Murder & Mayhem In Goose Pimple Junction (New Edition)

I did an interview with goodreads author Amy Metz about her cozy mystery Murder & Mayhem In Goose Pimple Junction two years ago. Now Amy is coming out with a new edition of the novel. So, I thought this would be a good time to share the interview with you again.

August 2012 Amy Metz Interview

Calling all mystery lovers! If you’re looking for something fresh and different you may want to try Amy Metz’s forthcoming novel, “Murder And Mayhem In Goose Pimple Junction”, which goes on sale August, 2012. This Southern fried murder mystery in a friendly, small town, full of eccentrics is interesting reading to say the least. The cozy mystery centers on newcomer Tess Tremaine, as she explores a 75-year-old murder, while trying to adjust to her new surroundings and finding love, at the same time.

Let’s find out what Amy Metz has to say about this first book in her new series?


Q: “Murder And Mayhem In Goose Pimple Junction” offers mystery, romance and humor. Which of these elements is the most fun for you as a writer?

A: Oooh, do I have to pick one? I really do like all three equally. I enjoy writing twists and turns into a plot and surprising the reader at the end of the book. But I also like writing about budding romances. I workshopped this book on an online writer’s site, and I had fun frustrating my readers/reviewers by writing different ways of pushing Tess and Jack together, followed by different ways of keeping them apart. Toward the end of the book, readers were telling me they’d never forgive me if I didn’t let the two characters get together. And of course love scenes are always fun to write, although I cut a lot of that in editing because this is a cozy. But working my humorous “goosepimpleisms” (southern colloquialisms woven throughout the book) into the story was so much fun, too. In answer to your question, I honestly can’t say I have a favorite. How about, it depends on what kind of mood I’m in?

Q: Would you classify this book as a “cozy mystery?” If so, what do you think sets it apart from typical books of the same genre?

A: Yes, I’d say it’s a cozy. I think what sets it apart is the humor. As I said, I use a lot of southern expressions that I hope will make the characters memorable and make the reader laugh. People ask me how a murder mystery can be humorous. Crime isn’t humorous. It’s the spirit and personality of the characters that are intended to be humorous. It’s the funny things they say and the zany people they are that I hope will make my book unique. One particular phrase comes to mind: He’s a dog of his own trot. That describes most of the characters of Goose Pimple Junction.

Q: As a fellow author, I appreciate the way you refer to your characters as your imaginary friends. Do you think certain characters stay with you, long after a novel is completed?

A: I do. For one thing, I’m currently having an imaginary affair with Robert B. Parker’s Spenser. I finished reading all of the books in the Spenser series over a year ago, but I’m still seeing Spenser. (In my mind, in my sleep, on my bookshelf…) I think that’s what makes a great book—not just the story, but the characters in the story. As authors, we ask readers to spend time with people we have created. If a reader gets so wrapped up in a character they can’t stop reading the book, and they continue to think about the character once they’ve finished the book, then I think the author has done a fine job.

Q: Who is your favorite mystery author? To what extent has your work been influenced by them?

A: I guess it’s no surprise my favorite author is Robert B. Parker. I’ve read every one of his books, some of them twice, and I’m sure I’ll continue to re-read them. I also love John Sanford. Sometimes I cheat on Spenser with Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers. How have I been influenced by them? Gosh, I hope I have, but I can’t pinpoint exactly how. They set the bar pretty high. Their characters are witty, romantic, and heroic, so maybe they influenced me to try to write characters like that.

Q: Do you think writing a good mystery is more complex than writing books of other genres?

A: No, I don’t think so. In any genre, you want the reader to want to keep reading. Whether that’s to find out whodunit, or what happens to the characters, or for the romance, suspense, action, or whatever reason people pick up a book, it’s a challenge to write a story that will captivate the reader. You have to have interesting characters and a believable plot no matter what you’re writing.

Q: Which of the characters from “Murder And Mayhem In Goose Pimple Junction” do you most closely identify with, and why?

A: I guess it would have to be Tess, the main character, but only because we’re around the same age. I gave Tess all the qualities I wish I had. I did give her one of my faults though, which is clumsiness. So I can definitely relate to her in that sense. Jack says she could trip over a cordless phone, and that’s certainly true of me.

