Category: Mystery Readers Only

Read about new mysteries from the authors who write them!

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Guest Post: What’s in a Murder Mystery, Anyway?

The Lethal Legacy
The Lethal Legacy by Jeannette de Beauvoir

Due to a scheduling glitch, you are seeing Jeannette de Beauvoir’s post on the ingredients for a murder mystery this afternoon instead of this morining. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. –Thonie

By Jeannette de Beauvoir

My favorite genre, whether reading or writing, is mystery. There’s something that’s intellectually and morally satisfying about seeing justice done—and having a go at figuring out how to get there.

Most murders originate long before they come to the reader’s—or the sleuth’s—attention. The body is both the ending of one story and the beginning of another. But unless there’s some sort of flashback in the prologue, the murder mystery proper begins with a body.

THE BODY

In a cozy mystery, one that doesn’t follow the investigation from the police point of view  (those are called police procedurals), generally the murder itself is glossed over. Its brutality doesn’t intrude much into the drawing-room or garden; instead, that’s all abstracted and presented to the reader as a puzzle. Readers are generally not attached to the victim, though as the mystery deepens the victim may be fleshed out and presented as more of a person; right now, though, we’re just looking at a body.

THE SLEUTH

In a mystery in which the protagonist is a detective (either police or private), that person now enters the scene. Although not always, this is also the point where the amateur sleuth enters the scene, though generally with less deliberation; most amateurs stumble over bodies—literally or metaphorically—or get drawn in by someone else. In a detective novel, there is sometimes a dark past or present (for example, Sherlock Holmes’ cocaine habit), while amateurs often handle their pasts and foibles with humor.

THE SUSPECTS

The obvious suspect is, of course, rarely guilty. Agatha Christie pioneered using the least likely suspect as murderer; but there are all sorts of options between those extremes. It’s generally not the butler (though to be honest, I long to read a mystery in which the butler did do it!). Suspects all present a motive for murder, and most of these motives are established by the author to lead the reader astray.

THE WEAPON

The weapon used reveals the level of planning—or lack thereof—involved. Murder weapons (or methods) in novels tend in general to be more creative than those in the headlines; one can only assume that when real criminals use creative methods, they’re not caught.

THE INFORMATION

There’s lots of it. The weather, people’s habits, gum wrappers left behind… nothing is too small for the author to include. It’s up to the reader to figure out what’s relevant and what isn’t. The author has a duty to the reader: all the information necessary to solving the crime must be given to the reader in the name of fair play—so a lot more of it needs to be there in order to distract!

THE RED HERRINGS

Just as superfluous information must be included, along with a plethora of possible suspects, the author includes possible false trails for the reader to fall in love with and follow.

THE REVELATION

It’s no fun to solve a murder if you can’t reveal your solution as dramatically as possible! Remember Hercule Poirot’s “you may wonder why I’ve called you here this evening”… this is possibly the most annoying part of the classic Golden Age mysteries, as the detective (professional or amateur) takes the suspects through the entire case, throws about the red herrings, and finally reveals the culprit.

And that’s pretty much it! Of course, I hope you see more than this bare-bones structure in my novels… but I am writing them in conformity to an old and venerable writing tradition.

Happy sleuthing!

About the book: 

Despite a slew of weddings to coordinate, Sydney Riley refuses to miss the Women’s Community Dinner—the high point of Women’s Week. During the festivities, she meets vocalist Jordan Bellefort, a direct descendant of a fugitive slave whose diaries suggest the Race Point Inn was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Then Jordan’s wife, Reggie, is murdered while Jordan performs onstage before a crowd of adoring fans. When Sydney probes Reggie’s death, she uncovers a tainted legacy that may provide a motive for the killing and place her own life at risk.

Jeannette de Beauvoir


The Lethal Legacy explores the past’s influence on the present in a world-famous seaside resort with a rich history of diversity and acceptance. This seventh book in the Provincetown Mystery Series maintains the masterful blend of gripping suspense and unique characters Sydney Riley readers have come to expect.  

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08DMCBDCY/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

About Jeannette de Beauvoir:

Jeannette is a bestselling novelist whose characters uncover truths and occasional dark secrets via mystery, historical, and literary fiction. Her work has been translated into 12 languages and she has been a Booksense Book-of-the-Year finalist.

