And in the end…

June 15, 2015June 12, 2015 ~ janegorman ~ 10 Comments

And in the end …

June is national crime reading month in Great Britain, thanks to the Crime Writers Association, UK. Imagine that, a whole month dedicated to reading crime fiction! Then again, I generally dedicate about twelve months out of the year to that…

The CWA’s been posting some wonderful blogs on the subject. Commentaries on subjects such as Does Authenticity Matter in Crime Fiction? (I know a few mystery writers with very strong opinions on this subject), and Are Crime Writers Psychopaths? (now there’s an interesting question).

As you can probably tell by now, I don’t just read and write crime fiction and mystery… I also read about crime fiction and mystery. Blogs by authors, book reviews, blogs about mystery books. If it’s mystery-related, I’ll read it! One commentary that caught my attention recently was posted over on WritersWhoKill (another great blog, if you’re interested).

Kara Cerise references a 2006 study of German students to see what kind of ending they preferred – and what that said about their personalities. Does craving a surprise ending or twist suggest that you have high self esteem? And if you prefer a story that confirms your suspicions, does that really say the opposite about you? The study is a few years old and fairly limited in sample size. But it is a great question for discussion.

I think about endings a lot, of course. One of the hallmarks of a traditional mystery is that justice is achieved in the end. But what counts as justice? I play around with this a bit in my books. Does the killer have to get caught? What if there was someone else who motivated the killer, knowingly or not — does he or she have to get caught? There are lots of definitions of justice.

I’ve had some enthusiastic comments from early readers on the ending of my first book, A Blind Eye. I can’t say too much – spoilers, spoilers (for the Doctor Who fans in the audience) and besides, the book won’t be published until September – but it’s made me really think about what achieving justice means, particularly within the traditional mystery genre. After all, when we pick up a juicy mystery, we have certain expectations, don’t we?

So tell me, what do you want to see at the end of the mysteries you read?

Guest Author- Zanna MacKenzie

June 13, 2015June 8, 2015 ~ patyjag ~ 3 Comments

Please Welcome British mystery author, Zanna MacKenzie.

I never thought the way I spent some of my school holidays as a child would be the inspiration for a crime scene in a novel.

When the summer rolled around and school broke up for six wonderful weeks I’d eagerly await the occasional days when I would get to accompany my dad to work. Before he retired, my dad was a contract haulier for a local quarry. He drove a 32 tonne truck. It was a monster of a vehicle. I had to be lifted up to clamber onto the edge of the wheel arch and into the cab. In the days before seatbelts and health and safety I was allowed to sit on the 2 seats on the passenger side of the cab unencumbered or even perch on the centre console (the engine manifold) next to the driver’s seat.

We would pick up and deliver huge quantities of sand and various types of stone and gravel for road building and construction. Being something of a tomboy as a child I loved all the noise and dust. I’d watch in awe and excitement as huge dumper trucks cruised past, so large they dwarfed my dad’s lorry. I can still remember sitting in the lorry as tonnes of stone cascaded into the back of it from the imposing-looking grey metal buildings where the stone whizzed around on conveyor belts. There was also a scarily (but aptly) named crusher which took the big-as-a-car sized chunks of rock and reduced them to gravel size.

At the end of the day I would dash up the steep bank which bordered the quarry as my dad and I walked home. It was just a ten minute stroll if we cut across the woods, through the meadow and hopped over the stepping stones in the stream. I would arrive home scruffy, exhausted but happy.

As a child it never occurred to me how dangerous an environment quarries were. As an adult when I felt the urge to switch from writing romantic comedies to cozy mysteries, I knew straight away where the first crime investigation was going to take place – a quarry!

In book one of my Amber Reed Mystery series, Amber – a barmaid and newspaper admin assistant who makes up horoscopes for the local paper – finds herself in a quarry in the middle of the night with handsome special agent Charlie as they try to find out just what is going on at Set In Stone. Amber gets caught up in the murder investigation because the victim is the brother of her ex- boyfriend Ennis. Now a movie star, Ennis pleads with Amber to help out by keeping an eye on special agent Charlie Huxton, sent by the Celebrity Crimes Investigation Agency to catch the killer. Ennis, harassed by paparazzi, is paranoid Charlie might be feeding news on the story to the media so he wants Amber to keep a close eye on the CCIA agent. Whilst trying to help out her ex Amber’s life gets very complicated indeed…

And The Earth Moved (Amber Reed Mystery Book One)

A new cozy mystery series with oodles of fun, romance and the smart, sassy special agents of the CCIA – otherwise known as the Celebrity Crimes Investigation Agency.

