Mosey Frye is visiting Ascroft, eh? to tell us about The Murder at Red Oaks, the latest novel in the Mosey Frye mystery series.

Welcome, Mosey. 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.

I’m Mosey Frye (Anne Moseby Frye), and I live inside the Mosey Frye Mystery series, published by The Wild Rose Press. The author Kay Pritchett and I have been at this series for a while. The Murder at Red Oaks is book seven, preceded by The Murder at Waite House, The Terrace, The House with a Corner Door, The Summer House at Larkspur, The Incident at Sunny Banks, and The House with a Secret Cellar.

I work for a real estate company in my home town of Hembree, Arkansas, a quaint spot in the Mississippi River Delta. I guess you could say my real estate and sleuthing careers began together. You see, every time I list a house, I find a body. In fact, with the exception of The House with a Corner Door, which takes place in another state,the titles of all the books relate to the houses I have sold.

My sleuthing is a constant irritant to our new police chief Lieutenant Gustavo Olivera, a California import, but I figure I have a better shot at solving these murders than he does. Even he admits I have an uncanny knack for sniffing out the dark side of local folk. Having grown up here, with my family running the premier law firm, I know this community inside and out. What I don’t know, I can find out from my step-aunt Carlotta Humphrey or Dot Cowsley, the long-time secretary at the firm. Plus, my best friend Nadia Abboud runs the local antique store and is an expert on the town’s history.

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

For sure, I get a say—more than you might think. These mysteries are character driven, and the author works out the action primarily through dialogue. So as not to spoil any surprises, I won’t go into specifics, but I can tell you that characters have been known to wiggle out of a murder wrap by coming up with explanations and alibis you wouldn’t believe. The author, of course, has the last say, but sometimes she grows fond of a character and can’t bear to saddle him or her with a gruesome murder.

How did you evolve as the main character?

I started out as a disgruntled thirty-something woman, with real aspirations to become a singer—either opera or juke (I’ve got both in my blood)—or a psychologist. But after graduating from Blanchard College in Hembree, I married Robert Ellison, an anthropologist. He teaches at Blanchard, and I, being stuck in Hembree, went into real estate—a lot of people do that, you know. The job itself is a tad boring, but my sleuthing has saved me.

My first listing, Waite House it’s called, had me spooked from childhood. Not sure why exactly—maybe the imposing look of it. So, when I was given the opportunity to list it, I kept hearing my deceased father’s voice saying, “Stay away from Waite House.” Given the value of the place, however, I dove in, despite its status as a stigmatized property. The owner, a wealthy cotton broker, had been murdered six months before, and the case had gone cold. I started snooping around the neighborhood and, before you know it, picked up some interesting clues.

Now, six houses later, I’ve gotten rather good at solving crimes, though Olivera won’t let me get near a crime scene. I can’t take all the credit, though. Nadia, Robert, and his colleague Hugh Jessup can be finagled into helping, even in the trickiest of situations.

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

I have so many, my goodness. There’s Nadia, Robert, Hugh, Carlotta, and Dot, whom I’ve already mentioned, plus Saffron Smiley at Shepherd Realty, Ruby and Miffy at the Tavernette, as well as Al Bergeron at Al’s Supper Club. More recently, I’ve gotten to know the folks at the Jeremiah Java Café, Aaron and Sue Willoughby and Lula Alcott. Why I’m partial to the folks is not hard to explain. Every last one is vibrant, welcoming, just fine people to hang out with.

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

Hembree, my home town, is a little place on the Mississippi River, about halfway between Memphis and Vicksburg. The cotton farmers and the towboat folks pretty much run the place. As a farming community in the Old South, many African Americans have made Hembree their home. Some continue to farm, and others have established themselves in the business community—like Saffron, my co-worker at Shepherd Realty, the Willoughbys at the Jeremiah Java Café, and Nate Patterson, owner of the Seed and Feed.

Specifically, Shepherd Realty and Abboud Antiques are my two main haunts. The agency I work for is owned by John Earle Shepherd, our absentee boss, who drops in occasionally to check on Saffron and me. He’s not much help with the business end of things, but every now and again I tap into his knowledge of old houses and old families. I love popping into the antique shop just around the corner from the agency to chat with Nadia, whose family owns the store. She’s like a walking encyclopedia when it comes to all things old—paintings, furniture, you name it.

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

I’d like to say a bit more about Hembree. It’s not what you’d expect of a small Southern town. As a port town, Hembree has welcomed generations of people from around the globe, people who came here from Italy, Ireland, Lebanon and so on. Surnames like Bergeron and Abboud are common around here. To showcase Hembree’s rich cultural heritage, the author features her characters’ tasty dishes on her website, so that readers can get to know them through their cooking—like Saffron’s succotash, Lucille Bilyeu’s gumbo, and Olivera’s gazpacho.

One more point. If you’d like to test the waters, jump in wherever you like. The stories are stand-alone. Sometimes they play off one another, but the author will always provide just enough backstory to prevent readers from getting lost.

Thank you for answering my questions, Mosey, and good luck to you and your author, Kay Pritchett, with The Murder at Red Oaks, the latest book in the Mosey Frye mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Mosey and her author, Kay Pritchett by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest pages. You can also follow her on BlueSky and Threads.

The novel is available at the following online retailers:

 Amazon    B&N      Bookshop.org      Alibris

About Kay Prichett: Kay Pritchett, a native of Greenville, Mississippi, lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where she taught Spanish literature at the state’s flagship university. At retirement, she threw herself into fiction writing and has wrapped up seven books in the Mosey Frye Mystery series. As a mystery writer, she delights in blending the charming wit of amateur sleuth Mosey Frye with the suave sophistication of police chief Gus Olivera. She’s all about sprinkling her mystery novels with lively banter, highlighting the dynamic interactions between Mosey and her trusty sidekick Nadia, as well as the intriguing dialogues between Olivera and sharp-witted coroner Eads McGinnis. Her goal? To transport readers into the thrilling world of an Agatha Christie whodunit, but with a delightful twist—think verandas and paddle boats! Murder in High Cotton (2022), inspired by childhood memories of the Delta, anthologizes her first three short mystery novels. Since then, she has launched four full-length novels: The Summer House at Larkspur, The Incident at Sunny Banks, The House with a Secret Cellar, and The Murder at Red Oaks.