Kat Lawson is visiting Ascroft, eh? to tell us about Murder on the Med, the latest novel in the Kat Lawson mystery series.

Welcome, Kat. Let’s get started, shall we?

Tell us about the novel that you live inside. Is it part of a series? If so, please tell us about the series too.

My name is Kat Lawson, and I never intended to end up writing travel features, much less working undercover for the FBI. Up until 1996, I was a successful investigative reporter, working for the Phoenix Gazette, a daily newspaper in Phoenix, Arizona until I was fired for an inappropriate relationship with my boss. Him, they promoted. Me, they fired. Which was bad enough, but when the two major papers in the market merged, I was out of luck as far as finding another job.

At the time, my father was sick and wanted me to do him a favor. He had been a WW2 Navigator/bombardier aboard a B24 and was shot down toward the end of the war. He wanted me to go back to Hungary to find the people who had rescued him and his crew and thank them.

To make a long story short, I accepted my dad’s offer and found out a whole lot more about him and things that had gone on during the war than I bargained for. The Navigator’s Daughter, book one in the series, changed my life and started me on a trek I never would have imagined. And for reasons I won’t get into now—spoiler alert—got the attention of the FBI who approached me about working for them as a travel writer for a publication they use from time to time as a cover for agents on assignment. They made it sound all so simple. I wasn’t to be an agent. I was merely to be eyes and ears on locations where a travel writer wouldn’t stand out or cause any undo concern. My job was to simply deliver a message. Pick up a message. And along the way write a nice little travel feature for the magazine.

It all sounded easy enough…until it wasn’t.

Does the writer control what happens in the story, or do you get a say too?

That’s a good question because the events I’m asked to cover are related to actual historical events, and I’m frequently uncovering little-known facts and people that could change how we remember things. For that reason, I would have to say my creator Nancy Cole Silverman, has allowed me to think on my feet, and because once I get my teeth into an assignment, there’s no stopping me.

How did you evolve as the main character?

Because I work on my own, I had to develop a sense of autonomy. I’m frequently in a foreign country and on my own, and experience has taught me that as exciting and sometimes romantic as some of the places I’ve visited can be, I need to be careful with whom I trust. Consequently, I have trust issues, particularly when it comes to men.

Do you have any other characters you like sharing the story with? If so, why are you partial to them?

As a travel writer, I’m on my own a lot, and very seldom do I end up working with the same people. My FBI handler, Sophie Brill, is an older woman whom I have great respect for, but find a bit brittle, and chilly. I wouldn’t say we are friends, but after some close calls, like those I encountered in Passport to Spy, she’s learning to trust me.

What’s the place like where you find yourself in this story?

Currently, I’m on what is supposed to be a pleasure cruise. Not every assignment I get is to snoop around. Sometimes, I’m just asked to write a travel feature about some exotic place the magazine covers. This time, Journey International has asked me to cover a story about the Athena, a luxury cruise ship owned by one of the world’s richest men and designed to be a retirement community at sea. We’re sailing the Amalfi Coast. The weather, the water…it’s picture perfect. But the people? I’m beginning to suspect these senior citizens have decided to trade their pension plans for pirating across the Mediterranean, and things are getting dicey!

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

Ever since I lost my job at the newspaper, I’ve been looking for a way to get back to working for a major daily paper. I’ve always looked at this job with Journey International as a temporary gig, but I’m beginning to think I’m hooked on the excitement of the assignment and that I’ll never be able to go back to the newsroom again.

Thank you for answering my questions, Kat, and good luck to you and your author, Nancy Cole Silverman, with Murder on the Med, the latest book in the Kat Lawson mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Kat and her author, Nancy Cole Silverman by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook and Goodreads pages. You can also follow her on Threads.

The novel is available online at  Amazon

About Nancy Cole Silverman: Nancy spent nearly twenty-five years in news and talk radio before retiring to write fiction. Silverman’s award-winning short stories and crime-focused novels, the Carol Childs and Misty Dawn Mysteries (Henry Press), are based in Los Angeles, while her newest series, the Kat Lawson Mysteries (Level Best Books), takes a more international approach. Kat Lawson, a former investigative reporter has gone undercover for the FBI as a feature writer for a travel publication. Expect lots of international intrigue, vivid descriptions of small European villages, great food, lost archives, and non-stop action. Silverman lives in Los Angeles with her husband and thoroughly pampered standard poodle, Paris.