Today Cynthia Kuhn is visiting Ascroft, eh? to tell us about The Study of Secrets, her latest novel in the Lila Maclean Academic mystery series.
Welcome, Cynthia. 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.
The Study of Secrets is the fifth book in the Lila Maclean Academic Mystery series, all of which are focused on an English professor who teaches and solves mysteries. In the latest, Lila goes on sabbatical at the whimsical Callahan House, a proper Victorian mansion…which turns out to have a body in the study.
Where did the idea for the mystery that is central to the story come from?
A mystery author has invited Lila to stay in her guest house while doing research, and the idea came about when I was thinking about this author’s backstory, especially as it relates to the mansion where they spend the semester. I imagined what her life had been like when she was younger, who had been a part of it, and how her writing back then could be related to the current situation.
Is there a theme or subject that underlies the story? If so, what prompted you to write about it?
The series as a whole explores issues relating to storytelling (mysteries and otherwise) as well as relationships of various kinds, particularly the type you might find in academia. This book continues that trend.
How do you create your characters? Do you have favourite ones? If so, why are you partial to them?
It’s a process; the recurring characters have developed over the series, but there are always new ones that I learn about through the writing. It’s especially fun to write the more dramatic or quirky characters, like Lila’s mother Violet O, a famous artist. They have such a strong energy!
How do you bring to life the place you are writing about?
I try to provide details that offer a strong sense of place. Description is something I tend to go back and layer in carefully as part of my revision process. The first time through, I’m typically more focused on the action and dialogue.
What research do you do to provide background information to help you write the novel?
It’s different for every book, depending what the plot requires. Only a small portion of the overall research may end up in any given book, but it’s important to do the work. Sometimes I’ll go down rabbit holes trying to get a detail just right! For this book, I spent quite a lot of time looking at Victorian architecture.
Is there anything else you’d like to tell readers about the book?
Just that I hope they enjoy the reading if they give it a try! Thank you very much for hosting me today.
My pleasure, Cynthia. Thanks for answering my questions and good luck with The Study of Secrets, the latest book in Lila Maclean Academic mysteries series.
Readers can learn more about Cynthia and her writing by visiting her website and her Facebook, Goodreads and BookBub pages. You can also follow her on Twitter.
The novel is available at the following online retailers:
Amazon – Nook – B&N Paperback
About Cynthia Kuhn: Cynthia writes the Lila Maclean Academic Mysteries: The Semester of Our Discontent, The Art of Vanishing, The Spirit in Question, The Subject of Malice, and The Study of Secrets. Honors for the series include an Agatha Award for best first novel and Lefty Award nominations for best humorous mystery.
My writing hours are in the afternoon, after running errands, answering emails, and peeking at social media. Only once my mind is a relatively clean slate can I drill down into the Dodie O’Dell mystery series and play with the characters of Etonville, New Jersey. Especially Dodie O’Dell, my protagonist sleuth, who always has her hands full solving a mystery, managing the Windjammer restaurant, and supporting her friends at the Etonville Little Theatre.
About Suzanne Trauth: She is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and a former theatre professor at a university. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the Dramatists Guild, and League of Professional Theatre Women. When she is not writing, Suzanne coaches actors and serves as a celebrant performing wedding ceremonies. She lives in Woodland Park, New Jersey.
After their mama’s passing, Marygene Brown returned to Peach Cove Island to help her sister Jena Lynn run the family diner, renowned for its homemade peach desserts. But Mama is never too far away—her sassy spirit haunts the island, and more specifically Marygene. Lately Mama has been warning her that the dead will seek her out to solve their murders, an idea Marygene is far from peachy keen on.
About Kate Young: Kate writes Southern mystery novels. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Guppy Chapter. Kate lives in a small town in Georgia with her husband, three kids, and Shih Tzu. When she is not writing her own books, she’s reading or cooking.
In one sense, Secrets of the Treasure King is a continuation of the hunt for the San Mañuel. When I was first working out the concept for this series, I was having a problem finding a really good hook, something that could be carried over from book to book, develop over time, and feel new for each installment. My wife made a comment while I was struggling with this idea. She said, “Everybody loves a good treasure hunt.” My reaction was immediate—a treasure hunt was exactly what I had been searching for. In each book, the hunt for the San Mañuel and its millions of dollars of bounty intensifies and I get to explore a different aspect of the dirty business of treasure hunting.
About Terry Ambrose: Terry has written and published fourteen mysteries. His Seaside Cove Mystery series new releases have risen to the Amazon genre Top 100. In 2014, Con Game, Terry’s second thriller in the License to Lie series received the San Diego Book Awards Best Mystery/Thriller award. Terry also writes the McKenna Trouble in Paradise mysteries and organized an anthology written by bestselling mystery writers to benefit a literacy nonprofit in Hawaii.
