Manon Wogahn

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.

Joining me today is multiformat storyteller Nicholas Meyer, whose latest novel, Sherlock Holmes and the Real Thing, is out now. There’s a lot to chew on in this new adventure featuring the famous detective—the concept of art, forgeries, and authenticity is something I’ve always found fascinating—and this would make an excellent cozy read this fall.

Read on for my interview with Nicholas, in which we discuss art, publishing, the author’s voice, and more.

Connect with Nicholas on Instagram, Bluesky, and his website. Grab a copy of Sherlock Holmes and the Real Thing from your retailer of choice here.

Welcome, Nicholas! Sherlock Holmes and the Real Thing introduces the famous detective to the world of art forgery, as he investigates a missing artist and a slippery art dealer. What themes or ideas—perhaps authenticity, AI, perceived versus actual value—inspired this storyline? How did you research and prepare to write about the historical art world?

I first became interested in forgery during a book tour for my novel, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution in (I believe), early 1975, when a reporter at the Pittsburgh airport greeted me by asking how it felt to be a successful forger. I was taken aback by this question but realized that night, trying to fall asleep in a strange hotel room, that the man had a point. This inaugurated my interest in forgery and I began reading and collecting books on the subject. Forgery raises a host of bewildering questions of a legal, ethical, aesthetic and cultural nature. E.g., What’s the difference between a forgery and a copy? Answer: something you can’t see—the intention. And so on.

Sherlock Holmes and the Real Thing is the product of a lifetime contemplating the questions raised by forgery and its variants. If you can’t see the difference, what is the difference? I realized that over time I’d learned a lot about this stuff and was intrigued to put some of it into a novel.

This is your seventh book featuring Sherlock Holmes, with your first published in 1974. What do you find most important when crafting your own image of Holmes? To what extent do you prioritize emulating Doyle’s voice versus your own?

This is a great question. I’ve come to realize over time that, while my original intention was to replicate Doyle’s Holmes as much as was within my power, the truth is that over time Holmes has become a kind of avatar, in which I can express feelings and ideas of my own through the detective’s mouth. This was largely unconscious and I only became aware of what I was doing over the course of many years. I couldn’t always make Holmes into a version of myself, but within certain self-circumscribed limits, I could make him a semi-mouthpiece.

Doyle himself faced similar temptations and dilemmas. To his credit, for example, while the detective definitely espouses many of Doyle’s convictions, theories and opinions, Doyle never turned Holmes into a proselytizer for spiritualism—Doyle’s own preoccupation. It turns out there are limits for avatars and they apply to me, as well as Doyle.

As a screenwriter and director, you have experience with multiple forms of storytelling. How do your different creative pursuits inform your novel writing? For example, what aspects of filmmaking are most influential on writing prose? (Or, the other way around?)

Movies and novels are different dramatic forms, yet it would be pointless to deny that by this point they have influenced one another. It is impossible for me to write a novel without inevitably infusing it with aspects of my own cinematic sensibility, whether visual or “Aristotelian,” meaning subject to the demands of drama as Aristotle observed them. Film is constrained by limitations (though, thanks to “series,” the narrative possibilities have opened up—War and Peace as a series can delve far more deeply into characters and events than even such six-hour epics as the Russian film version).

Novels are not affected by budgets; films and television are. For a filmmaker who is also a novelist, the process, if not the result, becomes a kind of balancing act; you want your film to be “cinematic” and your novel to be “literature.” These are vague terms but they are a kind of shorthand that I hope makes sense. Inevitably—at least in my case—they cross-fertilize. Novels have cinematic aspects and movies, perhaps to a lesser extent, have been influenced by the possibilities inherent in various formats of the novel, narration, multiple perspectives, etc.

What have you learned over your writing and publishing career? What advice would you offer new writers—about writing, and/or about the business of publishing?

This is a discouraging topic. The Washington Post recently ran an article to the effect that with shortened attention spans, reading books has fallen off something like 40 percent over the last twenty years. I would hate to think that novels are dying, but I’m aware that fewer people say they “find time” to read them. They listen to them or they prefer shorter narrative forms. Curiously in bookstores, I note that many books seem to grow longer and longer. I wonder how this can work! Who finds time to read some of these doorstops, which, by the way, are frequently lacking the input of serious editing? (Another vanishing item—editors are now just deal-makers.)

The advice I give to aspiring writers or filmmakers is the same: Be prepared to put ten years into your attempt. If, at the end of that time, you’ve made no appreciable headway, it may be time to reconsider your aspirations. That said, there are no hard and fast rules. Maybe after eleven instead of ten years, you turn out a bestseller.

