Maizie Albright is visiting Ascroft, eh? to tell us about 19 Criminals, the latest novel in the Maizie Albright Star Detective mystery series.

Welcome, Maizie. 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.

Thanks so much for having me on Ascroft, Eh! (Was my inflection okay on the “eh?” We can do a retake, if you want one.)

I live inside a novel? Wait. I get it. This is like a James Lipton, Actors Studio question, right? Maybe you hadn’t heard, but I’m not acting anymore. Most people know me from the starring role in Julia Pinkerton, Teen Detective. And before that, Kung-Fu Kate. Or unfortunately, from the reality show, All Is Albright. I didn’t want to do it, but Vicki Albright, my ex-manager (still-mother) created AIA, so I didn’t have much choice.

Although I do pull from my acting experiences, now I’m an apprentice private investigator. Hust like in Julia Pinkerton, except I’ve grown out of my cheer skirt. I guess by “series,” you mean cases. Since moving home to Black Pine, Georgia, from Hollywood, I’ve had seven big cases and two shorter cases.

The first case began when I lost Wyatt Nash’s—of Nash’s Security Solutions—client’s wife and had to suffer the humiliation of not only telling him, but asking him to help me solve her missing persons case. My latest case had me juggling two cases on my own—one private and one for our new company, Albright Security Solutions. I think I’ve come a long way, baby! (Not to mention my relationship with Nash has gone from reluctant mentor to his leading lady.)

However, my most recent case—dubbed “19 CRIMINALS”—doesn’t have me paired with Nash, but with an 150-pound ferocious bullmastiff named Cuddles. Unfortunately, Cuddles is as suspicious of Nash as I am, but for very different reasons. I think Nash is secretly investigating my father’s company. Cuddles thinks Nash is like his former owner, Brian, who shouldn’t be allowed around people, let alone dogs.

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

More of the Actors Studio-style questions. Okay, I’m always game for some improv!

I believe the “writer” understands my side of the “story” when the case begins. Unfortunately, she doesn’t seem to have any control over my supporting cast. That seems to happen in the first chapter of many of my cases, including 19 CRIMINALS. Nobody—not me or the “writer”—knew Cuddles would team up with me on a case. She thought we were working on a Mr. & Mrs. Smith case, and it became more of a Turner & Hooch!

How did you evolve as the main character?

Throughout my cases, I’d say I’ve grown and matured, although I’m not where I want to be and still anxious to get there! My ex-therapist, Renata, would have a lot to say about that, but she never liked me to quote her to the press.

When I first arrived in Black Pine, my Hollywood star had tarnished. I was on probation due to my ex-fiance’s criminal activities. I’d been in and out of rehab since Julia Pinkerton, Teen Detective was canceled. A judge saw me teetering at the edge of the grown child-actor black hole and created unique probationary requirements: move home to live with my father in Georgia and get a job that had nothing to do with show business. When I did just that by getting a job at Nash Security Solutions, my mother cut up my Black Card and had my Jag repoed (Vicki wasn’t thrilled, to say the least, that I was determined to make it on my own).

To say I knew little about how the “real world” worked is not an understatement. At the same time as I’m learning how to life a non-celebrity lifestyle, I’m learning the investigator ropes.

I’d say I’m a real fish out of water story!

Oh, wait … did you mean “my writer’s” idea for my cases? I think she liked the idea of a fish out of water story paired with a private investigator. *shrugs*

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

I’d say I’m really partial to Wyatt Nash, my PI mentor and now boyfriend. He looks like Dwayne Johnson, except for the little scar near his chin and the tattoo of Jessica Rabbit on his back. The fact that I’m built like Jessica Rabbit and also a ginger probably helped him get over the annoyance of having a celebrity for an apprentice. I fell head over heels for him immediately. But I always get a crush on my costar.

I’m also partial to my new Black Pine BFFs, Rhonda and Tiffany. I met them at LA HAIR when, unfortunately, Nash had me serve a summons to Tiffany while they were working. They love to “keep things real” for me, which can be a somewhat painful form of self-examination. But when my Hollywood star crashed and fell and my old friends abandoned me, Tiffany and Rhonda’s loyalty never wavered.

I’m also glad to live with my dad, Boomer Spayberry, his wife, Carol Lynn (IMHO, the best cook in the whole world), and my six-year-old half-sister Remi. Some might call her precocious. We call her dangerous. I’m not always glad to share the spotlight with my mother, Vicki Albright, mainly because she’d rather I have a real spotlight still on me, but we’re working our new mother-daughter (instead of manager-actor) relationship. I believe in love, laughter, and forgiveness. She still believes in the bottom line, but we’re getting there!

And I definitely don’t like sharing the spotlight with Nash’s ex-wife Jolene. Enough said, there.

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

Black Pine is a beautiful mountain and lake resort town in Georgia. If you’ve ever been to Hiawassee in the North Georgia Mountains, you’ll get the idea. Southern small town charm with mountain-folk grit! Black Pine has grown in the last few years, mainly due to DeerNose, my father’s outdoor recreation apparel company (gets its name from the scent embedded in the fabric). I’d hate to think that something fishy is going on at DeerNose. My father’s little empire has given so many Black Piners jobs and a better standard of living.

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

Readers have called my other cases “a mixture of adventure, mystery, and rom-com.” I think my latest case, 19 CRIMINALS, will appeal to not only fans of murder mysteries and chick lit-styled romantic comedies, but to dog lovers, too. Especially lovers of gigantic, slobbery dogs who prefer fast food and naps.

Thank you for answering my questions, Maizie, and good luck to you and your author, Larissa Reinhart, with 19 Criminals, the latest book in the Maizie Albright Star Detective mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Maizie and her author, Larissa Reinhart by visiting the author’s website and newsletter, as well as her Facebook and Bookbub pages.

The novel is available at the following online retailers:

Amazon    Universal Book Link    Apple   Kobo   Nook

About Larissa Reinhart: A Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Larissa loves to tell funny stories about sassy Southern women looking for love (and sometimes dead bodies) in all the wrong places, like in her international award-winning Cherry Tucker Mystery, Maizie Albright Star Detective, and Finley Goodhart Crime Caper series. You might have seen Larissa and her family with their little dog, Biscuit, on HGTV’s House Hunters International “Living for the Weekend in Nagoya” episode. They’re back in Georgia where Biscuit has a bigger yard and now barks at deer instead of crows.