’ve been paying his claims for fifteen months, and now you need his social security number?”
HB: “We don’t have his social security number.”
Me: “I don’t understand, did you lose his social security number, or never have it or what?”
HB: “I don’t know, ma’am.”
Me: “Do you know what would happen to the productivity of this country if I had the time back I have spent on this? Not to mention the people in my husband’s doctor’s office and pharmacy who now have to re-submit these claims? Not to mention your time? Our national economic problems would be solved! The stock market would soar, and—”
HB: “If you think so, ma’am.”
Me: “I am quite sure I’m not the only person who thinks so. How long will it take to reinstate him?”
HB: “The computer will be updated overnight. It will be all fixed by tomorrow morning.”
Me: “If you think so…”
Me: Dial, Dial, Dial
Automated attendant: “Welcome to the Aetna Health Insurance Billing line. In order to improve our service, your call may be monitored for qual—”
Readers: Have you had a notable customer service debacle? Tell us about all about it. I will make you feel better, I promise.
February 23, 2024
The Good Luck Ghost — Welcome Back Mary Winters aka Mary Angela
Sherry, in Northern Virginia, where we are swinging back and forth between winter and spring
I’m so happy to welcome back Mary Winters! Murder in Masquerade, the second book in her A Lady of Letters historical mystery series, released on February 20th!
Thank you to the Wickeds for having me on the blog today and especially to Sherry Harris, who was one of the first people I met at Malice Domestic several years ago. She is the epitome of grace and kindness, and I’m so glad to count her as a friend.
The theatre has always intrigued me. Since attending my first performance as a young woman, I’ve been drawn to the space. In a word, it feels magical. Actors and actresses pretend to be somebody else, involved in a story that’s not their own. It’s fantastic in its own right, and when a play occurs in a book, even more so.
While conducting research for the second installment in the Lady of Letters historical mystery series, I came across a story about a theatre ghost, and it was then that I decided Murder in Masquerade needed to include a theatre. The year was 1848, and renovations were being made on the Royal Theatre, Drury Lane in London, a theatre which is reported to be the most haunted in the world. During the construction, workers found a skeleton dressed in gray rags, penned in the wall. A large knife pierced the skeleton’s chest. The person was obviously a victim of murder.
Some say the discovery explains a ghost in gray, a man seen by many generations of theatre goers at Drury Lane. The ghost is reported to wear a gray riding cloak and a tricorne (three-cornered) hat while walking the upper circle. He then disappears into the wall, the spot where the skeleton was unearthed.
Stories about the man’s death are probably more fictional than factual, but one I found in several sources states that the man fell in love with an actress, who already had a lover. When the man came to see her perform on stage, her lover killed him in a jealous rage. Afterwards, the lover hid the body in the wall so the murder wouldn’t be discovered. (It’s curious, though, that he didn’t remove his knife, isn’t it?)
The ghost or the story doesn’t deter actors or audience members. In fact, seeing the Man in Grey (his official British name) is a good omen. Every time audience members have spotted him, it has been a stellar season for the theatre.
Authors need as much good luck as they can get, and if book sales take off, I’ll thank the Man in Grey. After all, I mention his ghost in Murder in Masquerade, and some similarities exist between his murder and the one in the book. However, the theatre and the play get more attention in the novel than the ghost, who only gets a mention.
But something about a theatre loves ghosts, and I think it’s the stories that accompany them. If history holds true, stories about the Man in Grey will be told to new generations of theatre goers for years to come. In this place, fact and fiction can blend. If even for a moment, audience members suspend their disbelief and are transported to a different world. Like theatres, books have the ability to transport us to new places, and I really hope readers enjoy their excursion in Murder in Masquerade.
Readers: What places have books transported you to?
© Julie Prairie Photography 2016BIO: Mary Winters is the Edgar-nominated author of the Lady of Letters historical mystery series. Mary is also the author of two cozy mystery series and writes short fiction. Three of her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. When she’s not writing, she’s teaching, reading, or spending time with her family. She lives with her husband, daughters, and spoiled pets in the Midwest. Find out more about Mary at MaryWintersAuthor.com.
About the book:
Extra, extra, read all about it! Countess turned advice columnist Amelia Amesbury finds herself playing the role of sleuth when a night at the theatre turns deadly.
Victorian Countess Amelia Amesbury’s secret hobby, writing an advice column for a London penny paper, has gotten her into hot water before. After all, Amelia will do whatever it takes to help a reader in need. But now, handsome marquis Simon Bainbridge desperately requires her assistance. His beloved younger sister, Marielle, has written Amelia’s Lady Agony column seeking advice on her plans to elope with a man her family does not approve of. Determined to save his sister from a scoundrel and the family from scandal, Simon asks Amelia to dissuade Marielle from the ill-advised gambit.
But when the scoundrel makes an untimely exit after a performance of Verdi’s Rigoletto, Amelia realizes there’s much more at stake than saving a young woman’s reputation from ruin. It’s going to take more than her letter-writing skills to help the dashing marquis, mend the familial bond, and find the murderer. Luckily, solving problems is her specialty!