Lastly, what’s next on your horizon? How are you celebrating this release, and/or is there anything else you’re working on that you’d like to share?

I believe this will be my last “discovered” Holmes manuscript. Too many and I worry about veering into self-parody. (I’ll run out of Victorian locutions!) I continue to work on television series and the occasional film in another medium that is also reconfiguring itself. First and last, I see myself as a storyteller and I cling to the belief that though the delivery system may evolve, a good story will never go out of fashion.

Thanks so much to Nicholas 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.

Laura Shepherd-Robinson joins the Cluesletter today, discussing her new thriller set in Georgian-era London that features a widow, her new friend, and a harrowing battle of wits. The tension is delicious—literally, considering our heroine owns a confectionary shop—and I cannot overestimate how much it thrilled me. I felt like I was watching a Wimbledon match.

Read on for our chat about thriller heroines, writing multiple POVs, and the eighteenth century.

Connect with Laura on Instagram, Bluesky, and her website. Grab a copy of The Art of a Lie from your retailer of choice here.

Welcome, Laura! The Art of a Lie follows Hannah Cole, a widowed confectioner who is struggling to balance her shop’s business as her murdered husband’s secrets begin to surface. What do you love about Hannah’s character—in business, and in life? What makes her an excellent thriller heroine?

Thank you so much for featuring me! I love Hannah’s resilience and determination in the face of adversity. She is very much a woman in a man’s world and surrounded by men who are hostile to her ambitions, whether that be her fellow shopkeepers and suppliers (who don’t think a woman should be in trade), her unkind husband, or the London magistrate, Henry Fielding, who is investigating her husband’s murder. But Hannah refuses to be ground down, using her brains and charm to survive, however she can. I also love how she grows as a character during the novel: We see her warmth and wit emerge, even as we fear she might lose her lighter side forever if the forces ranged against her win out. Finally, she has a ruthless streak that the men in her life underestimate at their peril.

Hannah isn’t the only main character in the story; the handsome William Devereux, a friend of her late husband, offers her a helping hand with her business and with the investigation into her husband’s death. How does your mindset shift when writing the two characters’ perspectives? Is there one POV you prefer to write over the other, and why?

I had enormous fun writing William’s character. His voice came to me very naturally, and without wanting to spoil the plot, there was much opportunity for ribald humour, creative language and exploring the darker side of Georgian London. The voices of William and Hannah are very distinct, and yet their characters are very similar (which is a theme of the book). I loved writing some of the later scenes between William and Hannah as their relationship developed. I had the TV series The Affair in mind when writing some of the scenes, as the shifts in perspective mean you often see the same events from more than one viewpoint, giving you a different understanding of what has happened, and can appreciate the ways the two characters read and misread one another.

The magic of The Art of a Lie, in my opinion, lies in its tension. I don’t want to spoil it (!) but there is indeed a battle of wits so taut I was nearly biting my nails. How did you structure the story and plot the reveals of this book to maintain that tension?

My previous novels were more traditional crime stories which had a main ‘detective’ character trying to solve a mystery and ferret out other characters’ secrets. The reader only knew as much as the main character and could enjoy the process of trying to solve the crime alongside him or her. However, in this novel, I wanted to try something different. The secrets of the main characters are revealed fairly early in the plot, at which point the reader knows everything, and it is the characters who are in the dark about one another. The main tension of the novel comes from the reader being privy to that information, but not knowing how the plot will play out. I wanted to keep the reader in suspense all the way through, and to continue surprising them with plot twists and playing with their expectations. I’m so happy you thought that it worked!

Like The Art of a Lie, your other titles, The Square of Sevens, Daughters of Night, and Blood & Sugar, are set in Georgian-era London and beyond. What do you love about this time period, especially for crime? How do you research and prepare to write in this era?

I think the Georgian era is fascinating, but for baffling reasons it isn’t written about nearly as much as the Victorian era that came afterwards. I love the Georgian fashions and their craving for novelty and entertainment, but the period was so much more than the glittering world of balls and pleasure gardens depicted in Bridgerton (which I loved). During the eighteenth century, there was a great flowering of ideas (what we now call the Enlightenment), in which many of the concepts that still underpin our modern society developed: liberalism, the rule of law, and the rights of man. The scientific method also took hold on eighteenth century thinking and to my mind it has particular relevance to the crime novel, as it involved the process of weighing and considering evidence, considering hypotheses and coming to considered conclusions. But against this ‘enlightened’ backdrop, Georgian society was still very brutal: poverty, prostitution, the Atlantic slave trade, violent crime, blood sports and all the rest. I find these clashes of ideas and the attendant hypocrisies and contradictions to be very fertile ground for exploring in my novels. 

