TJ Stanley, author of Crime Quiz, a cosy mystery on a cruise, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today.

Welcome, Tracy.

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

Crime Quiz is a cosy mystery set on a cruise ship in Australia.

It’s the first novel I’ve written under my own name. Friends and family have been encouraging me to come out from under my nom de plume or pen name, Jane Ellyson for a while. And now I have.

It’s not part of a series–well, not at the moment. Let’s wait and see what readers say about the novel and where my imagination takes me.

By way of back story, last December I went on my first cruise, a round trip from Sydney to Hobart. I was curious about the cruise experience, with a husband who dislikes anything on-water, I went alone. This cruise was also a Literary Festival with fantastic speakers such as Fiona McIntosh and Alexander McCall Smith which was actually the main driver for me signing up.

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

A cruise ship is a contained space and a perfect setting for a mystery, as the guilty party cannot easily escape.

I have my friend Debbie to thank for the idea for the opening scene in Crime Quiz. She’d just returned from a cruise off the coast of Western Australia where the passengers were woken at five in the morning by an announcement from the captain that five people had died overnight.

At first, I didn’t believe her, who would do that? I then laughed, before thinking about all the gossip that must have spread faster than a pandemic the following day. It got me thinking and then, when a week later I went on my first cruise, which happened to be hosting a literary festival, the idea took on a life of its own.

The literary festival had workshops, and I attended one on ‘How to plot a novel’ run by Graeme Simsion, author of the bestselling book The Rosie Project.  It made sense to think up a story in the workshop where I could start applying what I was learning. There’d been lots of jokes about crimes on cruise ships and as I was so close to the location, it made sense to start here.

Is there a theme or subject that underlies the story? If so, what prompted you to write about it?

There were several themes.

Firstly, and perhaps obviously, Who-done-it…

There’s a potential crime or two to be investigated. Not surprising for a book in the cosy mystery genre. So, how do you investigate and solve problems in real life, and when you’re writing a crime mystery? We have a ship full of sleuths and writers of crime fiction.

Secrets, careers and identity

There are things about our past we’d rather other people didn’t know. Perhaps we feel ashamed by something that’s happened in our personal or professional life? As you read Crime Quiz you are at times prompted to reflect on the importance of status in your life.

Friendship and Love

New friends meet together each evening over dinner and through the many activities available to passengers, both on and off the ship. Friendships develop from open conversations and shared experiences.

There’s also a love story. The TV series The Love Boat was a big hit in the last 70s and mid 80s, and many of the viewers are still around and are avid readers.

I wanted Crime Quiz to be fun and light, the type of book people read on holidays particularly those who like to go on cruises.

How do you create your characters? Do you have favourite ones? If so, why are you partial to them?

A social-lite, a social worker and a vicar meet in a bar…

I wanted to create three core characters who meet in the opening scenes and then every day at the same table for dinner, as indeed I did on the cruise.  I wanted them to have different ages, genders and social status. As I had a scene in the story where passengers played Cluedo, it made sense to create three characters that aligned with the characters in the game and who could be both, a detective and a potential criminal.

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

It’s always best to visit a place that is the setting for your story. This provides the opportunity to observe the small things which for this novel was the detail of the dining room table settings, the clinking of cutlery or the sound of a string quartet on the stairwell near the library. There’s also the Daily Program of events to review on a cruise.  I also benefited from taking a tour to Mount Wellington, a very chilly experience and walking around the city centre of Hobart, both of which featured in Crime Quiz.

As an author you note how you’re feeling. I remember being exhilarated as the ship I was on departed Sydney Harbour on a clear sky as the sun was setting. I tried to reflect these feelings and bring this wonderful experience onto the written page.

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

I do a great deal of online research, even if I’ve visited the location. Aren’t Google and YouTube wonderful!

In Crime Quiz, I needed to learn what a behind the scenes tour of a ship would look like as I didn’t have time to do it on the cruise I was on.  There were a few wonderful videos online which made it feel like I’d been on the tour.

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

Obviously, I hope that they’ll read it and then tell what they thought. They may even have their own curious cruise story to share with me.  I’d love to hear from them and can be reached by email on tracy.stanleyu21 (at) gmail.com

Thank you for answering my questions, Tracy, and good luck with Crime Quiz, a cosy mystery on a cruise.

Readers can learn more about TJ Stanley by visiting the author’s website.

The novel is available online at  Amazon

About TJ Stanley: Tracy Stanley has been in love with storytelling since she left university in 1984.

In 2017, she started publishing, and as of August 2025, Tracy has independently published fifteen books across five genres, including business books, travel memoirs, cosy mysteries, romantic suspense, and action-adventure novels. These last two genres have been written under the pen name of Jane Ellyson.

Her writing approach for novels recognises that creativity in storytelling comes from mixing the familiar with a twist, combining comfort and intrigue.

Tracy is Australian and lives in Brisbane.