Joining us today is a detective duo: author Maureen Johnson and illustrator Jay Cooper discuss their latest collaboration, an illustrated murder mystery titled You Are the Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder.
When I shared this on Instagram (and TikTok), I noted that it features three of my favorite classic mystery tropes: fair play, locked room/impossible crime, and a closed circle of suspects. Truly, this book is a joy to solve, and it was a joy to talk to the creators about the project. If you enjoy classic mysteries and puzzles like Murdle, Encyclopedia Brown, and iSpy, definitely nab a copy of this one.
Connect with Maureen on Instagram, Bluesky, and her website. Connect with Jay on Instagram and his website. Grab a copy of the book from your retailer of choice here. (And do get the hardcover, it’s well worth the experience!)
Welcome, Maureen and Jay! You Are the Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder is an illustrated case file that invites the reader (you!) to solve a puzzling murder. Can you share a bit about how this project came to be, and how you collaborated to bring it to life?
MJ: I was a mystery reading kid. I read everything I could get my hands on. I cleared the library shelf and then raided used bookstores. Along with mystery novels, I was addicted to logic puzzles and one minute mysteries—things that had the solution in the back (like Encyclopedia Brown). One Christmas I was given reprints of dossier mysteries originally from the 1930s and written by Dennis Wheatley. These were casefiles with sealed solutions—they had documents, photos, media, actual newspapers. In the originals, sometimes you got objects—real hair glued to the page, things like that. I have always been obsessed with these. After Jay and I did How Not to Get Murdered in a Quaint English Village and I saw how amazing it was to create with him, I realized I had to make one of these.
JC: Maureen created a Miro board which we populated like we were actually solving a mystery. Suspects, evidence, locations. She’d write rough post-its of what should be drawn, then I’d sketch and pin the picture to the board. There was a lot of organic back and forth: sometimes details had to change: a location needed windows taken out, or a new character was added . . . Normally you get a manuscript finished to illustrate. Write, then draw. This was a lot more chaotic but a lot more fun, like a jazz duet.
As for the mystery—an impossible crime involving six suspects and a dead author—how did you structure the reveals of clues and evidence? How did you, say, decide which clues would be visual, and which would be text?
MJ: When I write mysteries, I start from the end and work backwards. I figure out how the crime happened and pull threads. In a novel, I weave these back into chapters. With this, I got to present things differently, sprinkle the information into bits of documents and images. Much of it was worked out on the Miro board. I mapped out the crime and then started working out how to present information. When Jay started drawing, sometimes I’d see something in what he made that we could take and twist around. It was genuinely so much fun to do.
What do you hope readers get out of the solve-it-yourself experience? Why do you think this style of mystery (fair play, participatory, gamified . . . whatever you want to call it) is as intriguing now as it was in the Golden Age of detective fiction?
MJ: I think so! We are a house of games here. My husband makes video games. My friends are deep into board games, as am I. This is a game for one person—but it could be a date. It could be a book group night where you discuss it and work it out together. It’s complete in and of itself. There is no online component and nothing you need to know outside of what is there.
For Maureen, how was penning The Creeping Hand Murder different—or similar—to your novels? And for Jay, how would you compare your mystery projects to your illustrated children’s books?
MJ: Writing novels is wonderful, but you are alone. Everything is you. I adored doing this because I loved the back and forth. It’s not me telling you what the room looks like—Jay gives you the room. Every time he sent a picture it was like getting a gift.
JC: Oh, these books are wildly different from my kids books, and thank goodness for that. This book and How Not to Get Murdered utilized different illustrative techniques, and different drawing muscles. It was good for me as an artist to expand into an adult/YA world. Also: I’m a bit of an antiques junkie, so [I enjoyed] the research into 1930s fashion, and London architecture, and ephemera to make authentic 1930s poison pen letters. It was a delight how thorough and research driven I had to be compared to any kid’s book I’ve ever created.
MJ: Jay is very good at what he does. The level of detail and craftsmanship that went into his work is astonishing. He bought objects like antique perfume bottles and lighters and drew them with exactitude. He used old magazines and newspapers to create the letters to get the letterforms just right. It’s such a work of art. I’d sometimes have to ask him to draw something over and over because it had to be correct for the story. He lost some sleep. He never complained. Jay is very nice.
Lastly, what’s next on your horizon? How are you celebrating this release, and/or is there anything else you’re working that you’d like to share?
JC: Good question: how are we celebrating the release, Maureen? Cocktails on the veranda? A cruise down the Nile? What adventure awaits us?
MJ: I’m for this idea of going down the Nile. I’m currently finishing up the sixth book of the Stevie Bell/Truly Devious mysteries. The new book is called The Velvet Knife and will be out next year.JC: This is wild, but I’m writing a nonfiction graphic novel about the legends of Nessie, taking those stories and retelling them in a humorous way for middle graders.
Thanks so much to Maureen and Jay for the interview. Detectives, I hope you enjoyed it! If you aren’t already subscribed, please be sure to sign up for the Cluesletter and get author features like this alongside other mystery goodies, delivered to your inbox every other Tuesday.