Guest Blogger- C.T. Collier

June 30, 2018June 17, 2018 ~ patyjag ~ 8 Comments

New Voices in Academic Mysteries

by C.T. Collier

Sipped_ cover Even before I joined the ranks of college faculty, I loved a good academic mystery—one with a professor solving a murder, whether it happened on campus or on vacation. Now that I write academic mysteries (The Penningtons Investigate) I’m loving the fresh voices among the ladies of mystery whose sleuths are professors. Here are just a few.

An environmental educator and researcher, Charlene D’Avanzo’s debut Cold Blood Hot Sea throws the reader into the contentious field of marine research. Sleuth Dr. Mara Tusconi is a smart resourceful warm-hearted scholar at the Maine Oceanographic Institution, where eager students and ambitious colleagues surround her. Every twist of D’Avanzo’s page-turner reveals more about research methods, the young scholars in training who will carry the work forward, and the sabotage that undermines experiments.

Lori Rader-Day’s academic mystery, The Black Hour, is a dark gritty look at the power differential between professors and students that sometimes has deadly consequences. The story highlights the fascinating ways both professors and students confront, ignore, or rationalize blatantly unethical behavior.

Drawing on an academic career in psychology, Lesley A. Diehl brings humor to the campus scene in her sleuth, psychology professor Laura Murphy. In Failure is Fatal, Laura’s study of sexual harassment on campus is compromised when a student is murdered and a detailed written description of the murder is among the surveys submitted days before the murder occurred. Besides her intelligence and dogged determination, Laura uses her unique ability to tick people off on her way to finding the killer.

There’s still more humor in Alexia Gordon’s debut mystery, Murder in G Major. Sleuth Gethsemane Brown, an award-winning musician, is challenged with shaping up a school orchestra in time to win back a coveted trophy. At the same time, the ghost of a famous musician who expects her to find out who murdered him haunts her house. Gethsemane uses gumption, moxie, spunk, and many belts of bourbon to save the day.

Author and music professor Carolyn Marie Wilkins pens another music-themed academic mystery in Melody for Murder. Protagonist Bertie Bigelow is a music professor at a community college in Chicago’s South Side, where she walks easily between the poverty of her students’ world and the glitz of charity galas among the nearby African American community.

Cynthia Kuhn has a fresh take on tenure, the bane of every young professor’s existence. Kuhn’s sleuth, English professor Lila Maclean, is just starting her academic career and dealing with all the challenges of being single in a new town and a new job. Lila’s crafty department chair continually manipulates her into extra work by dangling the carrot of tenure in front of her or cracking the whip of tenure behind her. Those extras propel Lila into murderous complications that demonstrate her investigative skills, ingenuity, and charm.

Whether your taste runs to thrillers or cozies, these lady authors of academic mysteries are sure to please. I hope you’ll share your thoughts in a comment.

Blurb:

Meet the Penningtons: Lyssa, Ph.D. Economics, and her husband “the handsome Brit” Kyle, Ph.D. Computer Science. When their clever minds ask questions, clever killers can’t hide.

After a rough semester, Professor Lyssa Pennington just wants to post her grades and join her husband, Kyle, in Cornwall for Christmas. First, though, she’s expected to host an elegant dinner for Emile Duval, the soon-to-be Chair of Languages at Tompkins College.

Too bad no one told Lyssa murder is on the menu. And, by the way, Emile Duval is an imposter.

Who is he really? And who wanted him dead? Without those answers, the Penningtons can kiss Christmas in Cornwall goodbye.

Buy Links:

Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/y8rkglpe

Barnes & Noble: https://tinyurl.com/y8thfleb

Kate-B'ville 7-6-17 C.T. Collier was born to solve logic puzzles, wear tweed, and drink Earl Grey tea. Her professional experience in cutthroat high tech and backstabbing higher education gave her endless opportunity to study intrigue. Add to that her longtime love of mysteries, and it’s no wonder she writes academic mysteries (The Penningtons Investigate) that draw inspiration from traditional whodunits.

Links:

Website: https://drkatecollier.wordpress.com

Facebook: kate.collier.315

Twitter: @TompkinsFalls

Goodreads: http://tinyurl.com/zds5zps

Writing a Mystery is like Baking a Cake by Paty Jager

June 11, 2018June 13, 2018 ~ patyjag ~ 1 Comment

I had a post written, went back in to add a little more, and lost the whole thing! Man, I hate when that happens!

I am finishing up a historical western romance book and getting ready to start on the next Shandra Higheagle book. It will be book 11 in the series and take place partly on the Colville reservation. It will be the wedding book…or will it? LOL That’s for readers to find out!

