Valued for Murder

Posted on June 15, 2022 by Dianne Ascroft

Dorothy Sayers is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to tell us about Valued for Murder, the latest novel in the Dotty Sayers Antique mystery series.

Welcome, Dotty. 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.

Hi, I’m Dorothy Sayers, although I prefer being called Dotty.  I’m the main character in the cozy mystery, Valued for Murder.  This is the 2nd book in the Dotty Sayers Antique Mystery series, the first being Fake Death.

The books are about me, as a shy amateur sleuth, stumbling across murders in my new job at Akemans antiques and auction house.

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

My writer, Victoria Tait, chooses the theme for the story, based around my personal development and growth, and my increasing knowledge and experience in the antiques world.

She finds a victim, a setting and some suspects and allows the story to unfold from there.  I know I, and the other characters, often surprise her and the story heads in an unexpected direction.  But that’s fun and spontaneous.

How did you evolve as the main character?

I was a shy, nervous soul as I’d spent my life dominated by my father and then my husband.  When my husband died, I had to learn to be independent, and I fell into a job at a local auction house.  The theme of each book follows my growth, both personally and at work, while I learn about antiques and solve some murders along the way.

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

I wasn’t too sure about some of the other characters to start with, but as my confidence has grown, alongside my job at Akemans, I’ve come to enjoy their company and value their advice.

At Akemans, Gilly Wimsey is a mother-like figure making sure I’m OK.  David Rook, at Akemans, and Aunt Beanie, my landlady, are mentor figures, providing advice and guidance, and Keya, Constable Varma, is developing into a fun, if slightly clumsy, friend.

I also love my British blue cat, Earl Grey, who I adopted in the Fake Death.

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

The story is set in the wonderful English Cotswolds, and I’m so lucky to be living and working in such a beautiful area.  I love driving along the top of the rolling hills and through the honey-coloured stone villages.  Akemans antiques centre is converted from a three-storey flour mill and still has the wooden mill wheel, sitting in the River Coln which runs alongside Akemans to the nearby village of Coln Akeman.

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

If you’d like to start at the beginning of my story, and the Dotty Sayers Antique Mystery series, you can download the free prequel Hour is Come, by visting my website www.VictoriaTait.com.

Thank you for answering my questions, Dotty, and good luck to you and your author, Victoria Tait, with Valued for Murder, the latest book in the Dotty Sayers Antique mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Dotty and her author, Victoria Tait by visiting the author’s website and her Goodreads, Bookbub, Instagram and Pinterest pages.

The novel is available online at Amazon 

About Victoria Tait: Victoria was born and raised in Yorkshire, UK, and never expected to travel the world.  But she fell for an Army Officer, and she has followed him from Northern Ireland, up to the Scottish Highlands, across to Africa and the Kenyan Savannah, back to the British Cotswolds, and they are now living in Sarajevo, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Southern Europe.

She never expected to be an author, but all their moving is not ideal for holding down a job.  Instead, she has taken the experiences of the places she has lived to write vivid and evocative cozy mystery books with determined female sleuths.

She has two fast-growing teenage boys, and together they have learnt to ski on the Bosnian mountains.  She also enjoys horse riding, mountain biking and she has started running as a way to improve her physical fitness, mental wellbeing and shed some excess pounds.

Posted in Archives, June 2022 | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Bayou Book Thief

Posted on June 8, 2022 by Dianne Ascroft

Miracle Fleur de Lis James-Diaz is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to tell us about Bayou Book Thief, the latest novel in the Vintage Cookbook mystery series. Her friends call her Ricki.

Welcome, Ricki. 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.

Hi – I’m Miracle Fleur de Lis James-Diaz. But my friends call me Ricki. You’ll find me inside the new mystery, Bayou Book Thief, which is the first book in the new Vintage Cookbook Mystery series. After losing my estranged my husband to a stupid internet challenge, I’m now a 28-year-old widow. I also lost my job managing a billionaire’s collection of first editions when he was arrested for running a Ponzi scheme. So I’ve moved back to New Orleans, where I was born, and I’ve opened a shop selling vintage cookbooks and kitchenware at Bon Vee Culinary House Museum in New Orleans’ Garden District. But I’m thrust into sleuthing when a sticky-fingered coworker is found murdered with a vintage kitchen item from my own shop.

The series follows my journey as I put down roots in New Orleans – launching a new business, making new friends… and perhaps even a new romance. And now that I’m in the city where I was born, I hope to track down the teen girl who disappeared from Charity Hospital after giving birth to me and find out what I can about my birth family on both sides. I adore my adoptive mom and dad, Josepha and Luis James-Diaz, and really appreciate how they’re supporting me on my journey. But pesky murders keep getting in the way of everything! Given how overwhelmed NOPD is these days, I find myself doing a lot of amateur sleuthing to save my friends from being falsely accused of crimes.

Does the writer control what happens in the story or do you get a say too? My writer keeps me on a pretty tight leash, lol! Because of her TV background, she’s an outliner. But I let her know when she’s off base and she listens to me.