As you can imagine, she loves to write. All the time.

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Guest Janet Dawson: Write What You Know–or Find Out

DEATH ABOVE THE LINE by Janet Dawson
https://www.amazon.com/Death-Above-Line-California-Mystery/dp/1564746186/

by Janet Dawson

That piece of advice is usually attributed to Mark Twain. Writing what you know is useful, but it’s limiting. As writers and readers, we don’t want limits. I find that I work better if I add two sentences to the quote: If you don’t know, find out. The search will lead you in all sorts of directions.

As the author of 19 books and a dozen short stories, I’ve found out some interesting things and traveled in many directions.

My latest book, Death Above the Line, is the fourth in my historical mystery series, which features protagonist Jill McLeod and the train known as the California Zephyr (the original, not the Amtrak version). The books are set in the early 1950s and Jill was introduced to mystery readers in Death Rides the Zephyr, followed by Death Deals a Hand and The Ghost in Roomette Four.

Jill is the only female member of the train crew, something like the train equivalent of a stewardess. Other rail lines had similar roles and called them by different names. On the California Zephyr, they were known as Zephyrettes.

I decided a Zephyrette would be a perfect sleuth. After all, her job was to make sure the passengers had a wonderful journey and that involved being observant, ready to solve problems as soon as they happened, if not before. Zephyrettes had to be intelligent and resourceful, and my protagonist Jill is all of that.

Write what you know. Well, I didn’t know much about Zephyrettes and I had to find out what it was like to ride the rails on the California Zephyr, both as a passenger and a member of the crew.

I’m writing about the original California Zephyr, not the Amtrak Version. The old California Zephyr (CZ) was sometimes called the Silver Lady, because of its sleek stainless-steel cars. The CZ began in March 1949, created in the heyday of luxurious train travel after World War II. It was a joint operation of three railroads—the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (CB&Q), the Denver & Rio Grande Western (D&RGW), and the Western Pacific (WP)—with two trains daily, one westbound from Chicago, the other eastbound from Oakland, California.

CB&Q locomotives and crews operated the train between Chicago and Denver, where the D&RGW took over. From Salt Lake City west, it was the WP. The last stop was the Oakland Mole, a two-story train shed on the bay shore, where passengers bound for San Francisco would board ferries. For payroll purposes, the Zephyrettes were considered WP employees.

There was a lot I didn’t know, but I found out. I used all sorts of resources—books, articles, casting my net on the Internet. The research libraries at railroad museums in California and Colorado provided a trove of information. I also rode on trains and climbed around on railroad cars. I even drove a locomotive!

Best of all were the personal contacts—rail enthusiasts I met on several train trips, people who own and restore private rail cars, and the Zephyrettes themselves. I discovered that two retired Zephyrettes lived in the area, and one of them had worked on the trains in the early 1950s. One evening I took them to dinner, started my recorder, listened to them talk for over two hours. Oh, what stories I heard! Especially the one about the clandestine poker games in the baggage car. Invaluable!

Novel synopsis:

Zephyrette Jill McLeod rides the rails on the California Zephyr, but in Death Above the Line, she’s on a movie set, playing a scripted version of her real-life role. This temporary stint as an actress would be fun—if it weren’t for the emotions and conflicts swirling around the cast and crew. Secrets and hidden agendas abound. And nobody likes the visiting studio executive. When someone winds up dead, Jill takes on the role of detective. Can she expose the killer before the real-life villain catches up with her?

Buy links:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/death-above-the-line-janet-dawson/1136603384?ean=9781564746184Barnes and Noble

https://bookshop.org/books/death-above-the-line-a-california-zephyr-mystery/9781564746184

Janet Dawson is the author of two mystery series. The first features Oakland, California private eye Jeri Howard. The first book in the series, Kindred Crimes, won the St. Martin’s Press/Private Eye Writers of America contest for Best First Private Eye novel and was nominated for several awards. Jeri usually sleuths in California. Her territory is the Bay Area, but she ranges farther afield, heading for Monterey and San Luis Obispo in Don’t Turn Your Back on the Ocean, and Sonoma County in Bit Player and Cold Trail. The thirteenth book in the series, The Devil Close Behind, finds Jeri even farther from home, as a vacation in New Orleans turns into a case.