Shandra will go to the reservation to learn and practice a Nez Perce dance she wishes to incorporate into her wedding to Ryan. Having found her family and heritage at the same time as finding Ryan, she wishes to combine her two cultures in the wedding. which means someone will get killed and she will want to help discover who did it and why with the help of her deceased grandmother.

All the research–Shandra’s heritage, how someone could be killed and what the forensics would say, the legal information I need to know, and keeping it all plausible is what makes writing a murder mystery so much fun! It makes me think, piece things together, and then try and keep the reader from figuring out who did it while also dropping some clues in the mix.

In a way writing a mystery is a lot like baking a cake. You have to read the recipe, which in this case decides the who, what, and why. Gather your ingredients — in my case gather my suspects. Then mix together the ingredients or in the case of the book put together plausible scenes that show and deceive at the same time. Add a little something special that makes the cake or the story interesting and enjoyable, all the while holding out on what the “secret sauce” or killer is. Then ice the cake with something delicious and come up with an ending that surprises the reader, yet was there all along.

I must have used the correct recipe on Haunting Corpse, book 9 in the Shandra Higheagle Series because it is a finalist in the paranormal category of the Daphne du Maurier contest. I’m honored that my book did so well in such a prestigious contest.

Another fun thing about my Shandra Higheagle Series, Books 1-6 are now available in audio!

Digging into a Character by Paty Jager

May 14, 2018April 4, 2018 ~ patyjag ~ 8 Comments

I’m currently working on a the first book of a new mystery series. This new series is making me grow as a writer which is what I hope each book does, but this series and character in particular is really making me stretch my brain which isn’t getting any younger.

I picked not only a male protagonist but I made him Native American ( one of my signatures of what I write) and I put him in a profession I know nothing about. Whew! Talk about working in a totally new environment!

Through the years writing romance before I got the nerve to try my hand at mystery, I wrote from both the male an female points of view and in my Shandra Higheagle series I write from a male point of view with Detective Ryan Greer. But this book is told completely from the male point of view- from Fish and Wildlife State Trooper Gabriel Hawke’s point of view.

Not only do I have to think like a male, I have to think a bit Native American and as a lawman would. Having been around my son-in-law who is a detective with the State Police, I’ve learned that even when they appear to be off duty and hanging around, they are still seeing things and picking up on things that the rest of us shrug off.

Trying to keep my character “on the alert” yet laid back and letting things happen as they should has been a tricky balance. Using his upbringing and his drive as counterpoints has also been tricky. He has worked hard to get out of the reservation and to have the job he does-protecting his ancestors land. But at the same time because he is protecting his ancestors land he has a deep connection to his Native American roots. While he is full blood Native American he still feels as if his feet are in two worlds. He is upholding the Whiteman’s law as a lawman, but at the same time keeping vigilance over his Native roots.

This first book is taking me longer to write than I thought it would but I had to put it on hold while I did a ride-along with a Fish and Wildlife State Trooper in the Eagle Cap Wilderness where my character works. The day I spent with the game warden was eye opening in the scope of duties they must preform. Because it is a large remote area, not only do they have to do their game duties but they also serve as a state trooper and while they are on the trail of a poacher or trespasser and there is a call that comes in about a shooting or domestic dispute they have to respond even if it is across the county from where they are at the moment.

20180326_111247 — Elk refuge where we were looking for trespassers

The best part about the ride-along was getting the troopers perspective on his job and learning some of the little nuances that I can add to books to give the character the flavor of a real life person.

When the first Gabriel Hawke book is ready to go to my critique partners and beta readers it will be interesting to see if I managed to get the male character correct.

The first thing that pulls me into a book is the characters. What about you?

SH Mug Art

Left Coast Crime Replay by Paty Jager

April 9, 2018April 9, 2018 ~ patyjag ~ 13 Comments

Last month, March 22-24, I attended the 2018 Left Coast Crime conference in Reno, NV. It was a five and a half hour drive from my home. A friend and I left Wednesday morning and took our time driving through rain, snow, and sleet to get there.

Thursday morning started with a speed dating event where two authors were teamed up and we moved from table to table talking about our books to readers who remained at the tables. There were 20 tables of 6-8 people per tables. It was a lot of fun. My “dating” partner was Lauri Rockenbeck. She had her first book out, and I was pitching my Shandra Higheagle Series.

I attended a couple of the panels that day and hung out with my friend.

Friday morning I was on the panel “I Still Miss Someone: Ghosts, Hauntings, & Horror” with Michele Drier, Margaret Lucke, Catherine Paul, and Jo Perry. We talked about the supernatural elements in our books. Michele was the narrator and did an excellent job with great questions and keeping things moving.