How did you evolve as the main character? My author did something she’d never done before. She can’t remember how she happened upon it, but she found a really detailed character chart she used to develop me. Character Chart for Fiction Writers – EpiGuide.com. But as she wrote me, I asserted some of my own personality and she found new aspects to me that went beyond the extensive development she’d already done. It was fun!

Do you have any other characters you like sharing the story with? If so, why are you partial to them? I really like my new friends Zellah, Cookie, and Lyla. Zellah is a talented artist who runs the café at Bon Vee where I work. She’s also got a great B.S. detector and I really trust her opinions. I didn’t think I’d like Cookie, who’s kind of self-involved, but she’s funny and totally honest about who she is and what she wants from life. She calls herself a “recovering children’s librarian” and insists she is over children. But she’s wonderful with them. And Lyla’s both my boss and friend. She’s older, in her mid-40s, and has a teenage daughter who tests her on a daily basis. The stories she tells us!

What’s the place like where you find yourself in this story? I’ve just opened my shop and I’m both incredibly excited and nervous. I have a great collection of vintage cookbooks from all decades of the twentieth century – and even older. And some great vintage kitchenware. But I’m hoping my past doesn’t haunt me. My husband was an internet star. He changed his name from Chris to Chris-azy! and made a lot of fans doing his dumb stunts, so his death got a lot of attention. So did my boss Lachlan Barnes’ arrest. I’m trying to fly under the radar in the Big Easy. But between my notorious past and the murder of a tour guide I kicked out of my store for shoplifting, under the radar goes out the window.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell readers about you and the book? Not only do you get to visit New Orleans vicariously and see if you can solve two murders, each book in the series includes recipes my author adopted from her very own vintage cookbook collection. If you’d like Greta Garbo’s recipe for Swedish Salad from the Photoplay Cook Book [sic] of 1928, this is the book for you!

Thank you for answering my questions, Ricki, and good luck to you and your author, Ellen Byron, with Bayou Book Thief, the latest book in the Vintage Cookbook mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Ricki and her author, Ellen Byron by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook, Goodreads, Bookbub, and Instagram pages.

The novel is available at the following online retailers:

Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Google Books – Alibris – IndieBound – PenguinRandomHouse

About Ellen Byron: Ellen’s Cajun Country Mysteries have won the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel and multiple Lefty Awards for Best Humorous Mystery. Bayou Book Thief will be the first book in her new Vintage Cookbook Mysteries. She also writes the Catering Hall Mystery series under the name Maria DiRico.

Ellen is an award-winning playwright, and non-award-winning TV writer of comedies like Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly Odd Parents. She has written over two hundred articles for national magazines but considers her most impressive credit working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart. An alum of New Orleans’ Tulane University, she blogs with Chicks on the Case, is a lifetime member of the Writers Guild of America and will be the 2023 Left Coast Crime Toastmaster. 

Posted in Archives, June 2022 | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

The Physicists’ Daughter

Posted on June 7, 2022 by Dianne Ascroft

Justine Byrne and Georgette Broussard are visiting Ascroft, eh? today to tell us about The Physicist’s Daughter by Mary Anna Evans.

Welcome, Justine Byrne and Georgette Broussard. 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.

Justine: We just met, but we’ll be best friends forever. Sometimes, you meet somebody and you just know. In The Physicists’ Daughter, the first in a series of historical mysteries set during World War II, you’ll read about the factory where Georgette and I met, a place where people build airplanes and boats that Allied troops use to fight the war. And we also make…well, Georgette and I aren’t sure what we’re building.

Georgette: Justine thinks our boss is lying to us about that. Knowing Sonny like I do, I think she’s probably right.

Justine: No kidding.

Georgette: Every day, we take a bus out of New Orleans to a big, modern industrial plant that sits right on the bank of a bayou, with an airstrip out back. We bolt together little gadgets made out of metal and some kind of black stuff—

Justine: Carbon. They’re made out of carbon. Some of our friends machine the carbon blanks to incredibly tight specifications..

Georgette: Yeah, what she said. She’s the one that studied physics and math and stuff.

Justine: Well, nobody expects a woman to know anything about physics, and that works in our favor. Because somebody, probably a German spy, is sabotaging our work. If that person had any idea that we suspected trouble, we could be in a lot of danger.

Georgette: So it’s a good thing people think women are dumb?

Justine: No, not at all. In this case, though, that might work to our advantage.

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

Justine: Mary Anna’s a bit of a scientist, too, so she likes to have a plan. She researched 1944 New Orleans, so she could make a realistic setting for us. She read up on a particular branch of physics in 1944—I can’t tell you what it is—and she even found some blueprints that were Top Secret back then. But it’s really hard for her to stay in charge. We have our own minds.

Georgette: We go where we like to go, and we do what we like to do.

Justine: You can say that again.

Georgette: Nobody tells me what to do.

How did you evolve as the main character?

Justine: Mary Anna knew that she wanted to write about a woman who knows science but is living at a time when nobody around her expected her to know it. I grew out of that idea. Both of my late parents had doctorates in physics, and so does my godmother Gloria. Mary Anna also knew that I wouldn’t have been especially popular at the girls’ school I attended. When the book begins, I’m in a hard situation and I’m alone, since my parents have died and I’m struggling to support myself and to save for a future when the soldiers will come home, sending me back low-paying “woman’s” jobs for the rest of my life. I’ve never had a friend like Georgette. Getting to know her helps me grow in ways that Mary Anna would never have expected when she started writing the book.