Lastly, what’s next on your horizon? How are you celebrating this release?

I celebrated the publication of The Art of a Lie by making ice cream the Georgian way, as Hannah does in my book. In an age before freezers and fridges, the Georgians froze their cream by sitting it in bowls of ice. But of course, ice alone wasn’t enough to freeze the cream, they needed a secret ingredient: salt. When mixed with the ice, the salt causes an endothermic reaction (which the Georgians called the frigorific method) making the cream much colder so it freezes. I followed an original eighteenth century recipe to make Royal Ice, which is flavoured with cinnamon, clove, pistachio nuts and candied lemon and orange. I half-expected it not to work, but the salt worked its magic and after a few hours, I had ice cream! I can report that it was delicious, but I drew the line at some of the Georgian flavours. They made ice cream from everything, even Parmesan and artichoke!

Thanks so much to Laura 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.

Joining us today is a fresh new voice in cozy crime: Sandra Jackson-Opoku talks about her mystery debut, Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes, in which a soul food chef in Chicago finds herself embroiled in murder (as cozy mystery chefs so often do).

I thoroughly enjoyed Jackson-Opoku’s mix of humor and homicide with just the right touch of emotion. Savvy Summers is a sleuth to watch!

Detectives: Connect with Sandra on Instagram, Facebook, and her website. Grab a copy of Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes from your retailer of choice here.

Thanks for joining, Sandra! Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes kicks off a new cozy crime series about a Chicago-based soul food chef who, of course, gets embroiled in murder. I adored Savvy as a character and as a sleuth—what do you love about her? What elements of her personality make her a great sleuth?

Thanks, I love her too! She’s a mature Black woman with “mother wit;” an accomplished chef, with a warm, nurturing personality. But don’t mistake kindness for weakness! To paraphrase James Brown’s classic hit, “Mama don’t take no mess.” Savvy Summers is also a firm and strong-minded woman who doesn’t suffer fools gladly, a trait she inherited from her late, Great Aunt Essie whose legacy and recipes she honors in the kitchen. These personality quirks, a healthy dose of curiosity and life experience, along with input from a nosy sous chef, serve Savvy Summers well in her exploits as an amateur sleuth.

Savvy Summers has some phenomenal names, from that of the titular character to others like Tuchman Pfeiffer, Granderson Jaspers, and Shysteen Shackleford. How do you come up with a character name? Do you think the name influences the character’s personality, or the other way around?

I’ll admit to somewhat Dickensonian tendencies when it comes to naming. Charles Dickens loved giving his characters ironic names: Miss Haversham, the jilted bride; Fagin, the master criminal; Belinda Pocket, the bookworm. I felt that the colorful characters in Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes deserved equally colorful names.

I’m also inspired by the West African belief system of the Naming Ceremony, which can also be found among certain African American and world cultures. A name is thought to influence personality, so there’s often a waiting period in which a person’s true character reveals itself. Children who present certain traits are often bestowed with a secondary given name or nickname that befits their personality. A girl named Shysteen might have been named this way because she’s shy and demure . . . but, in this case, it’s because she’s a shyster!

With this being your debut mystery, can you share what you’ve learned while plotting a whodunnit? Is there anything that has surprised you in crafting the crime, compared to other genres or writing styles?

I’ve read mystery novels for fun and enjoyment, from the time I was ten years old. When I decided to write one, I began reading for structure and technique. I knew I wanted to write a cozy with a difference. It would be set in an urban area, within a specific ethnic community, with a particular history and cultural background.

I cozy mysteries set in insular, small town life, with PG-rated violence, language, and sexual content. It makes for interesting contrasts when the specter of crime intrudes into such serene spaces. I wanted to transport this sensibility to an urban community on the south side of Chicago. Ever mindful of the idea that “you have to know the rule to break a rule,” I diligently studied the elements of cozy mysteries: setting, the character of the amateur (often reluctant) sleuths, clues and red herrings, quirky occupations.

There’s no way I could reliably write about a community on the southside of Chicago like some kind of St. Mary’s Mead, at least not the southside I know; it wouldn’t ring true. I began looking for ways to gently stretch the boundaries of the form. When you know your community, you know how people act, speak, think, and believe—whether they’re churchgoers or confirmed sinners. So while sex is not blatant on the page, it’s often broadly referred to. If you’ve ever been to an African American institution, even the church, you’re prone to hearing a fair bit of cussing. While I don’t intend these characters to give offense, I also had to honor what Nobel Laureate, Derek Walcott calls “the rhythms of (the) race.” So, rather than a traditional cozy, I refer to this work as cozy-adjacent.