BOOK BLURB:

Amber wished her life was more exciting – then, with one phone call, her world turned upside down.

Now she’s got to cope with:

Her ex-boyfriend from university (who’s now a heartthrob movie star) desperately needing her help.

Getting herself caught up in the middle of a celebrity murder investigation.

Having to try and keep tabs on hunky special agent Charlie who’s in town to catch the killer – and convince him she can help him with the case.

Maybe her life just got too exciting….

Find this book on Amazon: http://getbook.at/AndTheEarthMoved

Extract:

“What kind of excitement are Gemini’s going to have this week?” I ponder, tapping my fingers against the keyboard.

I’m a third of the way through making up the horoscopes for this week’s local paper. Aries are going to get news of a fantastic job opportunity. Capricorns will receive some kind of windfall. But what about Gemini? I always like to give my Madam Zamber horoscope column an upbeat feel – after all, nobody reads their star signs to get depressed right?

My fingers hover over the computer keys as I debate on Gemini’s fate. I’m a Gemini so this one better be especially good; it’s been a rough week.

My phone, nestled somewhere in the depths of my bag, starts playing a chart tune at full volume. When I eventually find it I check the caller display and see Ennis’ name.

Ennis and I haven’t spoken for a while but I know he came home last week after he’d finished working on his latest movie, he sent me a text. He probably wants to meet for a coffee and a catch up. It’s strange; to me Ennis is, well, just Ennis. I don’t think of him as a heartthrob actor, just my ex, my university boyfriend, who I meet up with for a chat whenever he’s in Palstone.

Time for a little break from the horoscopes. I hit the answer button.

“Hi, how’s things?” I ask, leaning back in my chair.

There’s nothing but silence on the other end of the line.

“Ennis?” I sit up, instantly concerned. “Are you there? Is something wrong?”

His voice is so quiet I can barely hear him. “Joel’s dead,” he says.

“What?” I shout, leaping to my feet and earning myself a look of curiosity from the other two members of staff at The Palstone Courier. I lower my voice. “How? What happened?”

“We don’t know yet,” he replies, his voice heavy with emotion. “But the police are saying he died in suspicious circumstances.”

I gulp. “You mean murder?”

“Look, Amber can you please come over?” Ennis says. “Now? Please? I need to ask you a huge favour.”

I grab my jacket and bag. “On my way.”

Author bio:

Zanna Mackenzie lives in the UK on the Derbyshire/Leicestershire border with her husband, 4 dogs, a vegetable patch that’s home to far too many weeds and an ever expanding library of books waiting to be read.

Being a freelance writer and editor of business publications is her ‘day job’ but, at every opportunity, she can be found scribbling down notes on scenes for whatever novel she’s working on. She loves it when the characters in her novels take on minds of their own and start deviating from the original plot!

Find out more about Zanna on her blog http://www.zannamackenzie.blogspot.co.uk, on Twitter via @ZannaMacKenzie or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/zanna.mackenzie

Find out more about Zanna at:

www.zannamackenzie.blogspot.co.uk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZannaMacKenzie

Facebook: www.facebook.com/zanna.mackenzie

Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/10703273-zanna-mackenzie

Amazon Author Page – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zanna-Mackenzie/e/B00BKY1A18/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Pinterest: http://uk.pinterest.com/zannamac/

Clues, Clues Everywhere, or The Truth Hiding in Plain Sight

June 11, 2015June 11, 2015 ~ janispattersonmysteries ~ 14 Comments

by Janis Patterson

What is a clue? I can hear all of you now saying “Duh! A clue is something the sleuth notices that helps solve the crime.”

Okay, that’s right – as far as it goes. The problem is, how do we make a series of clues that will help solve the crime that is neither so blatant that the story is over on page 19 or is so esoteric that the reader doesn’t understand it even after the crime has been solved and the clues explained?

I remember reading an Ellery Queen mystery (sorry I don’t remember the title – I was only seven or so) where the deciding clue was based on a particular letter of the Phoenician alphabet. The murder was cleverly done, as I recall, but the idea that both the killer and the sleuth (Mr. Queen) would be in the same rather mundane place at the same time and both know the Phoenician alphabet so jarred on my infant sensibilities that I remember it to this day. As I recall the setting was a house party at a rich man’s mansion, but I might be wrong about that.

Adding in clues is sort of like adding garlic to a casserole; too little and it is flat and uninteresting, but too many and it is unappetizing or perhaps even unswallowable.