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

Georgette: Other than me? Yeah, she probably does. She sure likes that bookworm Charles. He spends a lot of time with her but, for some reason, he never gets around to asking her out. And I can’t blame her for paying a little attention to Martin. He ain’t as smart as her and Charles, but he’s got quite the body on him!

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

Justine: Well, we’ve already told you about the factory where we work, so maybe I’ll tell you about the place inside my head where I can admit to myself that I’m really scared. In The Physicists’ Daughter, I use so many things my parents taught me to solve the mystery of who’s sabotaging our work. I decipher a coded message. I find evidence that important parts of our factory were sabotaged.

Georgette: You also break up a bar fight with a dress shoe.

Justine: That’s true, but maybe it’s beside the point.

Georgette: If you say so.

Justine: I guess I’m trying to say that, in the end, I don’t have all the evidence. I have to act. I have to trust my instincts. And that’s a scary place for a physicist to be.

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

Justine: I’ve never known anybody like Georgette. She strong and smart and brave and loyal. She’s a great friend, and I think you’ll like her.

Georgette: I think you’ll like Justine, too, if you go for eggheads that use words like “neutronium” and “ion stream” and “urani-whatever.”

Justine: Hey! I’m not that bad!

Georgette: Oh, you’re exactly that bad. But you took me with you on an adventure that a little girl from Des Allemands could never have dreamed of. And maybe I helped you out a little, too.

Justine and Georgette: Come to 1944 New Orleans and watch us stop an enemy spy. Because the Nazis are no match for the physicists’ daughter.

Thank you for answering my questions, Justine and Georgette, and good luck to you and your author, Mary Anna Evans, with The Physicists’ Daughter

Readers can learn more about Justine and Georgette and their author, Mary Anna Evans by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook, Goodreads, Bookbub, and Instagram pages. You can also follow her on Twitter.

The novel is available at the following online retailers:

Bookshop   IndieBound    Barnes and Noble    Amazon      Booksamillion     Nook     Kindle     Kobo

About Mary Anna Evans: Mary is the author of The Physicists’ Daughter, the first in her series of WWII-era historical suspense novels featuring Rosie-the-Riveter-turned-codebreaker Justine Byrne. Her thirteen Faye Longchamp archaeological mysteries have received recognition including the Benjamin Franklin Award, a Will Rogers Medallion Award Gold Medal, the Oklahoma Book Award, and three Florida Book Awards bronze medals. She is an associate professor at the University of Oklahoma, where she teaches fiction and nonfiction writing, including mystery and suspense writing. Her work has appeared in publications including Plots with Guns, The Atlantic, Florida Heat Wave, Dallas Morning News, and The Louisville Review. Her scholarship on crime fiction, which centers on Agatha Christie’s evolving approach over her long career to the ways women experienced justice in the twentieth century, has appeared in the Bloomsbury Handbook to Agatha Christie (coming September 22, 2022), which she co-edited, and in Clues: A Journal of Detection. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Rutgers-Camden, and she is a licensed Professional Engineer. She is at work on the second Justine Byrne novel, The Physicists’ Enigma.

Posted in June 2022 | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Lies, Spies and a Baker’s Surprise

Posted on May 31, 2022 by Dianne Ascroft

Terry Ambrose, author of Lies, Spies and the Baker’s Surprise, a Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mystery, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to tell us about the inspiration for the storyline for his Seaside Cove series.  

Welcome, Terry. I’ll turn the floor over to you –

We recently visited Cabrillo National Monument, a national park in San Diego. Our visit reminded me of why I chose the San Mañuel storyline for the Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mystery series.

The statue of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo commemorates the arrival of the first Europeans in San Diego

The park is home to a statue of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, the man credited with being the first European to set foot on the West Coast of the United States. Cabrillo arrived in San Diego in 1542. By today’s standards, he and his crew were sailing on rickety ships, had poor navigation, and inaccurate instruments. Let’s not forget the diseases. Or the indigenous peoples they met. Some of whom took a dislike to the strange intruders. In fact, Cabrillo died just north of San Diego in the Channel Islands after a skirmish in which one of his bones was shattered. But his voyage, and the other explorers of his time, paved the way for international commerce.

That’s one reason the Old Point Loma Lighthouse was so important. The lighthouse operated from 1855 to 1891 and helped sailors avoid the treacheries of sailing near the California coast. There are hundreds of ships that didn’t avoid those treacheries, however, and their skeletons lie on the ocean floor, scattered up and down the entire coast.

Within two decades after Cabrillo’s arrival in San Diego, Spain’s Manilla galleons began their ascent to a 250-year reign as the premier trading vessels of their day. The galleons carried gold and silver to the Far East. They returned laden with silks, spices, and other exotic goods. While those voyages could be quite lucrative, they could also lead to a tragic end.