Q: The murder being investigated in this novel is 75 years old. Non-fiction books about old, unsolved murders and TV shows like “Cold Case” tend to be very popular. Do you think people find these cases more intriguing because they appear to be “perfect murders”?

A: Hmmm…good question. You could be right. I don’t think anybody wants to see a murderer get away scott free. Except maybe for the Dixie Chicks’ Mary Ann and Wanda. Old Earl got what he deserved, and nobody missed him. But usually, there is a sense of fairness at play. It’s just not right for someone to kill the father of four young children and get away with it. That’s what drives my character, Tess, to try to solve the mystery. She’s intrigued with the mystery—they why, the how, the who--but she also wants justice. And I guess it is fascinating to learn how someone literally got away with murder.

Q: The characters in “Murder And Mayhem In Goose Pimple Junction” are very colorful. Is it easy for you to come up with characters that are both realistic and entertaining?

A: I don’t know about easy, but it sure is fun. I love creating characters who are totally different from me. I love giving them qualities I wish I had, or ones I’m glad I don’t have. It’s so much fun to make a character say things that are totally outrageous. In Murder & Mayhem, it was fun to create “bad guy” characters, but it was equally fun creating people who are off the wall. I’ve been joking about my imaginary friends and imaginary affairs, but when you lose yourself in a book and begin to care about the characters, you live in their world for a bit, whether you’re reading or writing. My characters almost feel real to me. So if they feel like real people to the reader and entertain them, I’m happy.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish with “Murder And Mayhem In Goose Pimple Junction”?

A: I hope to entertain people. When they read my book, I want them to feel like they’re in Goose Pimple Junction. How cool would it be if someone told me they were having an imaginary affair with Jack! If I can take the reader to a world they’ve never been, and one they don’t want to leave, if my characters become my readers’ “imaginary friends,” then I’ll be satisfied. And by satisfied, I mean ecstatic.

Q: Where did you get the initial idea for this book?

A: Each chapter in Murder & Mayhem starts with a scene from the 1930s. There’s a bank robbery, two murders, and a case of unrequited love. All of those things actually happened to ancestors of mine. I grew up hearing the accounts of what happened to my father’s aunt, uncle, and grandmother, and I remember thinking, as a child, that someone should write a book about them. Like Tess, I found the mystery very intriguing. I thought it was a story that should be told.

Q: The central character, Tess Tremaine, is something of a fish-out-of-water in this book. Was it difficult for you, as a southerner, to get into the mind set of a non-southerner who is having difficulty fitting in?”

A: No, I needed her not to fit in. Well actually she fits in, she just needs a translator for all of the southern speak the other characters use. Lines like, “Get your straw out of my Kool-Aid,” and “They said grace before they had supper” are funny, but some readers might not know they’re colorful ways of saying, “Mind your own business,” and “They’re living together but not married.” So having Tess be clueless helped me deliver some of the humor in the book. I also write in dialect, and sometimes it’s hard for a “foreigner” to understand what is being said. Having Tess be confused and need an interpreter helped me translate some of the southern speak to the reader.

Q: The town, Goose Pimple Junction, is almost another character in the book. Did you base it on any particular place?

A: Thank you! That makes me so happy to hear you say that. The answer is yes and no. Yes, in that the physical structure of the town—the streets, the shops, and the town green--are loosely based on a combination of small towns: Stars Hollow, where the Gilmore Girls was set; a small town in Alabama where my father lives; and my father’s hometown in Eastern Kentucky. On the other hand, no, it’s not based on a particular place in that the personality of the town and its residents (their crazy, zany personalities) came totally out of my weird head.

Q: What can you tell us about the second book in the series, “Heroes And Hooligans In Goose Pimple Junction”?

A: When Murder & Mayhem ends, a state trooper is introduced into the story, and sparks are flying between Johnny and Martha Maye, one of the secondary characters. When Heroes & Hooligans picks up, Johnny has become the new police chief, and Martha Maye’s divorce is becoming final. Life is getting back to normal in Goose Pimple Junction when Martha Maye’s no good soon to be ex-husband shows up, intent on winning her back. There is murder, mayhem, and crazy Southern humor in this second book also, with a stalker, a philandering husband, and a murderer scaring the living daylights out of everyone in town. The hero, Johnny, has his hands full trying to catch the hooligans and trying to woo Martha Maye. I hope readers like being in Goose Pimple Junction as much as I do. There will be more!