Category: cozy mystery

Setting the Scene by Karen Shughart

~ kshughart47 ~ 6 Comments

All the books in my Edmund DeCleryk cozy mystery series are set in Lighthouse Cove, NY, a fictional village on the south shore of Lake Ontario, with the crimes occurring in the present but are related to something that happened in the past. In book one, Murder in the Museum, a map dated 1785 discovered in the historical society museum – led by sleuth Ed’s wife, Annie – and a journal dated 1845 found at an archaeological dig in Toronto, Canada, provide clues to why the victim was killed.

In book two, Murder in the Cemetery, a relic at the cemetery where casualties of the War of 1812 are buried; long-lost letters written by the wife of a patriot transported to England as a prisoner of war during that time;  a missing artifact at an exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England; and a diary discovered at an abandoned farmhouse help Ed and Annie solve the case.

In book three, Murder at Freedom Hill, the crime is thought to be related to the victim’s ancestry, his forebears lived in a settlement where free people of color lived harmoniously with abolitionists who helped transport escaping slaves to Canada across the lake before the Civil War. Another heinous deed, related to that settlement, is revealed during the investigation of the murder.

But what the books also have in common is that I weave into the plot the seasonal setting.  After book one, instead of just one prologue I decided to write two, the first with the historical backstory and the second describing the season.

I continue descriptions of the weather throughout each book, it helps to construct the mood. For example, Murder at Freedom Hill begins in November, before Thanksgiving. In one of the early chapters, Ed discovers that the village mayor has been murdered. A beloved member of the community, the mayor also served on Annie’s board of directors and the two had become close friends. After conferring with Detective Brad Washington at the crime scene, Ed gets into his SUV and drives to the museum to tell Annie about his death. Lots of sunshine and a clear sky start the day, but then the weather changes:

“The brilliant sky at sunrise had made way for clouds the color of brushed pewter that hovered over the roiling silver lake. The day looked like an antique photograph: sepia; gunmetal grey; milky white and black; faded like withered grass. The direction of the wind had changed, picking up speed from the northwest, with fallen leaves swirling around the museum parking lot as Ed pulled into a spot. The temperature had plummeted- winter silently creeping in like a cat about to pounce upon its prey.”

What I enjoy about writing cozy mysteries is the ability to expand description if it fits into the plot, and the weather can either give readers a sense of doom and gloom or provide an interesting juxtaposition to an odious deed.

Karen Shughart’s cozy mysteries are published by Cozy Cat Press. She’s currently working on book four of the series, Murder at Chimney Bluffs.

Guest Blogger ~ Ana Diamond

~ patyjag ~ 3 Comments

The Body Conscious series was born out of dark humor, in the same vein of light-hearted humorous cozy mysteries. I thought having a murder occur in a funeral home where everyone working there was already used to being among the dead added a quirky element to the mystery.

That being said, even though the story is entirely based in a funeral home, I’ve never worked in or even visited a funeral home. I do work in the medical field, which does help with understanding medical terms and how things are generally run in a medical facility. It probably also contributed to my interest in writing on the subject in the first place.

My main character, Lily Reynolds is a smart, feisty mortician running a family business who ends up falling for the detective on the murder case. In order to figure out how she would feel about working in a funeral home and the tasks she would be doing on daily basis I searched the internet for articles written for people who are curious about the process of embalming and the tools used in the process. I would find interviews of morticians explaining why they enjoy their jobs. I was struck by how compassionate people felt about this profession and the care taken for their clients. I tried to take the morbid association out of the profession and make it seem more accessible to the average person.

For example, in Chapter Two, Detective James Rivers goes to the funeral to ask Lily some questions about the case. Lily is in the middle of a workday and asks if she can work while they talk.  She tells him,

“That’s fine, but I need to finish Mrs. Sherry’s makeup. Can I work while you talk?”

He hesitated for a moment.

The true test of how he really felt about her job, she decided.

In this scene James represents how the most people would react to Lily’s job and I wanted to use it as an opportunity to educate and humanize the role for readers. Through scenes when he’s watching her work she sets the tone for how she treats each client. For example, he says,  

“I’ve never seen anyone put makeup on a body.”

“Mrs. Sherry’s family told me she wore a lot of blush, and my job is to have her look as she did when she was around them. I think that it’s important to the family to have their last moments with their loved one feel like it did when she was alive.”

James’s eyes searched her face as if she’d said the most fascinating thing he’d ever heard.