Which brings me back to the San Mañuel storyline. The San Mañuel is a fictional example of a four-hundred-year-old sunken Manilla galleon. Its discovery provided me the opportunity to convey the dangers of sailing near the coast in those early days, and the trouble such a discovery can bring today.

Many of those ships lying on the ocean floor are now a diver’s delight, but a wreck like the San Mañuel would be a magnet for treasure hunters. And trouble. After all, we’re talking about a find that could be worth millions, if not billions, of dollars.

I hope you’ll join me in Seaside Cove. Not for the treasure, but for the stories of the people who live there. It’s a fascinating little town. A place that’s fast becoming known as the little town where murder meets the sea.

Thank you for sharing the inspiration behind the storyline for the series, Terry, and good luck with Lies, Spies and a Baker’s Surprise, a Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mystery.

Readers can learn more about Terry Ambrose by visiting the author’s website and his Facebook, Goodreads, BookBub, and Instagram pages. Readers can also follow him on Twitter.

The novel is available online at Amazon.

About Terry Ambrose: Once upon a time, in a life he’d rather forget, Terry Ambrose, tracked down deadbeats for a living. He also hired big guys with tow trucks to steal cars—but only when negotiations failed. Those years of chasing deadbeats taught him many valuable life lessons such as—always keep your car in the garage.

Terry has written eighteen books, several of which have been award finalists. In 2014, his thriller, “Con Game,” won the San Diego Book Awards for Best Action-Thriller. His series include the Trouble in Paradise McKenna Mysteries, the Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mysteries, and the License to Lie thriller series.

Posted in Archives, May 2022 | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Old Bones and Ice Cream Cones

Posted on May 26, 2022 by Dianne Ascroft

Elizabeth Pantley, author of Old Bones and Ice Cream Cones, a Destiny Falls Mystery & Magic (Book 6), is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to give us some tips for how to write a mystery.

Welcome, Elizabeth. I’ll turn the floor over to you –

One day you say to yourself, I read so many cozy mysteries. I’d love to write one! The thought percolates and grows. But how do you even begin?

There are many articles and books about the technical approach to writing. How to make a plot outline, build characters, create a setting. This article isn’t about any of that. It’s about getting off the ground and beginning to make your dream come true when you’ve never done anything like this before.

Everyone is different, of course. But if you’ve never written a book before, here are some tips for getting started from scratch.

First, You Read

Pick two or three of your favorite books and read them again. But his time, read to learn. Pay attention to more than just the story and take lots of notes. How does the author keep your attention from page to page? How does each chapter end, and each new one begin? What sentences grab you, make you laugh, or cause you to gasp? How does the dialog flow when characters are speaking versus the narration portions of the story? How does the author describe each new character – it’s more than listing height and eye color! How does the author describe the settings? What ways make it interesting to learn about a new character or place?

Examine your Reading History

What kind of books fill your collection? Plan to write a book in the genre of those you read most. If you mainly read books about witches, don’t write a book about dragons! Write what you know, and what you enjoy reading. Your book will have more meaning and writing will be easier.

Don’t Fight a Blank White Screen

It’s unlikely you’ll pen a bestseller from the first word on a blank page. It can be overwhelming to begin from nothing. A better plan might be to come up with a basic person and place, then a rough plot line.

Who is the main character? Where does she live? Who are the people in her circle of family and friends? Once you figure that out, plan a murder! That can be the fun part. Who gets murdered, why and who did it? Once you have these basics you can approach your book in a way that feels right to you. Some people enjoy a complete chapter-by-chapter outline, others prefer to be a “pantser” – writing page-by-page by the seat of their pants and letting their creativity flow.

Be Flexible

You might start out believing you’re a free-flowing writer but get stalled every day without a clear path. If that happens, try writing out your plot chapter by chapter and see how that feels. Until you begin you won ‘t really know what’s best for you.

To be a Writer you Must Write!

Set a plan or schedule for yourself. It might be an hour a day, or even just four hours over the weekends. Build a plan that works within your real life. If your goal is too lofty it might scare you away.

Then don’t be afraid to add more hours if things are going well and you have the time. The more you write, the easier it will get!

Read and Learn

Once you get rolling that’s the time to read some articles and books about writing a mystery. There’s so much to learn, so don’t get bogged down by doing too much research. Writing is your top priority. You can always edit later to make your manuscript better!

If you’re thinking it could take you a year to write a book, you’re right! It might take a year. But a year from now you’ll either have your book written, or you’ll still be thinking about maybe, someday you might write one. So, go ahead. Get started. Good luck!

Thank you for your advice for getting started writing cozy mysteries, Elizabeth, and good luck with Old Bones and Ice Cream Cones, a Destiny Falls Mystery & Magic (Book 6).

Readers can learn more about Elizabeth Pantley by visiting the author’s website and blog, and her Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram and Pinterest pages.

The novel is available online at  Amazon

About Elizabeth Pantley: Elizabeth says that writing the Destiny Falls Mystery and Magic book series is the most fun she’s ever had at work. Fans of the series say her joy is evident through the stories she tells. Elizabeth is also the internationally bestselling author of The No-Cry Sleep Solution and twelve other books for parents. Her books have been published in over twenty languages. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, the beautiful inspiration for the enchanted Destiny Falls world.