In addition to novels, your writing credits also include poetry and screenwriting. What made you want to try your hand at mystery? What aspects of poetry and screenwriting most influence your prose—and Savvy Summers in particular?

When I retired from full time teaching ten years ago, I gave myself permission to try my hand at everything I’ve ever had an inkling to try. My background is in literary and historical fiction writing. I’ve been inspired by novelists like Valerie Wilson Wesly, Sherman Alexie, Rudolfo Anaya, and Rita Mae Brown. They moved back and forth between literary and genre writing . . . boldly, creatively, and unapologetically. In fact, the first documented Black crime writer, the mid-19th century novelist Willard Motley, was also a Hollywood screenwriter who adapted his works for the silver screen. Even though I don’t write much poetry anymore, the practice has taught me economy and the use of lyrical language. Screenwriting has been an instructive practice in dialogue, scenic, and dramatic tension.

Lastly, what’s next for you? Can we expect more mysteries with Savvy, and/or is there anything else you’re working that you’d like to share?

I’m working on the second installment in the series, Savvy Summers and the Po’Boy Perils, in which the intrepid chef tries her hand at New Orleans Creole cooking, and runs afoul of a murderer in her midst. It’s tentatively scheduled for publication in Summer 2026. As one of the winners in the M Film Lab’s “Tales of Identity and Imagination” cohort, I’ve adapted a flash fiction piece (the short-short story form) as a film short. As a Circle of Confusion Fellow, I adapted the first Savvy Summers mystery as a TV series, which I hope will one day be produced.

I also have short fiction forthcoming in The Overturning: Writers respond to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Red Line: Chicago Horror Stories, and Asian Winds, an anthology of poetry and prose celebrating Asian voices from around the world—I’m an African American with alleged Chinese ancestry. I’m also revising a historical novel about centuries-long connections between China and people of African descent, and researching a speculative history of Chicago’s Black founder, Jean Baptiste Point DuSable.

Thanks so much to Sandra 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.

Sometimes you just need a thriller—something quick-paced, heart-pounding, and intriguing. Kimberly Lee’s debut, Have You Seen Him, about a man who discovers his own face in an age-progressed missing child ad, is all of the above. Plus, it has a nice touch of self-discovery and emotion (if you know me, you know I love that!).

I had the pleasure of working with Kimberly on this project and it was wonderful to interview her. Read on for a behind-the-scenes look at the book, plus tips for aspiring indie authors.

Detectives: Connect with Kimberly on Instagram, LinkedIn, and her website. Grab a copy of Have You Seen Him from Amazon, Bookshop.org, or Barnes & Noble.

Thanks for joining, Kimberly! Have You Seen Him follows David Byrdsong, a public defender who discovers his own face on an age-progressed missing child ad, sending him on a dangerous mission to discover the truth about himself and where he came from. What sparked the idea for this thriller, and/or David’s character?

Soon after we meet the book’s main character, David, he’s sifting through mail and sees the missing child ad with his own face. The inspiration for the book is a scenario pretty similar to that—I was sorting through my mail and saw an ad for a child who went missing when he was ten years old. The computer-progressed image showed him at age forty. I thought about how this boy’s family had been searching for over three decades and had never given up trying to find him. The faces haunted me. I tore it out and carried it around in my bag for a while, then sat down to write a story about it.

David is a public defender because I was one myself, for about five years here in Los Angeles County. That experience gave me the basis for writing scenes in which he appears in court, visits clients, and interacts with colleagues. When I was in law school, I’d get up early to read John Grisham’s latest book, prioritizing that before reading the cases assigned for my classes! I think I knew deep down I wanted to someday parlay my background in law to writing fiction, and I admired Grisham’s journey.

The book is set in Los Angeles. What do you love about LA, specifically as a setting for mysteries and thrillers?

Although I wasn’t born in Los Angeles, this beautiful city has been my home for more than two decades. Setting the book here is my version of a love letter to it. It’s an iconic city for a story, with many distinct neighborhoods, cultural venues, and tourist attractions, of course. People from every corner of the world. It’s a great setting for mysteries and thrillers because in addition to the familiar, well-known places, it’s large and varied enough for characters to take a low profile while they figure out their next move. There are plenty of lesser-known areas for them to hide if they’re on the run. When I was writing the story, everywhere I went became a potential setting, and I would suggest that lens to every writer, no matter where they are.