Author Janet Dawson

Janet has also written four historical mysteries set in the early 1950s. The California Zephyr series features protagonist Jill McLeod, who is a Zephyrette, the only female member of the crew of the sleek streamliner that runs between the Bay Area and Chicago. Her job is to see to the passengers’ needs and be aware of any problems that interfere with a smooth journey. Problems such as murder! Jill began sleuthing in Death Rides the Zephyr, which was followed by Death Deals a Hand and The Ghost in Roomette Four. Now arriving in the station is Death Above the Line. Jill, who has been roped into playing a Zephyrette in a film noir, finds yet another body.

Other publications include her suspense novel, What You Wish For, a novella, But Not Forgotten, and numerous short stories, including Shamus nominee “Slayer Statute” and Macavity winner “Voice Mail.”

Janet recently finished a novel titled The Sacrificial Daughter, which will be published in January 2021. She has just started a historical novel.

Find out more about Janet and her work and sign up for her newsletter at:

www.janetdawson.com.

Her Facebook page is:

https://www.facebook.com/Mysteries.PrivateEyes.Trains

Follow Janet on BookBub:

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/janet-dawson

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Guest: David E Knop-An Excerpt

Dead Horses

Excerpt from Mining Sacred Ground by David E. Knop, coming soon!

“You ain’t the only policeman ever killed a cop,” Sal Montoya said from the bedroom at the back of the singlewide.

The remains of the night blew down from the Mogollon Rim, crossed the Verde River Valley, scraped dust from the White Hills, and banked skyward off the Black Hills. New Mexico-born Cochiti tribe policeman Peter Romero slouched in his cousin Sal’s kitchenette and stared south at the Bradshaw Mountains shadowed by the low sun. The wind buffeted the trailer, reminding him he’d slept all night in Sal’s driveway in the bed of a pickup. He welcomed the morning heat through the window, and cursed the painful bump on his chin, his life, and everything about Camp Verde, Arizona. Sal’s coffee tasted like plastic, but it warmed him after a shivering night.

“You know another one?” Romero asked, pressing his temples to ease the pounding. When Sal walked into the kitchen, he looked up and asked, “Why’d you punch me?”

“I didn’t. You knocked yourself out when you fell on your drunk ass,” Sal said, opening, then banging a cabinet door shut. He poured coffee, dragged a chair to the table. “Never seen you that drunk, man. What’s gotten into you?”

“Nothin’.”

“Bullshit, you been moping around here feeling sorry for yourself for two weeks, and now you drink yourself to the point I had to go and drag your ass home.”

“It can happen to anybody. Get over it.”

“Not my problem. I want your ass outta here, but first, I got work for you.”

“You got a funny way of askin’.”

“I need help.” Sal sucked coffee. “Do this one thing for me before you go.”

“Go where? I can’t go home. I’m banished and Costancia is really pissed. No, I need to stay away from there. Too many bad memories.”

“Your banishment is crap. You did the right thing and the elders are wrong. You need to be with your wife, not here.”

Romero shrugged, stared at the table. “What do you need?”

“I been workin’ two shootings. So far, I been striking out, but I got some ideas and need to know more about the bikers that been hanging around. They don’t know you, so you can get close. Here, I made a list.” He removed a notebook from his pocket, tore out a page, and dropped it on the table. “These are my prime suspects. Look at those names.”

“Why don’t you just bring ‘em in?”

“I have. They lawyer up.”

Romero scanned the list. “I came here to look for stolen pots.”

“Forget that, I got something big here, and with all your military police training, this is right up your alley, Jarhead.” He gripped Romero’s shoulder. “Those bikers are involved in both shootings and I need you to make the connection.”

Romero inspected the tabletop and didn’t answer.

Montoya shook his head, buttoned the notebook in his breast pocket, grabbed his Stetson, and banged through the screen. “Get some leads or get out.”

The diesel started with a click and a rattle.

Crack! A shot rang out.