Posted in Archives, May 2022 | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Not even the community garden is safe

Posted on May 13, 2022 by Dianne Ascroft

Judith Gonda is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to tell us about Murder in the Community Garden, her latest novel in the Tory Benning Mystery series.

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

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

MURDER IN THE COMMUNITY GARDEN is the third book in the landscape architect Tory Benning mystery series. The series is set in fictional Santa Sofia, California, a small coastal town in northern Santa Barbara County, twelve miles north of the city of Santa Barbara. A luxury resort, the Hotel Santa Sofia, whose grounds Tory designed and installed, is featured in each book, along with the town’s two main drags, the Avenue, where the upscale boutiques, trendy restaurants, and art galleries are located, and the Promenade, the road that hugs the curvy coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean and local pier. Recurring characters include Tory’s best friend, Ashley Payne, a lawyer, Ashley’s on-again/off again boyfriend, SSPD lieutenant Adrian Ramirez, and Jake Logan, a Santa Barbara based PI. Other recurring characters are Tory’s paternal uncle and his wife, both semi-retired from the family’s landscape business, and her maternal aunt, Marian the librarian. Tory has a cream sable Pomeranian named Iris and a black cat name Otis. A new canine character, a red Pom, is introduced in MURDER IN THE COMMUNITY GARDEN, where one of the inaugural gardeners is found murdered and a friend of Tory’s becomes a prime suspect.

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

I’ve been fascinated with the concept of community gardens ever since I discovered Wattles Farm, a large organic community garden in Hollywood. Gardening is the definition of nurturance and growth and the idea of a community garden where so many different people come together to set up their own unique plots intrigued me. I liked the shock value of a seemingly safe and serene setting being the site for a murder. As for the plot idea, nothing is as it appears to be, and it always starts with the victim for me. Are they who everyone thought them to be? The story is set post-pandemic, but there is mention of the effect it had on everyone’s life and how that plays into the story.

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

Tory’s search for truth and her quest for justice is the overall theme of the series, but in terms of her character development it’s all about resilience. I try to write characters that are realistic and relatable, people the reader wants to hang out with. Tory is basically an optimist despite all the emotional trauma she’s experienced and even though she struggles and is far from perfect, her basic inner strength and the support she and her friend Ashley provide one another as they each blaze their own trail is comforting and always hopeful. In addition to the core murder mystery central to each book, we also follow Tory’s and the other characters’ development in each new book. The first book, Murder in the Secret Maze, dealt with Tory’s loss and how she dealt with her grief. The second book, Murder in the Christmas Tree Lot, dealt with putting her grief behind her despite moving two steps forward and one step back. The third book, Murder in the Community Garden, is where she becomes reflective and considers her options more carefully.

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

I have two daughters around Tory’s age and seeing the issues they and their friends face in their thirties gives me lots of food for thought. All my characters are amalgams of people I’ve known or read about. I like my main character, Tory, and her best friend, Ashley, the best because both are strong, professionally-accomplished females, yet neither of them take themselves too seriously and both would readily admit they have a lot to learn. Plus, they are kind-hearted, express appreciation for one another, and apologize when they mess up. Oh, and both are somewhat boy crazy, because I wanted to show their many facets. That they are not one or the other, serious or flighty, they can be both, smart and silly. Much like real people have many, and often inconsistent, sides to them.

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

Santa Sofia is based upon my idealized version of Santa Barbara that includes the best parts of Santa Barbara plus other characteristics from some of my other favorite places like Los Angeles, Carmel, and the San Francisco Bay area.

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

For the setting, my frequent visits to Santa Barbara, particularly the Four Seasons Biltmore where I’ve stayed, and upon which I based the Hotel Santa Sofia. In terms of landscape architecture, my older daughter is a landscape architect, and my husband is an architect, so those worlds are very familiar to me, and I ask them when I need advice. For everything else, online research is my first go-to.

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

Above all, my books aim to entertain and intrigue readers. Tory is a smart and cautious sleuth, in general, and caring. MURDER IN THE COMMUNITY GARDEN is a murder mystery that becomes intricately entangled with new developments in Tory’s personal life that are overall hopeful and positive.

Thanks for answering my questions, Judith, and good luck with Murder in the Community Garden, the latest book in the Tory Benning Mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Judith and her writing by visiting her website and her Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram and TikTok pages. You can also follow her on Twitter.

The novel is available at the following online retailers:

Amazon    Barnes and Noble    Kobo    Google Play    Smashwords 

About Judith Gonda: Judith is a mystery writer and Ph.D. psychologist with a penchant for Pomeranians, plants, and puns, so it’s not surprising they all pop up in her amateur sleuth mysteries featuring landscape architect Tory Benning. 

Posted in Archives, May 2022 | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Bear Witness

Posted on May 10, 2022 by Dianne Ascroft

Stacie Calder is visiting Ascroft, eh? to tell us about Bear Witness, the first novel in the Alaska Untamed mystery series.

Welcome, Stacie. 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.