After my panel I popped in on a couple others where friends were speaking. Then I had lunch with an up and coming writer, who had contacted me before the conference to see if I would take the time from the conference and talk to her about writing and the business side of things. It was fun to meet Heather and share knowledge.

Friday evening, I attended the interview with William Kent Krueger. He was, as always, entertaining. He told how he took his 10 year-old grandson with them on a trip to Arizona to learn about about human trafficking and the border wars. He said while no one would open up to him,when his grandson asked questions, they would respond to him. And that was how Kent found the information he needed for his book Sulphur Springs which won the Lefty Award on Saturday night.

Saturday morning, I read the first chapter of Artful Murder at a “You Had Me At…” where authors could read for ten minutes and talk about their books or do a demonstration. After I read, a talk was given by Nancy Tingley on “Art Historians as Detectives”. I found it fascinating and made sure I watched a few more of these types of presentations by authors.

Saturday afternoon, I hosted my Sundae Social at Rosie’s Cafe in the casino. Thirteen readers signed up and twelve showed up. I was excited to have so many come. I purchased vanilla ice cream in dishes for them, and I’d brought along toppings for them to make their own sundaes, while I visited and talked about my books. They all went away saying it was the best event they’d been to during the conference, because they had one on one time with an author and enjoyed ice cream! I enjoyed each person who came.

I didn’t go to the banquet on Saturday night as a romance author friend who lives in Reno was meeting me for dinner. We had a great time catching up and talking writing.

While standing in line to pay and pick up the silent auction item I won, I started up a conversation with the author behind me (can’t remember his name), and he suggested my Shandra Higheagle books sounded like the the new category Cozy Noir that he’d heard about while at the conference. Anyone else heard of this?

Sunday morning my friend and I rose, packed up, and headed home. For this introvert writer, it was an exhausting weekend just having to stay in a open, welcoming mode for the readers and the authors I connected with.

As a reader and/or author are you a person who thrives on the energy of a conference or do you find it exhausting?

SH Mug Art (2)

Murder From the Headlines by Paty Jager

March 12, 2018March 6, 2018 ~ patyjag ~ 1 Comment

2017 headshot new When I started brainstorming the newest Shandra Higheagle Mystery, I didn’t think about what was in the headlines. I don’t even watch the news. It’s too depressing.

Every time I start brainstorming a book, I think about the world around me or my life. It is easier to write about something you have a vested interest in. I’d already determined that Shandra would volunteer at Warner High School. That had been mentioned more as an excuse for her to ferret out information in the previous book, but it was an option for the next book. I took it and ran.

She’s at a high school. Who could I murder and why? I traveled back to my high school days. There had been favorite teachers and not so favorite teachers, but the one that stuck out in my mind the most was the one who gave me the creeps. I didn’t like his smile, he dressed too fancy for the area where we lived, and everyone knew, that if a girl sat in the front row wearing a dress, they received a A for the day and enough of those would get you an A for the class. I didn’t hear any more rumors about him than that, but as I stated before, he kind of gave me the creeps, and I had two classes with him.

I took that feeling and information and came up with a much more lecherous teacher in my fictional school. I gave him a mental disorder that made him a pervert. He was short of stature and preyed on the women his size of smaller. Teachers and students alike. Then I gave the principal a misguided reason for not following through on the harassment charges.

And I had a murder victim.

Adding an autistic boy, who’s older brother looked out for him, and cyber bulling, I found a story full of possible suspects and lots of hidden secrets.

When I finished the book, I saw it as a misleading mystery. My reviewers wrote in their reviews, “ripped from the headlines.” So I’m guessing my latest book is not only a mystery, but it has subjects that are being talked about in the news. Which is good for my story and promotion, but I hadn’t planned it that way. It was a story born of my past experience and adding in the culture of today.

Do you like stories that incorporate what is happening in the news?

Artful Murder 5x8 Book ten in the Shandra Higheagle Mystery Series

Secrets… Scandal… Murder…

An autistic boy and his brother need potter Shandra Higheagle’s help when a teacher’s body is found after a confrontation with the older brother. Shandra knows the boy is innocent. Digging into the teacher’s life, she and Ryan turn up scandal.

Detective Ryan Greer has believed in Shandra’s dreams in the past, but she can’t always be right. When his investigation uncovers a principal on the take, females being harassed, and parents kept in the dark, he discovers more suspects than the brothers. Shandra’s time at the school is coming to an end, and the killer has struck again.

Universal buy link: https://www.books2read.com/u/bapvjq

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