Name: Dead Horses (A Peter Romero Mystery) Book Blurb: 

Who is leaving dead horses across the Southwest? New Mexico tribal police officer Pete Romero must find the answer. Simultaneously, a brutal double murder involving his childhood friend on his own reservation complicates the investigation. Romero’s skills and loyalties are stretched to the breaking point when he trails a mysterious stranger who is cultivating extremists to escalate long-brewing tribal hostilities into a shooting war. Romero tightropes between the natural and supernatural while battling wolves, dirty cops, and a murderous grizzly in a race to save hundreds of innocent lives before they, too, become part of the dark, hidden side of Southwest history.

Books by David E. Knop

David E. Knop is a retired Marine officer with twenty years of service saw two tours in Vietnam as an artillery forward observer and naval gunfire support officer. Dave also worked in the intelligence and logistics fields. As a staff officer, he wrote and edited numerous military operations plans.

David E. Knop

In civilian life, Dave produced many electronic and automotive technical manuals for industry leaders such as ViaSat, SAIC, and Computer Sciences Corporation. His work for the Eighth Air Force received an award of excellence in a Northern California Society of Technical Communications competition. 

Dave’s four thrillers featuring a former Marine tribal police officer bring the role of spirit warrior to the subgenre of Native American detectives. Dave’s novels, The Smoked Mirror, Mining Sacred Ground, Poisoned by God’s Flesh, and Animal Parts have been honored by the Maryland Writers’ Association, Killer Nashville, New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards, Public Safety Writers of America, Military Writers Society of America, the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest and the Eric Hoffer Book Award. Dave’s fifth novel, Dead Horses, will be available in six weeks.

Dave earned a BA from the University of Colorado, Boulder, an MS from the University of Southern California, and is a lifelong student of military and Native American cultures.

Website: David E. Knop

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Guest: Michele Drier-Do You Want to Know Everything?

Stain on the Soul
Stain on the Soul

READER, PLEASE NOTE-This post includes a give-away of one of Michele’s books! See the bottom of post for how to enter!

By Michele Drier

Like a lot of things in life, mystery readers are divided into two camps—those who love description and those who don’t.

It’s not that those readers who don’t like a description don’t want ANY. After all, it’s nice to understand that the setting for the new cozy takes place on a seacoast when the protagonist spends most of her time on the sand.

 It could be the desert. Towns east of Palm Springs are called the cove communities, not because there’s any water in sight but because the mountains form “coves,” dips or valleys between the rocky spines that merge into the desert floor. These are alluvial fans, formed of soil washed down the steep mountains over the centuries and they’re relatively flat and easy to build on.

Description helps us “see” the places, the characters, the action, but there are some readers who prefer to “see” these things in their mind. How many of us “saw” Grandma Mazur in the Stephanie Plum books as someone not like Debbie Reynolds? Or pictured 6’5” Jack Reacher as someone taller than Tom Cruise (5’7”)?

As a mystery reader who cut her teeth on Nancy Drew (ahhh, The Secret of the Old Clock!), I’ve always painted pictures of the characters and the settings in my head. I knew what Nancy and Ned and her father the judge and her car looked like, but I don’t remember if Carolyn Keene offered much description in the books.

In my own books, I don’t write much description. Amy Hobbes of the Newspaper Mysteries series, wears her shoulder-length hair in a ponytail and dresses in skirts and over-blouses. Roz Duke of the Stained Glass Mysteries series twists her hair into a topknot and skewers it with a pencil—so she’ll have one handy when she needs to sketch something.

And then there are the Kandesky vampires. Both the men and women are rich, beautiful, shop for clothes in Paris and Milan. The Kandesky Vampire Chronicles is currently ten books long, so each book I’ve added a bit more description, both for the characters and the settings, which are primarily in Eastern Europe.

My aim in writing description is to include information that moves the plot along, but occasionally this runs afoul of some of my critique partners. Just like all readers, the critique group is pretty evenly divided between those who want a lot of description and those who want the bare minimum. I synthesize the comments, adding some description here, tweaking some there, shooting to reach a spot where both types of readers feel comfortable.

How about you? Do you prefer knowing all the details of your favorite character and the milieu he/she moves in? Or do you prefer more of an outline—how tall, hair color and cut to the action?

Michele Drier is a fifth generation Californian. During her career in journalism she won awards for investigative series. She is the past president of Capitol Crimes, the Sacramento chapter of Sisters in Crime, and the Guppies chapter of Sisters in Crime and co-chair for Bouchercon 2020.