Tired of sitting surveillance on insurance fraud, apprentice PI Eve Apple Egret gets her first big case, one where the outcome is important and personal. Eve’s best friend Madeleine has few relatives, so her Uncle Shamus is special, but someone is determined to kill him and has tried several times. Eve is certain she can identify who is after him, but this time she may have taken on more than even our self-confident Eve can handle. Coping with a growing toddler and a teenager, devoting time to the consignment shop and finding someone who can go undercover in a sexual harassment case all vie for Eve’s attention. Eve knows she cannot fail Madeleine. This is more than her favorite uncle’s life. His death would mean devastating loss for Madeleine and call into question Eve’s commitment as a friend and her ability as a PI.
About Lesley A. Diehl: Cows, Lesley learned as a child growing up on a farm, have a twisted sense of humor. They chased her when she went to the field to herd them in for milking, and one ate the lovely red mitten her grandmother knitted for her. Determining that agriculture wasn’t her career path, she took a job as a stripper, book cover stripper for a publishing company, that is. Now after many years as a college professor and university administrator, she has returned to the world of books and uses her country roots and her training to concoct stories designed to make people laugh in the face of murder. “A good chuckle,” says Lesley,” keeps us emotionally well-oiled long into our old age.”
Fireworks, A Firecracker & Foul Play is a cozy mystery that starts off with a bang. Anna’s fiancé gets arrested for murder just two weeks before their wedding. No way is Anna letting a false accusation ruin her July 4th wedding. Instead, she’s off to uncover the actual murderer.
About D.E. Haggerty: She is actually just plain old Dena, but she thinks using initials makes her sound sophisticated and maybe even grown up. She was born and raised in the U.S. but considers herself a Dutchie and not only because it sounds way cooler. After a stint in the U.S. Army, she escaped the US to join her husband in Holland. She fled Holland over ten years ago when she couldn’t stand the idea of being a lawyer for one single second more. Turns out Bed & Breakfast owner in Germany didn’t do it for her either. When the hubby got a job in Istanbul, she jumped ship and decided to give this whole writer thing a go. She’s now back in Holland, which she considers home.
We inside the story try to let Abby dictate what’s going on, but **whispering, cupped hand up to mouth** she doesn’t always get it right. At those times we have to give her a hand. Like she tried to put me in a romantic relationship with another character, but I’ve got too much work to do to get my shop up and running for that. She does help to keep Maisie and Riya (last names Solomon and Amacarelli, respectively, my best friends) calm.
About Abby Collette: Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author Abby Collette loves a good mystery. Born and raised in Cleveland, it’s even a mystery to her why she has yet to move to a warmer place. Author of the two Southern cozy mystery series Logan Dickerson Mysteries featuring a second-generation archaeologist and a nonagenarian who is always digging up trouble, and the Romaine Wilder Mysteries, set in East Texas, it pairs a medical examiner and her feisty auntie who owns a funeral home and is always ready to solve a whodunnit. Abby spends her time writing, facilitating writing workshops at local libraries and spending time with her grandchildren, each of which are her favorite.
Today Chef Charlie Cooke is visiting Ascroft, eh? to tell us about Mousse and Murder, the first novel in the Alaskan Diner mystery series.
MOUSSE AND MURDER is my first adventure, kicking off The Alaska Diner Mysteries. The cozy series follows me, Charlie Cooke, owner and manager of The Bear Claw Diner as I juggle the responsibilities of running a diner and going about the occasional criminal investigation. I live at the center of the tourist trade in the great 49th state of Alaska. Tourists come from all over to see and maybe climb the world’s tallest North American mountain, Denali, and to view the spectacular aurora borealis. My job is to feed them and help them on their way to arctic splendor. Unfortunately, there’s usually trouble brewing and I’m called (or not) to help out our understaffed law enforcement community. So far in the series (Mousse and Murder, May 5, 2020) and Fishing for Trouble (due November 2020)), my team and I have solved two homicides, and lived to talk about it!
I haven’t evolved—I’m still me, exploring the world, taking any opportunity I can to travel. But my relationships with my family have definitely evolved.
About A. R. Kennedy: She lives in Long Beach, New York, with her two pups. She works hard to put food on the floor for them. As her favorite T-shirt says, ‘I work so my dog can have a better life’. She’s an avid traveler. But don’t worry. While she’s away, her parents dote on their grand-puppies even more than she does. Her writing is a combination of her love of travel, animals, and the journey we all take to find ourselves.
Tell us about a defining moment in your life.
About Larissa Reinhart: A Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Larissa writes the Cherry Tucker Mystery, Maizie Albright Star Detective, and Finley Goodhart Crime Caper series as well as romantic comedies and women’s fiction. She loves to tell funny stories about Southern women looking for love (and sometimes dead bodies) in all the wrong places. You might have seen Larissa and family with their little dog, Biscuit, on HGTV’s House Hunters International “Living for the Weekend in Nagoya” episode, but they’re back in Georgia now.