In my opinion, the best clues are the ones that grow out of the characters and the storyline in an almost organic process. The truly best clues are the ones that sometimes even you don’t know are there.

An example. Years ago, when I was writing my first Janis Patterson mystery THE HOLLOW HOUSE I knew from the beginning who the murderer was going to be, but as I am a pantser, not much else. The story was ticking along quite well until about five chapters from the end, when I suddenly realized that my pre-determined murderer could not have done it. I floundered around for a while, then all of a sudden ‘Wow! Of course! So-and-so did it.’ And I wrote on, for another half chapter or so before once again it came to me that my new murderer couldn’t have done it. Truth is, from that first realization to the climax I changed the murderer some five times. Finally, as I was desperately trying to decide who did it, I suddenly realized who it was – someone I had never considered.

I don’t know why I had never considered this person, but it was perfect. The only bad thing was I knew I’d have to go back through the whole book and put in clues pointing to this person. Sigh. However… when I did start through the book, the clues implicating this person were all there already. I think I added two.

So – clues not only have to be there, they have to be subtle. How did I do it? I don’t know. The creation of a book, in case you hadn’t noticed, is very much akin to magic.

One way, I believe, was put forward by some famous mystery writer years ago – sorry, but I don’t remember which one. He said that the best way was to make everyone capable of being the murderer, then exonerate them one by one, just like your sleuth. I know there are those mystery writers who pre-plot every clue, and there are some who do it very well. Joy go with them. I can’t do that – I would be so bored that the book would never be written. I guess I have to be as much of a sleuth uncovering the truth as my detective.

Commercial : For those of you in the Denver area and those of you going there to attend the Historical Novel Society conference, I will be there both at the booksigning and presenting a paper on Egyptology and Elizabeth Peters. Ms. Peters (aka Barbara Michaels and Dr. Barbara Mertz) was an incredible author and a friend. She is very much missed.

Life Would Be Boring Without Mystery by Paty Jager #mystery #cozymystery

June 8, 2015June 8, 2015 ~ patyjag ~ 4 Comments

The creaking door, missing papers, an unusual scent hanging in the air…Mystery is all around us every day of our lives. It could be the phone call you answered to find no one there. The new cat hanging out in your back yard. Or something that’s gone missing at work. Mystery is what keeps life interesting and always testing our brain.

Life would be boring without mystery.

Growing up I was an avid reader and my favorite books were those that had a bit of mystery to them. In junior high I devoured the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series. Even the Walter Farley books I read had mystery to them even though I initially picked up the books for the horses.

When I first started writing historical westerns I couldn’t keep the mystery out of the stories. It was building the mystery in the story rather than the romance that made the plotting interesting to me. I recently had a conversation with the editor who published my first westerns. When I told her I was writing mysteries and loving it, she said, “I always thought your voice leaned toward mysteries.” That kind of validated my decision to write mysteries.

My other interest is Native American cultures, specifically, the Nez Perce. I grew up in Wallowa County, the area where the Chief Joseph band or Lake Nimiipuu as they call themselves, summered and wintered. Of course this was way before I lived in Wallowa County, but they were always on my mind growing up. I found it unfortunate that the only time the Nez Perce were allowed in the county was during Chief Joeseph Days a rodeo weekend where the locals benefited from the history of the county yet the people who lived there before them it was the only weekend they were allowed to return.

A lot has changed in the thirty years since I moved away. The Nez Perce have purchased land in the county. They have a yearly powwow, Tamkaliks, the weekend before Chief Joseph Days, and they have put up interpretive centers as well as are now monitoring the salmon runs in the county. I’m happy they are having voices into how the county is moving forward.

My interest in the Nez Perce and my love of mystery is combined into the Shandra Higheagle Mystery series. Shandra Higheagle is a half Nez Perce artistic potter. Her father was a rodeo bareback bronc rider. He was killed in a rodeo accident when she was four. Her mother remarried and Shandra was told to keep her Native American heritage a secret. However, her paternal grandmother a shaman in the Nez Perce Seven Drums society made sure Shandra was drawn back to her roots.

The first book, Double Duplicity, starts with Shandra returning from her grandmother’s funeral. Shandra finds a murdered art gallery owner after seeing her best friend, also an art gallery owner, hurrying across the street. When Shandra is dropped as a suspect, she begins digging to find the real killer before her friend becomes the scapegoat. Her grandmother comes to her in dreams, directing her to clues that help Shandra and a detective find the real murderer.