I love a tight-knit, fast-paced thriller, but I know it’s not always easy to perfect that pacing during initial drafts. Can you share some backstory into the book’s editing process? Were there parts of the story that you ended up cutting or revising to strengthen its structure?

An early editor reminded me that thrillers need to progress pretty quickly. My first draft was twice as long and would have fallen well outside the typical word count for this genre. The phrase “this scene needs to move!” appeared numerous times in that editor’s notes throughout the manuscript. As I revised it, many chapters and several characters were cut because they slowed things down and weren’t essential to the plot. It was difficult, because I had affection for those characters and had to do away with passages I’d painstakingly written. It was great advice, though, and I’m glad I listened. As a result, the book is leaner and the story is more effective, I believe.

As a debut author, and an indie author, what have you learned during this publishing process that has challenged, surprised, or excited you? Are there key takeaways you will incorporate into the publishing plan for your next book?

A favorite aspect of the process has been the input I was able to give surrounding cover design! I’m thrilled with how it turned out and it beautifully reflects the heart of the story. A book’s cover is so important and I’ve talked with writers who weren’t happy with their covers but didn’t have this level of decision-making power. As an indie author, that’s a perk—seeing your vision realized, with expert guidance.

I wasn’t particularly looking forward to the marketing aspect of this process but so much time went into writing the book, I owe it (and the characters) a chance to thrive and be read, for the story to be heard. So I kind of put a fire under myself to go for it. I also began viewing it as another way to be creative. A key takeaway in this area: Start early! It’s crucial to have a promotional plan in place and to begin implementing it before launching a new book.

Another important takeaway as an indie author is the importance of finding a knowledgeable publishing company to work with who you can trust to walk you through the self-publishing process and help with all the things you may not know. I’ve been truly happy with AuthorImprints—the ongoing communication and the high level of care my book has received, every step of the way. Some have assumed my book is traditionally published, by the polished way it looks on the outside as well as the professional editing it underwent on the inside.

Being part of the writing community has been really helpful—and I encourage writers to do what they can to get involved. I’ve volunteered with magazines and journals as a reader, intern, and editor, and I belong to a number of writing organizations. I workshopped chapters of the book in classes and critique groups, and I also lead workshops in creative and expressive writing. When the time came, I had a robust network to approach for honest assessments and evaluations. The feedback was invaluable and helped make the book the best it could be.

Lastly, what’s next for you? What are you currently working on, and/or are

Have You Seen Him is the first in a trilogy, so it’s back to my notebook to work on the second installment. Pen to page. I took more than ten years to write and publish this book, working on it off and on, but I don’t plan on taking anywhere close to that much time for the next two! I’ll start work on it at a writing retreat this September. A few people have asked me what’s going to happen with the characters, and to be honest, I’m not sure myself, although I have a few ideas.

Robert Frost said, “No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.” We’ll all be surprised with the next developments—please stay tuned!

Thanks so much to Kimberly 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.

Today, we are traveling back in time to 1901 London to investigate the curious murder of the Lord Chief Justice of England. Joining us for an interview is Sally Smith, whose debut, A Case of Mice and Murder, is so rich, immersive, and well-written that I could not believe it was her first book.

If you like historical crime, legal settings, and a logical, intelligent, and charmingly reluctant sleuth, I highly suggest you keep reading—and then pick this one up for yourself.

Grab a copy of A Case of Mice and Murder from the publisher here.

Welcome, Sally! Set in 1901 London, A Case of Mice and Murder follows barrister Gabriel Ward as he reluctantly investigates the murder of the Lord Chief Justice of England. I loved Gabriel’s character—hyper intelligent, particular, and careful—and the close-knit legal setting of London’s Inner Temple. What do you love about Gabriel, as a lawyer and as a detective?

Hello and thank you for asking me about my novel. I think Gabriel has some very typical characteristics of a lawyer; as you say, he is very particular and careful and also very logical and detached in his approach to life. He is also kind and tolerant and naturally empathetic. And a good observer. All those characteristics make him a good detective as well.

How has your professional background as a barrister and King’s Counsel in the Inner Temple influenced your writing? How did your present-day experience help you construct Gabriel’s 1901?

I have been a barrister all my working life and I am lucky enough to both work and live in the Inner Temple, so I am absolutely steeped in the atmosphere. One of the challenges was to reconstruct the physical surroundings. Whilst some buildings and parts of the layout are exactly as they were in 1901, there was extensive bomb damage in the Second World War so some parts are quite different. Because the present appearance is so familiar to me I found it quite a challenge to retrain parts of my mind’s eye to see it all as Gabriel saw it. But having said that, the way of life, close and collegiate has not really changed all that much!