Michele Drier

Her Amy Hobbes Newspaper Mysteries, set in the California Delta area, are Edited for Death, (called “Riveting and much recommended” by the Midwest Book Review), Labeled for Death and Delta for Death. A stand-alone, Ashes of Memories was published May 2017.

Her paranormal romance series, SNAP: The Kandesky Vampire Chronicles, named the best paranormal vampire series of 2014 by PRG, continues with book ten, SNAP: Red Bear Rising released 2018.

The first book of her new series, Stained Glass Mysteries, Stain on the Soul, was released in 2019 and she is currently working on the second book in the series, Tapestry of Tears.

Visit her webpage, www.MicheleDrier.me

Or her facebook page, ,http://www.facebook.com/AuthorMicheleDrier

Or find her on her author page at http://www.amazon.com/Michele-Drier/e/B005D2YC8G/

One commenter on this blog will be selected to receive a Kindle copy of Stain on the Soul!

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Guest Post: How Does an Old Time Cop Write an Historical Novel with a Touch of Romance From a Woman’s POV?

The Mona Lisa Sisters by George Cramer

By George Cramer

I could say easily, but that would only be true of the start. In 2011, I was happily and gainfully employed by Palm, Inc. Palm came to fame with the Palm Pilot and was one of the early entries in the smartphone market. Then we were bought out, and the layoffs began.

Looking for work, I learned a great deal about age discrimination. That’s a story for another time. After about a year, I spotted a notice for a writing class at the local senior center, a place I had sworn never to enter. I had the feeling it could provide resume improvement. I swallowed my pride and joined the group.

The class was about creative writing, and I fell in love with the art form. So much so that  I returned to college taking English classes. I have to confess that in a much earlier education process, I earned a string of Ds in English. It might have resulted from sharing a beach house with four other students, all waiting to be drafted. None of whom ever seemed to have any homework.

One afternoon at the senior center, the instructor randomly passed out pictures. The one landing in front of me was two young girls staring up at the Mona Lisa. The assignment was to describe the setting in fifteen minutes. I didn’t do it.

I was astonished that a story filled my head. In the time allotted, I had a rough outline of The Mona Lisa Sisters. The title then, and eight years later, it still is. Until then, all I had written were crime and thrillers.

The first draft was finished in a month. I felt like I had just completed a piece equal in stature to Charles Dickens’ Hard Times. I sat it aside while I finished two writing classes at the local community college. I was ready to finish polishing my soon to be bestseller.

Reading with a fresh eye and very little skill, I realized that, like most first drafts, it was a total mess. I needed more classes. I decided to pursue an MFA in Creative Writing. I learned that Joy Harjo, an artist I admire, was a regular speaker at the Institute of American Indian Arts at Santa Fe, New Mexico. I enrolled, met her, and even sat with her once at dinner.

I continued to write and rewrite The Mona Lisa Sisters. The novel became my thesis project. I loved the help and guidance my outstanding professors and mentors gave me in improving the work. This spring, the novel was completed.

I could have continued rewriting, but after eight years, I couldn’t stand to read another word of it. Querying agents brought a slew of rejections. Unwilling to send one more query, I contacted Russian Hill Press, a small independent press.

Working with the owner was a pleasant but exhausting process. She, the line editor, and I went back and forth, refining what was not as complete as I had hoped. Thanks to them, The Mona Lisa Sisters will be released on August 14.

~~

In addition to The Mona Lisa Sisters, George has written a historical crime novel and is completing the second novel in the Liberty – A Hector Miguel Navarro Novel trilogy. He has had eight pieces published in anthologies and one in 0-Dark-Thirty, the literary journal of the Veterans Writing Project.

Ramona Ausubel, author Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty, has this to say: “The Mona Lisa Sisters is a tender journey into the making of a family. The novel is full of careful historical detail and the pleasure of European trains and cities and plenty of mystery to keep the pages turning, but the greatest delight is Lura Grisham herself.”

Lura Grisham Myer lives a perfect life until her world is ripped apart. Wealth cannot protect Lura from the tragedies that befall her in the late nineteenth century. Reborn, forged of pain and misery, she voyages to Paris after months as a recluse in Grisham Manor. There Lura finds new purpose in life when she meets two American girls who face a tragedy of their own.