For some reason, I typically write about topics that might make me somewhat uncomfortable—I write about cults in the second book, Body Snatched. I’m thinking maybe it’s a form of therapy? I’ll let you decide. Body Conscious and Body Snatched are available now at all major retailers from The Wild Rose Press.

Body Conscious

Mortician, Lily Reynolds is used to seeing bodies, but not the type murdered in her own funeral home. As Detective James Rivers zeroes in on her as the town’s number one suspect she must rise above the accusations and rumors to solve the case herself while keeping her attraction to the troubled detective at bay. 

James has a past. The last time he let someone into his life she wound up dead. Vowing never to let that happen again he has sworn off dating for good. Until he meets Lily. In his gut he knows she’s not the murderer but pressure to solve the case puts him on the wrong trail while he struggles to keep Lily off the case.  

Can she solve the case on her own or will their scandalous romance get in the way of proving her innocence?

Buy link:

https://books2read.com/anadiamondauthor

When Ana Diamond isn’t writing about tough gals finding love in unexpected places, she’s at work by day in the medical field. She writes romantic cozy mystery novels with feisty strong women and alluring men who can’t resist them. Her books are fast paced, entertaining and heartfelt all at once.

Ana is a 2020 Tara Contest Finalist for Body Conscious and 2015 Melody of Love contest finalist. She lives in New York with her husband, two children and two needy but wildly entertaining kitty cats.

Social media:

https://twitter.com/AuthorDiamond

https://www.instagram.com/anadiamondauthor/

https://www.tiktok.com/@anadiamondauthor

https://www.anadiamondauthor.com/

October by Karen Shughart

~ kshughart47 ~ 2 Comments

October is without a doubt my favorite month, filled with a bounty of richness and color that I embrace before the landscape turns into subtle shades of brown and beige. Here in the northern part of New York state, on the shores of Lake Ontario, there are breathtakingly beautiful days this time of year: cloudless cerulean skies; a Caribbean green lake with meandering white caps, perfumed like the ocean without the brine; a piercing lemon-colored sun that warms the coolness in the air, and crisp nights with a carpet of stars winking and blinking in an ink-stained sky.

By now many leaves have turned bright with shades of yellow, gold, deep rust and red, but until our first frost, the lawns will remain green.  The sea grasses in our backyard, almost as tall as our house, have feathery, burgundy tassels and, when the wind blows in from the northwest, sound like the gentle ebb and flow of waves on the water. Stately pine trees, red-berried evergreens and hollies provide contrast, reminding us that life continues, even in winter.

Burnap’s Farm Market – Sodus, NY

The farmstands, with domes of potted mums for sale in a riot of colors, will remain open for the rest of this month and into the holiday season. Berries, peaches and plums, lettuces, cucumbers, and zucchini, have been replaced with other fruits and vegetables that can be stored for longer periods of time and will warm our bellies on cold nights: local apples of every variety; hearty winter squashes; purple-green kale; cabbages; potatoes, and multi-hued varieties cauliflower.

In October I replace the summer cushions and pillows on the wicker furniture on our front porch with ones more representative of the season. Halloween is big here, so some of the pillows are patterned with pale green, orange, and white pumpkins with deep green and purple leaves and vines. Instead of sitting on our deck for our late afternoon happy hour, my husband and I move to the porch, drinking wine and welcoming friends who stroll by and then stop for a drink and to chat.

November is just around the corner, and there will be plenty to celebrate then, too, but for now I’ll rejoice in this beautiful month of October.

Karen Shughart is the author of the Edmund DeCleryk cozy mystery series, published by Cozy Cat Press. Her third book, Murder at Freedom Hill, recently was awarded first place in the mystery category and third place in fiction in the International Firebird Book Award competition. She is currently working on book four, Murder at Chimney Bluffs.

Guest Blogger ~ Marla A. White

~ patyjag ~ 5 Comments

Unveiling the Fun Side of Crime: My Murder Research Adventure

Maybe this should worry me, but there’s no shortage of people I want to kill on a daily basis, so coming up with victims for my plots is relatively easy. Cut me off on the freeway? Your car is now being driven by a soon to be dead character. Be mean to a friend? Murder will follow. 

The real fun for me comes when it’s time to research the details. For “Cause for Elimination” I had firsthand knowledge of the horse and eventing world because I lived it. But finding out how to blow up a boat (hint: it’s not as easy as it sounds), or what it would sound like if someone were stabbed and their lung collapsed, required a little more digging. Fortunately, I have a few real live resources I can turn to for answers.