Gabriel is solving, essentially, two mysteries at once: the murder, and the authorship of a popular children’s book, Millie the Temple Church Mouse. How did you construct the story, in order to successfully weave these two plotlines together? To what extent did you plot the mystery before writing it?

I wrote the beginnings of the two stories separately and then as the plots converge, the writing sort of converged with it. This was my first novel and I think I was rather amateur in my approach to plotting, which was partly planned beforehand but mainly grew organically as I went along.

As a debut author, what have you learned during this publishing process? Is there anything that surprised you as you brought your book to market, and/or do you have any advice for emerging authors?

I was absolutely bowled over by the skill of both my agent and editor who really did take me by the hand and teach me an enormous amount about how to structure my story. I have learned quite a lot, I hope, about eliminating self-indulgence from my writing and concentrating on telling the story in a way I hope readers will enjoy. I think I would say to an aspiring author that the best thing to do is read obsessively, good and bad. It is never wasted and either way it always teaches you something; if only what to avoid!

Lastly, what’s next for you? When can we expect more Gabriel Ward, and/or do you have any other projects you’re excited to share?

Gabriel presently takes up all my time. A second one is coming out in the UK on July 17 and I am very heavily engaged in writing the third. Each follows the same pattern of a murder and a legal case, but I am learning more and more about Gabriel as he develops quite happily all by himself.

Thanks so much to Sally 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.

Today, enjoy an interview with Mel Pennant. I devoured her debut, A Murder for Miss Hortense, in which the titular character investigates a web of mysteries between the 1960s and present-day 2000s. It’s complex, intriguing, immersive, and written with vibrancy and a clear voice. If you enjoy character-driven mysteries, definitely pick this one up.

Connect with Mel on Instagram and her website. Grab a copy of A Murder for Miss Hortense from your retailer of choice here.

Thanks so much for joining, Mel! Set in an Afro-Caribbean community in a quiet suburb of Birmingham, A Murder for Miss Hortense follows the titular character as she pieces together a mystery that has haunted her since the 1960s. The mystery is complex, spanning forty years and involving many people. How did you plot this mystery, from timelines and pacing to its cast of characters? Did you find it challenging to balance the past and present?

I wanted to find a way to bring the past into the present because what happens in the past is key to solving the current mysteries in A Murder for Miss Hortense. I plotted very organically. In fact there wasn’t really a plan to begin with. But once editors got involved, I had to think very carefully about how it all slotted together particularly to ensure that there was a thread that propelled the story forward and created enough suspense in both the past and present to keep the audience engaged. The challenge came in keeping track of all the threads and making sure that people that were meant to be dead in 1963 didn’t suddenly appear on the page in the year 2000!

I was transfixed by Hortense, who is superficially a traditional cozy mystery heroine (a retired nurse who cooks, bakes, and gardens) but, unlike a typical sleuth, is also stubborn, obsessive, and frequently disagreeable. How did you construct Hortense’s character? What personality traits of hers make her an effective sleuth?

Initially I found Miss Hortense difficult to give a voice to—because I was a bit scared of her. In my head I knew what she had to be: this larger than life character who was the moral compass of the book, but she is a very different character to me (I’m a big people pleaser, Miss Hortense is definitely not!). There was a risk of me making her one dimensional as a consequence. It was actually thinking about her in her relationships with the other characters in the book that enabled me to get her voice, in particular her relationship with her foil, sidekick and loyal best friend Blossom. In trying to figure out where her soft spots were in her relationships, and where her hard spots were, the lengths she would go to protect others and her drive and determination to seek the truth, I was able to put pen to paper.

As a playwright and screenwriter, you have experience with multiple forms of storytelling. How do your different passions inform your novel writing? For example, what aspects of writing plays are most influential on writing prose?

I love listening to the way people talk, the rhythm of language, the humour that can be conveyed, the things people say or don’t say and the way they say it. Dialogue is therefore a big part of my writing—obviously in plays and screenplays but also in novel writing. I really enjoy exploring how the characters express themselves.

With all formats of writing, I tend to put pen to paper when I begin to hear the characters talking and I just have to get down what they are saying. I also, at a more advanced stage of writing, like to read out what I’ve written whether it’s plays, screenplays, or novels. There is something about hearing the words, what they sound like to the ear, that assists in shaping the story. I’m also interested in conflict in all of the spaces that I write in—the twists and turns, that line or moment which makes you go “ohh, I didn’t see that coming” or that suddenly changes your perception of things that have gone before.