The Mona Lisa Sisters is available for pre-order. Here is a link to his Amazon Author Page, where you can order the paperback ($14.99) or Kindle ($3.99): https://rb.gy/j2m46l.

Author George Cramer

George Cramer was born to a Karuk Indian, a career soldier, and one of the last horse soldiers of World War II. George served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War. Completing his service, he became a police officer, retiring as a sergeant after years of working criminal and undercover investigations. For five years, he volunteered at a local police department investigating missing person’s cold cases.

Recent Awards

2020 Public Safety Writers Association

Flash Fiction Non-Published First Place – Joe

Flash Fiction Non-Published Third Place – Welcome Home

Short Story Non-Published Honorable Mention – Hard Time

Fiction Book Non-Published Fourth Place – A Tale of Robbers and Cops

Email           gdcramer@msn.com

Blog             http://gdcramer.com

FaceBook     http://www.facebook.com/george.cramer.56211

Author         http:www.amazon.com/author/george.cramer

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Great News!

2020 PSWA First place fiction book, unpublished-FELONY MURDER RULE

FELONY MURDER RULE, Thonie’s latest offering in the Nick and Meredith Mysteries series has won first place in the Public Safety Writers Association 2020 Writing Competition for fiction book, unpublished. Look at the esteemed company I’m in!

Aakenbaaken & Kent will have this book out in the coming months. Check back here or subscribe to get the most current release information.

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Guest Post: Mixing It Up: Why I Love Mysteries that Mash Genres Together

Singularity Syndrome
Singularity Syndrome by Susan Kuchinskas

By Susan Kuchinskas

I think the greatest pleasure in reading genre fiction comes from the tension between fulfilling my expectations for the genre and surprising me by breaking them in some way. I love mysteries for the puzzles and the assurance that justice will probably be served. I love science fiction for its trips away from reality—and I love nothing better than a book that smushes together science fiction and crime.

I’m also guilty of perpetrating this mashup. For my two novels, Chimera Catalyst and Singularity Syndrome, I chose the detective/science fiction hybrid for two reasons. First, I’ve covered technology and the Silicon Valley scene as a reporter for many years, and I wanted to take off from all the skewed attitudes and over-the-top behavior I’d witnessed. (For example, in Singularity, a tech titan wants to force humanity to serve an artificial intelligence; in real life, a tech guru founded a church to worship AI. I kid you not.) Extrapolating what could happen from current breakthroughs is part of the fun of science fiction.

Second, I suck at plotting. I mean, really. I can spend hours flummoxed by the question of what should happen next. So, the conventions of classic detective stories provide a ready-made structure: A crime happens, and the detective visits scenes, questions people and, eventually, gets somewhere. Voila, plot.

Shaking up a mystery with science fiction can provide a fresher milieu. Beth Barany told Mystery Readers Only she sets her mysteries in a hotel/casino on a space station because it would be an exotic location.

A science fiction element can also up the stakes. Charlie Huston based Sleepless on a real malady. In his novel, a policeman works to uncover a conspiracy while everyone in the world—including his wife and daughter—dies around him.

Adding in romance—or even sex—is another way to up the stakes and add some heat to a mystery plot. Heather Haven’s Christmas Trifle marries romance to a cozy mystery. She says she wanted to write a book about a couple’s journey into becoming better people together. “But rather than be preachy (good grief, so not my style), I chose to use food, humor, warmth, and, of course, a dastardly villain,” she says. “Love makes the world go round. Throw in a good murder, and you have a win-win situation.”

While many of us are faithful to a genre, few of us cannot be lured by a great mashup. Just look at Outlander—historical fiction with a glorious brew of suspense, romance, horror and time travel. Romance and horror? Jane Eyre and Zombies.

I could go on, but instead, I’m going to start reading This Body’s Not Big Enough for Both of Us, described as, “a mind-blowing, gender-bending, genre-smashing romp through the entire pantheon of action and noir. It is also a bold, tautly crafted novel about family, being weird, and claiming your place in your own crazy story.”

Now, that’s a juicy mix!