There’s a fellow eventer and nurse who’s very patient with my myriad of weird questions about broken necks and blood loss. Another good friend is an expert in wiring and security systems. He was invaluable when I was trying to figure out how the spy camera I needed for a particular scene would work. My nephew builds boats and helped me with the boat question.

Obviously, the Internet is a beautiful thing. There’s a wonderful website, “How To Kill Your Imaginary Friends” with articles such as, “If you shock a flatline, I swear I will come to your home and beat you with a wet chicken”. One of my characters is Scottish so I have a ton of websites bookmarked to make him sound authentic, including “The Septic’s Companion” for British slang words and insults. Plus lots and lots of research on weapons; guns, swords, knives, and even what a cat-o’-nine-tails looks like. I dread the thought that one day someone will look through search history and promptly arrest or medicate me.

But many of the specific, colorful details in my books, however, come from personal experiences. Like I said, I boarded my horses and rode at most of the locations that appear in “Cause for Elimination”. One scene, where a boarder is bemoaning how their life has been ruined, was from an actual and hilarious encounter that I had. Beautiful Idyllwild, a place a go as often as I can, was the inspiration for the quirky town of Pine Cove in my cozy mystery, “The Starlight Mint Surprise Murder” and the upcoming sequel. My non-mystery books were born out of a visit to a historic inn.

Probably the single most useful research tool for me as a writer, however, is wordhippo.com. It’s like a thesaurus on steroids and helps me keep my writing fresh. Used with ProWritingAid, because I’m useless at putting commas in the right place, I’ve gotten much better at turning in manuscripts that are clean and avoid mistakes. Because while killing off people is fun, murdering the language is downright embarrassing! 

Fun facts

Something readers might find interesting about this book:

Much of what happens in this novel is inspired by real events, people and places from my years of riding horses. Emily’s distinctive pickup truck was inspired by a real truck I coveted. Justin’s uncontrollable ride with “whoa?” – happened to me on that very field. The horse she rides, Reese, is based on the last horse I owned right down to his big suitcase head that he likes to waggle.  Don’t even ask me about the upholstery story!  And though I’ve never forgotten to unhook my air-vest, I’ve certainly had my share of close calls.  

A fact about me readers might find interesting:

The first time I got on a horse was to ride a neighbor’s fat pony bareback. It took off, I clung to its side for maybe 100 yards before hitting the ground, and have been in love with horses ever since.  It’s entirely possible I hit my head.  

Cause for Elimination

After suffering a devastating riding accident, eventer Emily Conners is on the road back to reclaiming her life. Then she discovers the body of her friend and boss, Pam Yates, brutally murdered at the barn and it seems like nothing will ever be normal again. She’s out of a job, and annoyed by the handsome cop whose been sent to investigate the case.  Because while she wants to see the killer brought to justice, she has some dark secrets of her own she’d rather he didn’t unearth.

Detective Justin Butler usually gets his killer, but this time the investigation proves particularly difficult as Pam Yates had no shortage of enemies.  He looks to Emily for insights into a world that’s completely foreign to him and can’t understand why she’s resistant to help. Is she as busy as she claims, or is she scared off by the growing attraction they both share?

As the investigation heats up, dangers come from unexpected corners and buried secrets are exposed. Emily and Justin will have to work together to catch the killer, putting both their hearts and their lives on the line, before they strike again. 

Buy links:

Amazon  https://amzn.to/3qk7XCP

Books2Read  https://books2read.com/u/b6zjM6

BookBub  https://www.bookbub.com/books/cause-for-elimination-by-marla-a-white

GoodReads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62233827-cause-for-elimination

All Author https://allauthor.com/book/70256/cause-for-elimination/

Marla White is an award-winning novelist, story analysis instructor at UCLA and writing coach who lives in Los Angeles. She graduated from the University of Kentucky where she took her first horseback riding lesson. After dabbling in hunters, barrel racing, and weekly trail rides, she fell hopelessly in love with the sport of eventing.  She “conquered” Novice level before taking a break to pursue novel writing but hopes to return to the saddle some day soon.  Her first novel, “The Starlight Mint Surprise Murder,” was published in 2021 followed by the first two books in her Keeper Chronicles series. When she’s not writing, she’s out in the garden, hiking, or working on a jigsaw puzzle.  