Right now, I’m living inside Bear Witness, an Alaska Untamed Mystery. It’s the story of something that happens while I’m providing tours on a tour boat outside Juneau, Alaska. I’m a naturalist by love and vocation, so I always point out whatever fantastic wildlife I can off the boat where I work. Living inside that kind of story is delightful! Plus, I always bring along my wonderful husky, Sasha.  Only… well, we sometimes get tourists onboard who aren’t very nice, including some who want to start a competing tour company. And then—well, I hate to talk about it, but one guy disappears during a tour far offshore, and his body is found in the water on our tour the next day. It turns out he’s been murdered, and we’ve got a bunch of suspects onboard, including our wonderful captain, Palmer Clementos. Even I’m somewhat of a suspect. But I’m determined in whatever I do, so I have to help find the answers.

Okay, enough about that for now. But yes, I’ve been told this story is part of a series. The writer let me know that and says I might get involved in having to solve additional murders in that area in Alaska. I love being in Alaska. But solving murders? I’d really rather not, but if they happen where I’m working, well, I might have to help solve them too.

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

I’d say the writer controls more than I do. I mean, come on, murders? I’d much rather just view and point out and revel in having wildlife around. But I have to admit that I sometimes tell the writer what I’d like to do to help out, and she’s pretty good about listening to me and working that in.

How did you evolve as the main character?

Well, I’ve been told that the writer took a boat tour similar to the ones I help to give, in the same area, really enjoyed the staff onboard, especially those who gave the tours and pointed out the wildlife, and got inspired to write about similar tours. But she writes mysteries among other things, and had to figure out who might be skilled and determined enough to help solve murders. Me? Well, I don’t consider myself a detective, but I do think I’m skilled at what I do, and I’m always determined to do the best job possible in whatever I undertake. And so… well, that writer glommed on to me as not only one who provides tours, but also solves murders.

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

I work for ClemTours, which is owned by the Clementos family, and I like them all. Those who captain the boats are the children of the senior Clementoses, and they’re all named after towns in Alaska. The captain of the ClemElk, the boat on which I work, is Palmer Clementos, and he’s a really nice guy—and a murder suspect in this story. I like him, and his assistant Steph Porter, and especially my assistant in giving tours, Lettie Amblex. And then, after the murder, when the investigation begins, I meet Officer Liam Amaruq of the new Initial Response Section of the Alaska State Troopers, and oh yes, I am partial to him. My favorite other character, though, is Sasha.

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

Alaska, in the waters and fjords near Juneau like Tracy Arm, with melting glaciers nearby? It’s wonderful! And there’s so much wildlife around that I adore pointing out to our tourists, like mama harbor seals and babies on ice in the water, and also humpback whales and porpoises, kittiwakes in the sky, and brown bears and wolves on the mountains along the shoreline. In the summer, it’s not especially cold, despite being Alaska.

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

Well, I can’t say I’m glad I had to help solve a murder. And the situation… well, it turned out pretty interesting. I really had to do some digging and asking questions and putting myself in danger to figure things out. But I did it. And I think it came out as a pretty interesting story.

Thank you for answering my questions, Stacie, and good luck to you and your author, Lark O. Jensen, with Bear Witness, the first book in the Alaska Untamed mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Stacie and her author, Lark O. Jensen by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook page.

The novel is available at the following online retailers:

Amazon    Barnes & Noble 

About Lark O. Jensen: Lark’s name is the pseudonym of Linda O. Johnston, a former lawyer who is now a full-time writer. Lark has written Bear Witness, the first Alaska Untamed mystery for Crooked Lane. Linda has written the Barkery & Biscuits Mystery series and the Superstition Mysteries for Midnight Ink and the Pet Rescue Mysteries and Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime. Linda also writes for Harlequin Romantic Suspense, and her stories often involve dogs.

Posted in Archives, May 2022 | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Margaritas, Mayhem & Murder

Posted on May 6, 2022 by Dianne Ascroft

Andi Anna Jones is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to tell us about Margaritas, Mayhem & Murder, the latest novel in the Andi Anna Jones mystery series.

Welcome, Andi. 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.

Hi folks! I run a travel agency, although my right hand, Ellie, would, and should, take credit for the success of Graves Travel. That said, most people assume I love traveling. I suppose that’s a popular belief when it comes to agents. Actually, I get so sick of hearing customer complaints, personal travel is about the last thing I want to do! And, crowded airplanes (I’m a severe claustrophobe!), airports, and lost luggage? Forget it! Another fallacy is that I travel in luxury. Ha! I have to beg for a comped room or plane ticket. Even then, luxury is not involved.

Other than work, my life consists of some fun, sun, and adventure. However I usually manage to get tangled up in more dangerous situations than I care to admit. Add to that, an extremely annoying ex-stepmother, Ruby, who constantly drags me into her dramas, and you pretty much have it.

Yep, unfortunately I have to stay on my toes because the series continues with a very dangerous trip to Louisiana in Sazerac, Sleuth & Slay (2023). I sure do hope my author gives me enough time to rest up before I have to tackle those alligator-infested bayous!  