As a debut author, what have you learned during this publishing process? Is there anything that surprised you as you brought your book to market, and/or do you have any advice for emerging authors?

The time it takes, for traditional publishing, can take quite a long time. I got my book deals in 2023, and my book was published in June 2025. I don’t think this is uncommon. I was also surprised by the number of people involved: editors, copyeditors, line editors, marketing, publicists. From that perspective it feels very collaborative, not dissimilar to playwriting where there are a number of people involved in bringing a play to the stage, and it’s great to have so many people backing the book.

For emerging writers, I’d say you just need to be intentional in all the spaces you are in. Looking back, I can see that where I am now is as a result of some initiatives I became involved in many years ago not with a view to getting a novel published, but with a view to seeking peers, and others in the creative writing space, learning and being mentored by others who understand the creative industry and so forth.

Lastly, what’s next for you? Can we expect more Miss Hortense, and/or do you have any other projects you’re excited to share?

Book two, which I’m very excited about. I’ve just received the first edits on draft one from my editors. There will be more of Miss Hortense in her element with the Pardner Network of Bigglesweigh. I hope that there will be many more books in the series too. I’m also writing a play. It’s my first full length play for a couple of years and I’m very excited (if challenged) to be back in the space.

Thanks so much to Mel 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.

Today’s featured author is Kaira Rouda, whose latest release is a heart-pumping psychological thriller about a dysfunctional marriage, a dark shared secret, and the deadly pursuit of perfection. Jill Is Not Happy is out today.

In the interview below, Kaira and I talk about her writing career, thriller twists, and why domestic suspense is just so addicting.

Connect with Kaira on Instagram, Facebook, and her website. For bimonthly mystery events, check out her Killer Author Club! Grab your copy of Jill Is Not Happy from your retailer of choice here.

Welcome, Kaira! Jill Is Not Happy is centered around the dysfunctional marriage of Jack and Jill Tingly—which, on the outside, looks picture-perfect, but begins to disintegrate as they embark on a cat-and-mouse style road trip. How did you construct Jack and Jill’s complicated relationship?

Thank you so much for having me! And thank you for reading Jill Is Not Happy! As far as constructing long-term relationships, I happen to be in one so that comes naturally. As far as the dysfunctional aspects of a newly empty nesting married couple, that’s something I tackled, too. Although I’m not a fan of Jill’s approach, mine did involve pickleball, too. I love marriage thrillers and I love to explore the illusion of perfection: what happens when control is confused with love, when surface-level perfection masks something more sinister beneath. I like to examine what it looks like when marriages begin to crumble, peeling back the layers of suburban domesticity, and to show how tightly we cling to appearances, even when they’re killing us.

What do you love about writing domestic suspense? Why do you think thrillers centering on family relationships, especially between spouses, are so intriguing?

That theme, the danger lurking beneath a well-manicured façade, has stayed with me through every domestic suspense book I’ve written. Because the truth is, the perfect marriage is the perfect illusion. And even knowing that, we still want to believe it. We crave the comfort of a tidy narrative, just like Jill does in this story. She is a Ripley in yoga pants—a subtly terrifying unreliable narrator who will do anything to keep Jack, her college sweetheart, by her side. She’s convinced herself he wants to stay with her, the perfect traditional wife. That’s where domestic suspense thrives: the gap between perception and reality. I think we’re drawn to these stories not just for the twists, but for the insights into our own lives, our own stories.

Jill Is Not Happy is your twenty-third book (I hope I counted correctly!). What have you learned about writing fiction over the course of writing so many books? What advice would you give to new authors regarding writing, writing thrillers, and/or navigating the publishing landscape?

I know, I lost count, too! I love this job but it has been a journey. I started out with a nonfiction book for women entrepreneurs, then wrote my first novel, a women’s fiction title. Ever since, my stories have gotten darker and darker. I love thrillers and suspense.

What have I learned? Mostly, that it’s up to you to make your dreams come true and if your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough. Also, resilience is the key. There are a lot of rejections in this business, as with many where creatives try to shine. The best advice for new writers is to keep writing. That’s all we can do. Oh, and keep the joy about writing alive in your heart. That’s important, too.

I was impressed with how quickly I read Jack and Jill’s story—it was addicting! What are your secrets to bingeable thrillers? How do you construct pacing and twists in order to keep a reader hooked?