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/TheScriptFixer

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marlawriteswords/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarlaAWhiteAuthor

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marlaw825

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21467766.Marla_A_White

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Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marla-A.-White/author/B094DVMCR4

Guest Blogger ~ Mollie Hunt

~ patyjag ~ 9 Comments

Ten years, ten Crazy Cat Lady mysteries.

Ten years ago, my high school best friend said to me, “Let’s publish your book.” She was an editor. I was a writer, unpublished even though I’d recently completed my ninth fiction manuscript. I’d been trying the query route, but I never had the patience to carry it through. When I finished a book, I’d send out a frenzy of query letters to everyone in the marketplace manual but then get tired of waiting for that one good response and start another book. Writing books fascinated me; trying to pitch them did not.

I’d completed three mysteries, a thriller, and three and a half sci-fantasies when on a trip to Mazatlán Mexico, I began something new. With the warm breeze off the Pacific Ocean and the sound of marimbas playing in my ears, I penned the first chapters of a cat-themed cozy featuring a cat shelter volunteer. This one felt different; even then I knew it could be a series.

That story, Cats’ Eyes, was the one my friend the editor said we should publish, and we did.

After Cats’ Eyes came Copy Cats and then Cat’s Paw. The Crazy Cat Lady Cozy Mysteries found its voice and established its living characters. I kept coming up with new things for my shelter volunteer Lynley Cannon to do and new crimes that only she could solve. Her varying clowder of cats helped in their catly way, along with her octogenarian mom, her teenage granddaughter, her shelter buddy, and a hunky humane investigator. When I sat down at the computer, the stories would write themselves.

And now, ten years later.

I’m about to publish a new Crazy Cat Lady mystery, Cat House, and this one is special for a few reasons. It’s the tenth in the series, ten being a milestone. It takes place in my own neighborhood, and though the exact locations are fictional, anyone familiar with the Hawthorne district of Southeast Portland, Oregon will be able to visualize some of the features. And if you’ve read any of my series, you know I incorporate cat information into each story and include cat facts and snippets at the beginning of each chapter. Like my character Lynley Cannon, I am an devoted cat person, a volunteer, and an advocate for all cats. If my stories can not only entertain but teach something about cats, I’ve achieved my objective.

In Cat House, I’ve incorporated a secondary storyline involving a cat being treated for Feline Infectious Peritonitis. Up until recently FIP has nearly always been fatal to the unfortunate cats and kittens who contract it, but now there is a cure. Sadly, however, the drug to treat FIP isn’t approved in the United States, so sufferers have to look elsewhere. To get this storyline right, I needed to do quite a bit of research, and not just the internet kind. I reached out to a friend who had successfully treated an FIP kitten with “black market” drugs she obtained through an online group. I also learned of FIP crusader Peter Cohen and his cat advocate work. I was able to interview Peter and find out a whole lot more about why we can’t get this lifesaving drug in the US.

I included Peter’s interview as an afterword in Cat House. My new book may be cozy fiction and light reading for those who like cats, mysteries, and happy endings, but the reader might just learn something along the way.

Right now you can pre-order Cat House for its release on October 29th. Link to Pre-order: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGSXLYTP

Cat House

Book 10 in the Crazy Cat Lady Cozy Mystery Series

This Halloween, the cats are hiding, and the monsters don’t wear costumes.

Young men from the Portland-Seattle area are going missing. It’s just another sad headline to Lynley Cannon—until she starts her new cat sitting job for an enigmatic neighbor.

An off-limits room, a suspicious phone message involving drugs, and the sudden appearance of a missing man’s cat arouse Lynley’s suspicion, but how far can she go before the consequences of her cat-like curiosity turn deadly?

https://www.amazon.com/House-Crazy-Lady-Mystery-Book-ebook/dp/B0CGSXLYTP

Cat Writer Mollie Hunt is the award-winning author of two cozy series, the Crazy Cat Lady Mysteries and the Tenth Life Mysteries. Her Cat Seasons Sci-Fantasy Tetralogy features extraordinary cats saving the world. Mollie also released a cat-themed COVID memoir. In her spare time, she pens a bit of cat poetry as well.

Mollie is a member of the Oregon Writers’ Colony, Sisters in Crime, the Cat Writers’ Association, Willamette Writers, and Northwest Independent Writers Association (NIWA). She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and a varying number of cats.

You can find Mollie Hunt, Cat Writer on her blogsite: https://molliehuntcatwriter.com/

Follow Mollie’s Amazon Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/molliehunt

Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/MollieHuntCatWriter/