Michele Pariza Wacek, author of The Mysterious Case of the Missing House, the latest novel in the Redemption Detective Agency mysteries series, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today.

Welcome, Michele.

Tell us about your novel. Is it part of a series? If so, please tell us about the series too. The Mysterious Case of the Missing House is book 4 of The Redemption Detective Agency, which is a light, funny cozy mystery series with silver sleuths, pet detectives and a touch of romance that takes place in the 1990s in small town Wisconsin (Redemption, Wisconsin). While the mysteries themselves are standalone, the character and relationship build off each book, so for that reason I would recommend starting at the beginning of the series. In this book, Emily has a difficult to decision she has to make along with trying to locate a house that has gone missing.

Where did the idea for the mystery that is central to the story come from? From Grosse Pointe Blank, which is an old John Cusak movie. Cusak plays a professional assassin who has to do a job in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, which is also his hometown. While he’s there, he decides to attend his 10 year high school reunion along with visiting his mother and his childhood home.

He pulls up to the curb, only to discover his house is gone and there’s convenience store in its place.

He runs inside and accosts the poor clerk, demanding to know what happened to his house. Of course, the clerk knows nothing about it, but the whole scene is very funny. I thought it would be fun to do my own version of that scene.

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

In dream symbolism, houses represent the self. So if you lose your house or are missing a house, you’ve really lost your self. In The Mysterious Case of the Missing House, it’s not so much that the characters have lost themselves but that they didn’t really ever know themselves. Meli, whose house is the one that’s missing, ends up learning some difficult truths about herself. Her journey mirrors Emily, our main character, who also has to make some tough choices based on what she thinks she wants.

How do you create your characters? Do you have favourite ones? If so, why are you partial to them? My characters tend to simply show up. While I do like Emily a lot, Charlie Kingsley is probably my favorite as she was my most persistent. She absolutely had stories she wanted me to tell, and she didn’t stop talking to me until I told them.

How do you bring to life the place you are writing about? I grew up in Wisconsin, and Redemption, Wisconsin, is also inspired by the town where my parents had a cabin on the lake that we used to visit in summers.

What research do you do to provide background information to help you write the novel? I don’t do a lot of research, but I do try and get facts right, so I’ll look up laws or what was available in the 1990s (as my cozy books all take place in the 1990s).

Is there anything else you’d like to tell readers about the book? The Redemption Detective Agency is for you if you love fun and funny cozy mysteries with senior sleuths, pet detectives, quirky characters and romance. The mysteries begin as ridiculous but end with a twist.

Thank you for answering my questions, Michele, and good luck with The Mysterious Case of the Missing House, the latest book in the Redemption Detective Agency mystery series.

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

The novel is available at  Amazon 

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.)