Sara Gran joins the Cluesletter to talk about her latest release, Little Mysteries: Nine Miniature Puzzles to Confuse, Enthrall, and Delight. This collection was a joy to read: twisty, inventive, and profound. It has a bit of everything, from minute mysteries to a choose-your-adventure and more.
If you’re looking for something adventurous and whimsical that leads to, perhaps, some deeper understanding of the self, look no further. (Especially if you believe, as I do, that a mystery can be so much more than a simple whodunnit.)
Connect with Sara on Instagram, Substack, TikTok, and her website. Purchase a copy of Little Mysteries here.
Welcome, Sara! Thanks so much for joining. Little Mysteries is a collection of nine miniature mysteries “to confuse, enthrall, and delight.” Can you start out with some history behind this book? What inspired you to write a collection of mystery puzzles?
Thank you for having me, Manon! The origin of the book was actually a series of stories I wrote and just sent to a small group of friends about ten years ago. That then expanded to my larger newsletter list, which was still not so big at the time. There was no thought of publishing them—publishing short stories in literary magazines is a huge effort with a low reward—until after eight or so years I realized I had enough for a collection. Once I put them all together, a few themes emerged, which inspired a few more stories.
The mystery short story is eternally fascinating to me. It’s such a strong part of the genre, and yet I know mystery readers (and authors) who don’t usually engage with them. What do you love—or find challenging—about writing short fiction?
I find short fiction very challenging! I write other forms of fiction as well, and with short stories I always run into the same ridiculous problems: What is this? Is it done? Too much? Too little? Focusing on the genre elements made it all work for me. There’s a mystery, there’s a solution, bang, that’s it.
Similarly, after introducing your detective, Claire DeWitt, in her eponymous series, what did you enjoy about putting her into short mysteries? Was there anything surprising or different about writing her character in this different format?
A big difference is that the books are all first person, and some of the stories are third person, or from a different POV all together. So, seeing the character through different eyes was a big change.
The book’s publisher, Dreamland Books, is your new small press. Can you share some insight into your decision to start your own imprint? What is your vision for Dreamland, now and in the future?
Starting my own press was always a dream for me. I’ve always been interested in books as material objects as much as books as literature. So the whole thing feels like a real privilege (and it is—although you can do this for very little money, I’ve spent a lot). One of the great joys of this project is that I can be as weird as I feel like, so next I’ll be publishing some fiction in unusual formats—one piece in the form of a transcribed conversation and a novella in the form of text messages. I’m also working on some nonfiction pieces that would be too long for an essay and too short for a book from a regular press. Another great joy is the opportunity to publish some of my older favorite books that are in the public domain, so I’ll be doing that later this year too, including an edition of Freud’s Studies on Hysteria.
Lastly, what are you currently working on and looking forward to? Do you have more short stories or novels in the works, and/or anything else you’re excited to share?
I have a few things I’m working on—one that I’m very excited about is a print version of a novel that was previously published as a podcast for Audible called Marigold. I’m hoping to release it in 2026.
Thanks so much to Sara for the interview. Sleuths, 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.