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

Oh, she likes to think she’s in charge, but on occasion, I put my foot down and say, “Nope! I’m not going there!” I even drag an unexpected character or two into the story, especially if I get bored.

How did you evolve as the main character?

Through a stressful turn of events. Years ago, my author thought she wanted to be a travel agent in North Miami. She even went to school to learn the airline computer reservation system. After one week on the job, she knew she’d made a huge mistake. I hate to insult her, but she was the worst travel agent this side of the Mississippi. I’ve heard she used to hide behind the computer, or run to the break room when a particularly difficult customer would walk in. Guess she needed to exorcise those ghosts from the past, so she created me. I was ready to walk off the job until she gave me a hunky love interest. He balances the good with the bad.

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

Well, there’s Ruby. I don’t like sharing anything with her, but she’ll pout if I don’t mention her. My mother had been gone almost ten years when he met this “firecracker redhead” at the Hialeah Bingo Parlor. Ruby and I were like oil and water from the very beginning, so you can imagine my shock and dismay when he asked me to look after her if anything happened to him. They were married for five years until he “left the earthly bonds”, and I’m stuck trying to keep her, and her flea-market hairpiece and pencil-drawn eyebrows, out of trouble.

I thought I’d gotten rid of her in the second book, but readers kept asking, “What’s Ruby up to next?” “Oh, I can’t wait to read Ruby’s next adventure!” So, my author and I are stuck with her.

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

Oh, I can’t tell you that. I’d give too much away. You’ll just have to see for yourself how much “agency” I reveal from one sticky situation to the next.

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

Buy it! Read it! Post a review about the heroine (me!). I’m really getting into all this fame and notoriety and hope I get to star in a 3rd or 4th book. All this excitement keeps me out of the agency so Ellie can do her work instead of fixing my mistakes. She runs the place, anyway, and knows it.

Thank you for answering my questions, Andi, and good luck to you and your author, Mary Cunningham, with Margaritas, Mayhem & Murder, the latest book in the Andi Anna Jones mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Andi and her author, Mary Cunningham by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook and Goodreads pages. You can also follow her on Twitter.

The novel is available at the following online retailers:

 Amazon – B&N

About Mary Cunningham: Mary Cunningham grew up on the northern side of the Ohio River in Corydon, Indiana. Her first memories are of her dad’s original bedtime stories that no doubt inspired her imagination and love of a well-spun “yarn.” Through the author’s horrifying stint as a travel agent, Andi Anna Jones sprang to life. The adult/mystery series gives extra meaning to the phrase, “Write what you know.”

Cunningham has several books published, including Cynthia’s Attic, a five-book middle-grade fantasy, women’s lifestyle/humor book, WOOF: Women Only Over Fifty, Ebooks, Christmas With Daisy and Ghost Light. A biography of an army brat, turned UConn and WNBA basketball player, will be published in the spring of 2022. She is a member of Sisters In Crime, Sisters In Crime-Atlanta Chapter, International Thriller Writers, Inc., and the Carrollton Writers Guild.

When she gives her fingers a break from the keyboard, Mary enjoys golf, swimming, and exploring the mountains of West Georgia where she makes her home with her husband and adopted, four-legged, furry daughter, Lucy.

Posted in Archives, May 2022 | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Shadow of the Gypsy

Posted on May 3, 2022 by Dianne Ascroft

Josh Bartlett is visiting Ascroft, eh? to tell us about the novel Shadow of the Gypsy.

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

Tell us about the novel that you live inside.

I find myself caught in a series of mysteries. Most of them seen to involve something that I lost or never had. But even more than that, something that happened that still haunts me even though I’m doing my best to hang out in the Blue Ridge until the coast is clear and I can return to the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut and my childhood sweetheart Molly if she’ll have me. But there is so much unknown and if my old nemesis Zharko, who was supposed to have been deported, returns somehow from Russia or Budapest or wherever and all this unfinished business comes crashing through, I don’t know what I’ll do. I’m no hero but then again I don’t really know what I’m capable of. I changed my name to Josh Bartlet but maybe you can’t play hide and seek in this world. Maybe you have to face your demons. Maybe the past is never past.

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

In a sense the writer is a great help. He seems to be living moment-to-moment too and is almost always surprised by what I say or do. Almost going through this at the same time as if dying to find out the whole time all the significant things he didn’t know he knew.

How did you evolve as the main character?

I was always the main character destined to go on some mythical hero’s journey and fulfill Teddy Roosevelt’s dictum that credit belongs to those who by hook or crook enter the arena and keep picking themselves up– who dare to take something on till the bitter end.

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

Naturally I’m willing to share the stage with Molly and discover whether there’s any chance we can get together. I’m also secretly wondering what makes a rogue Gypsy like Zharko tick plus Irina my estranged mother. Matter of fact, everyone fascinates me one way or another whether I’m willing to admit it or not.

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

I first find myself nestled in a small town in the Blue Ridge in the spring where everything seems wholesome and nonthreatening away from the workaday world with its congestion and competition. I know I’m just kidding myself and it can’t last. But still and all, Black Mountain in the burgeoning spring is truly a reassuring delight.  