Double Duplicity: A Shandra Higheagle Mystery

Book one of the Shandra Higheagle Native American Mystery Series

Dreams…Visions…Murder

On the eve of the biggest art event at Huckleberry Mountain Resort, potter Shandra Higheagle finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation. She’s ruled out as a suspect, but now it’s up to her to prove the friend she witnessed fleeing the scene was just as innocent. With help from her recently deceased Nez Perce grandmother, Shandra becomes more confused than ever but just as determined to discover the truth.

Detective Ryan Greer prides himself on solving crimes and refuses to ignore a single clue, including Shandra Higheagle’s visions. While Shandra is hesitant to trust her dreams, Ryan believes in them and believes in her.

Can the pair uncover enough clues for Ryan to make an arrest before one of them becomes the next victim?

Buy Links:

Windtree Press http://windtreepress.com/portfolio/double-duplicity/

Amazon http://authl.it/2ng

Kobo http://store.kobobooks.com/search?Query=Double+Duplicity

Nook http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/double-duplicity-paty-jager/1120790322

Apple https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id942249867

Paty’s contacts:

www.patyjager.net

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Dying for a Deadline

June 4, 2015May 31, 2015 ~ jlsimpsonauthor ~ 10 Comments

By JL Simpson

Last year I decided to take on a new role. Not only was I going to be the author of my Daisy Dunlop mystery series, but I was also going to be the publisher. Gone were the days of typing ‘the end’ and then sending it off to someone else to do all the other stuff. Now I needed to sort out an editor, a cover artist, learn to format the finished masterpiece, set up accounts with Ebook retailers and finally to upload and publish the books. The feeling of power when you’re master of your own destiny is amazing. I can give books away, change the price, advertise where I want, and do my own thing with the plots, provided the readers still enjoy the story.

This was all positive stuff. I love power, it’s a heady drug. But with the positive comes a couple of negatives. The first, if my books fail I only have myself to blame, and the biggest negative of all, no one is cracking the whip. I don’t have anyone to set deadlines for me, and that can be a real problem.

From my experience people fall into two categories, those who are self-motivated and normal people. Self-motivated people are the ones who set their own goals and meet them. You seem them out running as the sun’s rising. Meanwhile, normal people are flailing an arm out from under the bed covers in a desperate bid to hit the off switch on the alarm clock whilst mumbling “coffee” into the pillow, hoping their spouse will rise to the challenge and get the much needed caffeine fix they require to jump start their brain.

Self motivated people nibble on a salad, whilst normal people inhale doughnuts swearing they’ll get back to dieting next week. Self motivated people stride down the confectionery aisle at the grocery store without so much as a sideways glance, because chocolate is not on the list. Self motivated people have organised desks, tidy houses, color co-ordinated wardrobes, their whole lives are planned, and everything runs like clockwork. They don’t forget to pay a bill, or realize they are out of milk after the stores are shut for the day. They’re not the ones running around the shopping mall on Christmas Eve looking for gifts.

If you want to be an Indie Author then you need to keep working. I’ve just read a book called, “Write, Publish, Repeat” and it’s brilliant. It says the way to success is to keep getting books out there. The more books you publish the easier it is for readers to find you. So you might think, seeing as I have only two books to my name, I’d be writing up a storm, but you’d be wrong.

I have the curse of being a normal person. My desk is cluttered, as is my mind. My house is clean but untidy, my color co-ordination is hit and miss. I forget my glasses. I lose my keys. I even forgot my son when he was a new born and left him parked at the meat counter in the supermarket until the girl at the checkout asked when my baby was due.

My day job is deadline driven. As a tax accountant their are lodgement dates that need to be adhered to. Miss one of those and the tax office let you know about it. At work I’m organised and regimented because big brother is watching. With my writing no one is watching. I used to write to publisher’s deadlines. I used to have a critique partner who read along one chapter at a time telling me to hurry up and write the next, but her career took off and I was lost in the madness of it all. Now it’s all down to me. Time marches on. Days, weeks, months fly by with little progress.

I may never stick to my diet, wear clothes that go together, tidy up my desk, empty my inbox, remember my sister’s birthday, but if I ever want to make something more than an on-again off-again hobby of writing I simply have to get a grip. And the best way to do that is set a deadline. I know that if I’m ever going to focus and finish book 3 in my Daisy Dunlop Series I need to set a publication date and book an editor. Maybe I should set a date for just before Christmas, but that still leaves the question, ‘which Christmas?’