Charlie Kingsley and Emily Hildebrandt are visiting Ascroft, eh? to tell us about A Mysterious Christmas Collection. As A Mysterious Christmas Collection has 2 Christmas cozy mysteries in it (one from The Charlie Kingsley Mysteries and one from The Redemption Detective Agency) the author has decided to let both main characters share a few words. (CK for Charlie Kinglsey and EH for Emily Hildebrandt from The Redemption Detective Agency.)

Welcome, Charlie and Emily. 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.

CK: Yes it’s not only part of the Charlie Kingsley Mysteries but it’s a crossover story with The Redemption Detective Agency series. Both series take place in Redemption, Wisconsin, in the 1990s. And this one features one of my favorite things to do, which is bake!

EH: My series is apparently a spin off from The Charlie Kingsley Mysteries. I’m new to Redemption, I’ve only been here a few months after my life imploded, but my aunt Tilde and Mildred have both lived in Redemption all of their lives and both of them know Charlie well. Charlie being an amateur sleuth apparently inspired Aunt Tilde to start her own detective agency. It’s been…interesting, although I do wish Charlie had inspired Aunt Tilde to be a little more focused on revenue rather than just solving mysteries.

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

CK: She tries, but usually when that’s when she gets things wrong.

EH: I think Charlie gets more of a pass than I do. Charlie has been with Michele for a really long time. I’m fairly new and I’m not sure I get as much leeway as Charlie does.

How did you evolve as the main character?

CK: A lot of my evolution happened in my original series, The Secrets of Redemption. That had my origin story (which is a little…dark. Especially for a cozy). Now I’m mostly working on my own Redemption story arc as I have a lot to atone for.

EH: I’m in the middle of that and I’m not happy. Michele has assured me I’ll be happy at the end, but I don’t know why I have to go through all of this messiness first. I was perfectly happy in my old life. I had everything organized and planned out, and now I’m constantly in chaos. Ugh.

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

CK: Pat is my best friend and I absolutely love solving crimes with her. Officer Brandon Wyle…well, things are complicated there and about to get more so. Not so much with this book but the next one, Arson, Old Lace and Murder.

EH: It’s kind of a love/hate relationship. While in so many ways Aunt Tilde, Mildred and Nora are my found family, they also drive me nuts. And let’s not even talk about Nick…

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

CH: It’s the calm before the storm. The next book, Arson, Old Lace and Murder, is going to be a catalyst to a lot of changes (along with Book 9 that will also be coming out in 2026). This story is a fun, Christmas diversion before things get serious.

EH: Same here. I’ve got my own big decisions to make, which is what The Mysterious Case of the Missing House is about (which is the next book) but this story is fun side trip.

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

CH: It you like Christmas mysteries, this collection is dripping with Christmas.

EH: And cookies. There’s even family Christmas cookie recipes that Charlie bakes. And of course there’s dogs and cats—a little something for everyone.

Thank you for answering my questions, Charlie and Emily, and good luck to you and your author, Michele Pariza Wacek, with A Mysterious Christmas Collection.

The collection is available online at Amazon.

Readers can learn more about Charlie and Emily, and their author, Michele Pariza Wacek by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook and Instagram pages.

About Michele Pariza Wacek: A USA Today Bestselling, award-winning author, Michele taught herself to read at 3 years old because she wanted to write stories so badly. It took some time (and some detours) but she does spend much of her time writing stories now. Mystery stories, to be exact. They’re clean and twisty, and range from psychological thrillers to cozies, with a dash of romance and supernatural thrown into the mix. If that wasn’t enough, she posts lots of fun things on her blog, including short stories, puzzles, recipes and more, at MPWNovels.com.

Michele grew up in Wisconsin, (hence why all her books take place there), and still visits regularly, but she herself escaped the cold and now lives in the mountains of Prescott, Arizona with her husband and southern squirrel hunter Cassie.

When she’s not writing, she’s usually reading, hanging out with her dog, or watching the Food Network and imagining she’s an awesome cook. (Spoiler alert, she’s not. Luckily for the whole family, Mr. PW is in charge of the cooking.)