ABOUT SUSAN KUCHINSKAS

Susan Kuchinskas

Susan Kuchinskas’ novels and short stories travel through crime, fantasy, science fiction and erotica, often in the same piece. When she’s not hacking words, Susan digs in her organic garden, stares at her beehive, makes pottery and walks her dog through El Cerrito. Find out more about her here: http://www.kuchinskas.com.

Chimera Catalyst and Singularity Syndrome are available in paperback or Kindle formats. 

Chat with Susan on Twitter (https://twitter.com/susankuchinskas) or Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ChimeraCatalyst). Follow her on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Susan-Kuchinskas/e/B001K8JAZ2/) or Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/605550.Susan_Kuchinskas).

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Paty Jager: How I Hear My Characters

By Paty Jager

Whenever I start a book, I have a glimpse, in my mind, of what my main character will look like. That image slowly builds in my mind as I think about the story or the series I want to create, and over time the character comes to life. 

Many times after I’ve fashioned a character in my mind, I’ll be looking through a magazine or see something on the internet and I think- That’s my character! When I find the person or image that looks like them, I cut it out or print it out and put it in my binder for that character’s series.

Describing them, what they wear, how they act, how they talk, how they look, are easy. Everyone can picture them in their own mind molded to fit what they know and how they think the person would look.

When I started making audiobooks, of my two mystery series, it was hard, really hard, to find a voice that matched what I thought my characters should sound like.

I started with the Shandra Higheagle books. It was the first mystery series I’d written and I wanted her stories to be in audio. I listened to 15-20 female narrators. I narrowed it down to three and then asked them to make a demo for me.

The narrator whose voice felt more like Shandra’s to me was Ann Thompson. She is a Cincinnati radio news anchor. She was new to narrating, but I loved her voice and she was willing to work with me as we both navigated the world of making an audiobook. I’m so glad I went with her. She gave Shandra a deep rich tone that I had imagined and she does a good job of making each secondary character sound unique. She can even give Ryan, the male protagonist in the books, a male sounding tone in his dialog.

The reviewers have mentioned Ann’s portrayal. With each book she gets better and better. She has been willing to take direction if she doesn’t say a sentence the way it sounded in my head when I wrote the book and works hard at learning how to pronounce the Native American words that turn up in these books. We are working on book 10 now, Artful Murder.

Finding a voice for Gabriel Hawke, my Native American State Trooper/ Game Warden was even harder! I went through lots of demos. Thought I’d found the right voice but when he read the first five pages, I didn’t like the way he phrased things. I liked one thing he did and asked another narrator to add that to his demo and I decided he was my character.

Hawke is a man in his fifties. I wanted a mature, soft spoken voice. I found that with Larry Gorman. His first recordings were a bit stilted. I asked him to speed up his reading and not leave as much space between the sentences. Now working on the 4th book in the series, Chattering Blue Jay, I find few things that need to be fixed when he sends me chapters to listen to.

He has the soft voice, I’m looking for, though he doesn’t have as wide a variety of voices as Ann. But I like the way he presents the story. I had one person who listened to the first book say she thought so-and-so, a narrator of another book, would be better, but I picked my narrator and in the middle of book 4 I’m not changing now.

Do you like to listen to audio books? I do when I’m out walking. It’s a way to pass the time and walk farther. 😉

You can find my audiobooks on this page of my website: https://www.patyjager.net/audio-books/  They range in price from $10 – 14.99 and can be found at most audiobook vendors. Though the first three in the Shandra Higheagle series were made through ACX so they are only available at Audible, iTunes and Amazon and will be bit higher in price.

Author Paty Jager

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 45 novels, 8 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it. This is what Books a Plenty Book Reviews has to say about the Gabriel Hawke series: “The blend of nature tracking, clues, and the animals makes for a fascinating mystery that is hard to put down.” 

blog / website /  Facebook / Paty’s Posse / Goodreads / Twitter / Pinterest   / Bookbub

Categories
Mystery Readers Only

Guest Post: What Does the Future Hold?

By Marilyn Meredith

None of us really know, do we? My guess is we are all hoping and praying for the end of this pandemic.

Despite the unknown, I bet most of us are still making plans.

Because my latest Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery was published recently, I’ve been unable to do the in-person events I’ve usually done to promote a new book. There are still some events on my calendar during the later months of summer and fall that I’m hoping will happen—but who knows?