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

I hope, despite my shortcomings, they’ll sense there’s more to me than meets the eye. That in some way this isn’t just another mystery/thriller and there’s something about my plight they can relate to. Something that will make them care.  

Thank you for answering my questions, Josh, and good luck to you and your author, Shelly Frome, with Shadow of the Gypsy.

Readers can learn more about Josh and his author, Shelly Frome by visiting the author’s Facebook, Goodreads, Bookbub, and Instagram pages. You can also follow him on Twitter.

The novel is available online at  Amazon 

About Shelly Frome: Shelly is a member of Mystery Writers of America, a professor of dramatic arts emeritus at UConn, a former professional actor, and a writer of crime novels and books on theater and film. He also is a features writer for Gannett Publications. His fiction includes Sun Dance for Andy Horn, Lilac Moon, Twilight of the Drifter, Tinseltown Riff, Murder Run, Moon Games and The Secluded Village Murders. Among his works of non-fiction are The Actors Studio: A History and a guide to playwriting and one on screenwriting, Miranda and the D-Day Caper is his latest foray into the world of crime and the amateur sleuth. He lives in Black Mountain, North Carolina.

Posted in May 2022 | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Knit or Dye Trying

Posted on April 26, 2022 by Dianne Ascroft

Allie Pleiter is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to tell us about Knit or Dye Trying, her latest novel in the Riverbank Knitting Mystery series.

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

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

KNIT OR DYE TRYING is the second book in the Riverbank Knitting Mysteries. Maryland yarn shop owner Libby Beckett finds herself in a tangle of sister rivalry that leaves her VIP guest murdered. With the help of her friends, her loyal shop customers, her meddling mother, and of course charming dog Hank, Libby unravels the clues to save the day and her town’s food festival.

The Riverbank Knitting Mysteries follows reluctant sleuth Libby Beckett as she launches her dream of opening a Maryland yarn shop. Set in the small tourist town of Collinstown, the series features a cast of lovable—and not-so-lovable—characters that enrich and complicate Libby’s life. The first book in the series, ON SKEIN OF DEATH, released in 2021 and the third book, IT CAME UP ON A MIDNIGHT SHEAR, will hit shelves November of this year.

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

While the complexities of yarn dying and the multitude of unusual fibers that can make yarn are certainly key to the story, the mystery revolves around tangled family dynamics. I wanted to explore the fascinating and beautiful world of independent fiber dye artists. I also found it compelling to put that artistry in the context of a dysfunctional family and how “success” can breed misery as much as it breeds acclaim.

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

Contrary to what you might think, it’s really not about yarn. Or knitting. Those are certainly present vividly throughout the story, but the story is really about family and jealousy and what such emotions can drive us to do to those we should love the most.

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

My characters can saunter up to my imagination and introduce themselves—often without warning. Libby came to me fully realized—shop name, dog, and all. Others, like shop assistant Linda have revealed themselves to me in layers. Gavin has been fun to explore because of all the history he has with Libby. Readers seem to be especially fond of Rhonda, Libby’s mom. I expect that may be because Rhonda seems to say what we’re all thinking (even when it ought not to be said!). And of course, there’s Hank. I’m a dog owner myself, so I understand the special bond of companionship pets offer.

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

While my books are almost always set in fictional towns, I do try to base them on actual ones. I prefer to make multiple in-person visits to my location, gathering details, atmosphere, geographic layout, etc. But every location “comes to life” by virtue of the people in it. In that aspect, some small town dynamics are universal. If I do my job right, readers recognize characters from their own communities in Collinstown’s colorful residents.

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

Each Riverbank Knitting Mystery focuses on a different aspect of yarn and fiber arts. So I’ll do a wide swath of book research to begin. Then, I draw on topic experts to help me get the details right. Getting to know such talented people has been one of the greatest pleasures of writing the series. I also need help from crime-specific experts like medical professionals, law enforcement, and attorneys. I’m fortunate to have a bunch of great people eager to help me.

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

If you are a knitting reader (and there are loads of them!), it’s fun to know there is a knitting pattern included in each book. Also, I LOVE to visit bookstores and bookclubs, so any interested readers should contact me at allie@alliepleiter.com if they’re interested in setting up an in-person or virtual visit.

Thanks for answering my questions, Allie, and good luck with Knit or Dye Trying the latest book in the Riverbank Knitting Mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Allie and her writing by visiting her Facebook, Goodreads, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram and Bookbub pages. You can also follow her on Twitter.

The novel is available at the following online retailers:

Link on my webpage    Amazon (including Kindle and Audible)      Barnes & Noble (including Nook)      Apple Books     Google Play     Kobo     IndieBound

About Allie Pleiter: An avid knitter, coffee junkie and firm believer that “pie makes everything better,” Allie Pleiter writes both fiction and non-fiction working on as many as four novels at a time.  The bestselling author of over fifty books, Allie has enjoyed a twenty-year career with over 1.5 million books sold.  In addition to writing, Allie maintains an active writing productivity coaching practice and speaks regularly on the creative process, publishing, and her very favorite topic—The Chunky Method of time management for writers.

Posted in April 2022, Archives | Tagged , , | 3 Comments