Maggie Blackburn, author of A Killer Romance, the latest novel in the Beach Reads mysteries series, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today.

Welcome, Maggie.

Tell us about your novel. Is it part of a series? If so, please tell us about the series too.

The Beach Read series takes place in a bookstore called Beach Reads. My main character is a Shakespeare scholar who returns home when her mother dies and leave the bookstore to her. In this book, she’s been back awhile and is in charge of the store.

Where did the idea for the mystery that is central to the story come from?

I really have no idea. It just came to me.

Is there a theme or subject that underlies the story?

The whole series follows summer in her grief journey. And as with all my books as Mollie Cox Bryan, a community of women is central to healing, for support, and to get things done.

If so, what prompted you to write about it?

I think the setting prompted me. A bookstore at the beach…

How do you create your characters? I think my characters are bits and pieces of all the people I’ve met and characters I’ve read. Do you have favorite ones? I think Beatrice Matthews in my first series (Cumberland Creek) is my favorite. She was in her 80s and healthy and strong. She had a boisterous personality, too! Says her mind!

If so, why are you partial to them? I think I aspire to be Beatrice in my old age.

How do you bring to life the place you are writing about?

I have a very, very, vivid imagination. If I get stuck, I lookout YouTube videos and the like.

What research do you do to provide background information to help you write the novel?

I try to get the legal aspects correct, so I’m constantly researching that aspect. And, of course, the murder weapon has to be plausible.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell readers about the book?

This book has a Valentine’s Day theme.

Thank you for answering my questions, Maggie, and good luck with A Killer Romance, the latest book in the Beach Reads mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Maggie Blackburn by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook, Instagram and TikTok pages. You can also follow her on Twitter.

The novel is available at the following online retailers:

Amazon – B&N – Bookshop.org

About Maggie Blackburn: Maggie Blackburn is the pen name for bestselling mystery author Mollie Cox Bryan, who writes cozy mysteries with edge. She’s the author of several bestselling mystery series Her books have been selected as finalists for an Agatha Award and a Daphne du Maurier Award and as a Top 10 Beach Reads by Woman’s World. She has also been short-listed for the Virginia Library People’s Choice Award.  She’s also penned a historical mystery under the name of Mollie Ann Cox. She lives in Crozet, Va. and is the mother of two grown, nearly perfect daughters.