This brings me around to the future of my Deputy Tempe Crabtree series. End of the Trail is #18 in the series. You might think the title is prophetic, but it refers to something important in the book.

However, it would be a good place to end the series, but I’m not sure I’m ready for that. New ideas and adventures for Tempe keep popping into my head. I’d like to have her visit new places, places with different tribes of Indians and legends.

Another big question, in any new book I might write, how do I deal with the pandemic? I guess I’m probably going to have to wait and see how what’s going on right now turns out. I’d like to hear from other writers how they plan to address the pandemic, or not, in future books.

Now back to End of the Trail, the short blurb is this:

Deputy Tempe Crabtree joins the search for a missing hiker which results in a murder investigation, a near death experience, an unexpected rescue, and an unhappy ghost.

As usual, I had fun writing this book about some quirky characters including some who’ve been in previous books.

You can find the book on Amazon for Kindle or as a trade paperback.

Author Marilyn Meredith

Bio: Marilyn Meredith has published over 40 books, as well as the Tempe Crabtree series, she also writes the Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery series under the name of F. M. Meredith. She lives in a town in the foothills of the Central Sierra with a resemblance to the mountain town of Bear Creek where Tempe is the resident deputy.

Categories
Mystery Readers Only

Entwined – In Mystery & Murder…x 2

Entwined-In Mystery & Murder...x 2 by Thomas E. Cochrane

by Thomas E. Cochrane (The Sea Ranch)

Entwined – In Mystery & Murder…x 2 by Thomas E. Cochrane

Why did I think I could write a novel? After all, I’m a scientist and read mostly scientific articles and nonfiction books. I have had no prior background in writing, other than authoring various scientific reports. My first book was published in 2017, Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast, Exploring the Coastal Geology of Northern California, and my second book was published a year later, Tornados, Rattlesnakes & Oil – A Wildcatter’s Memories of Hunting for “Black Gold” which recounts my days in the Midwest oil patch of yesteryear. Possibly, some of my oil tales sound like fiction though—a few of my friends have accused me of exaggerations.

But my third book has indeed just been published, Entwined – In Mystery & Murder…x 2 and it’s my own perhaps unorthodox take on the genre. The story definitely moves at a rapid pace, taking our entwined heroines, Karen and Gee, through many adventures and into numerous countries and cultures. (Note: Ah could ‘av done a better job wit de lingo and accents in deese stories.) My characters and those they interact with have accents ranging from Boston (their home), New York, the deep south, Chinese and Japanese, Mexican, and other Latino regions. Capturing these distinctive ways of speaking is not as easily dealt with in writing as on the stage or in movies.

The tales therein are permeated with ‘spoofs’ a plenty, nicknames vs. formal names, idioms, funny sayings, asides of the author and also from some of the main characters. Do these digressions snatch the reader away from the story―or give it colour? The public will be the judge.

The multi-beginnings of this novel are also different from most but speak to a foreshadowing of future events. I wrote the poem Fear of Waking and purposely had it positioned opposite the beginning of the book’s journey to underscore the unsettling feeling we experience when awaking in a strange place, or following a traumatic event.

Overall the experience of entering the realm of fiction was a total hoot―which is what I hope the reader experiences inside the pages of Entwined. Although I must admit it became a bit alarming how frequently “the girls” would awaken me from my slumber night after night, pestering me with this new idea to inject or that “what if” question about something I’d written in the manuscript in process.

As it happens, they pestered me to such a degree that I’ve also recently finished its sequel which is now with the editor. And it’s wilder yet!

June 5, 2020: Check out the Sonoma County Gazette featured article with more on all Thomas’ books:

https://www.sonomacountygazette.com/sonoma-county-news/entwined-in-mystery-amp-murder-x2-by-thomas-cochrane

Entwined – In Mystery & Murder…x 2 is in stock at Copperfield’s in Santa Rosa, Petaluma, and Sebastopol plus eight other Sonoma County retailers and, as is invited at the book’s conclusion, I welcome your feedback…and am delighted to have drafted myself into “your club” of mystery writers — thanks, Thonie! For any reason at all (geology question perhaps?), I can be reached via my website: http://www.RiverBeachPress.com. Entwined – In Mystery & Murder…x 2 is available on Amazon in paperback.

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Thomas E. Cochrane