Thank you! That’s a big compliment! I want readers to zip through my stories, while also, perhaps, laughing a bit along the way. I’m a pantser so the twists and pacing come as the story unfolds. It’s as fun for me to write the first draft as it is—hopefully—for the reader. I don’t know what’s coming, either.

Lastly, what’s next for you? Do you have any current or upcoming projects you’re excited to share?

Yes! I’m excited to share my next novel, We Were Never Friends (Sourcebooks/Poisoned Pen Press) is out February 3, 2026. The tagline is: Sisters. Forever. Friends. Never. Who knew a reunion weekend could be so deadly? It’s available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.

Thanks so much to Kaira 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.

Joining me today is featured author Tori Eldridge, whose latest release takes readers to Kaua‘i Island to explore family tensions, love, and suspicious disappearances. If you like your mysteries with strong heroines and heaps of adventure—as in, combing through tropical rainforests during a relentless storm—you will find something to love in Kaua‘i Storm.

Read on for our discussion about family, heritage, mystery, and more.

Connect with Tori on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and her website. Grab your copy of Kaua‘i Storm here (the audiobook is narrated by Tori herself!).

Thanks for joining, Tori! Kaua‘i Storm introduces a new protagonist: park ranger Makalani, who returns home to Kaua‘i to celebrate her grandmother’s birthday, only to find family drama stemming from the disappearance of two of her cousins. What makes a large, multigenerational, and multicultural family such a great backdrop for a mystery?

What a wonderful question! Relationships are at the heart of all my favorite stories I have written and loved reading. The most complicated, important, and emotional relationships of all are within family. Writing about a large multigenerational family, especially one that has expanded to include additional ethnicities and cultures—as most families do—allows me to explore multiple perspectives and attitudes about any given situation or event. It’s a hotbed for conflict, misinformation, as well as an opportunity for my characters to experience revelations and emotional growth. Makalani’s family is such a focal point of this novel that I created a seven-generation genealogy and included it in the beginning of the book.

I admired Makalani’s strength—physical and mental, as she uses both to track down her missing cousins and mend her family relationships. How did you craft Makalani’s character? Which of her characteristics do you think are most valuable to a mystery protagonist?

I always saw Makalani as a strong and capable Hawaiian woman, and since many of our ancestors were majestic people, six feet tall—not the willowy model type—I wanted Makalani to be able to lift, carry, and even build. Over ninety percent of Kaua‘i Island is uninhabited forested wilderness, so making her a law enforcement national park ranger gave her the necessary skills to overcome all the dangers I planned to put in her way.

Her steadfast determination, devotion to family, and deep sense of kuleana—responsibility—makes her an unstoppable force. But she’s also introspective. Her struggles and self-doubt open her mind to new possibilities she might not have normally seen.

Like your Lily Wong mystery thriller series, Kaua‘i Storm takes inspiration from your multicultural heritage. What do you love about exploring cultural identity in your books? What does it mean to you to write a novel set in your home state of Hawaiʻi?

Exploring my own cultural identity is not only fascinating, but it also enriches my life and makes my books feel all the more personal and therefore important to me. I believe that passion can be felt on the page or while listening to me narrate the audiobook.

Timing is everything. I wrote the Lily Wong ninja series after two decades of training and teaching the ninja martial arts, so sharing an authentic view of modern ninja was at the forefront of my mind. I also wanted to pay homage to my Chinese-Hawaiian mother and my Norwegian father before they passed away.

With Kaua‘i Storm, my focus had switched when I became Tūtū, which means Grandma in ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i (Native Hawaiian language). Knowing that my grandchildren would learn about their Hawaiian heritage from me inspired me to deepen my connection and learn more about what was happening with Native Hawaiians in Hawai‘i today. As I studied the language and began chanting in Hawaiian as I had in my youth, I felt a surge of aloha in my heart. It is my deepest desire to share this same aloha with my readers and to show them a Hawai‘i they have never experienced before.

The book includes many facets of Hawaiian culture: cuisine, nature, heritage, the struggles facing Native Hawaiians today. How did you weave these elements into a thriller? What do you hope readers take away from Kaua‘i Storm (in addition to a compelling mystery, of course)?

I habitually weave family drama and culture into intrigue and thrills because, for me, relatable relationships plus a fascinating new community adds depth to the characters, expands reader perception, increases awareness, and adds enriching value to the entertainment I hope to provide. I would love my readers to come away with a deeper appreciation for the Hawaiian people and the place that so many of them yearn to visit or have come to love.

Lastly, what’s next for you? Can we expect more Ranger Makalani, and/or do you have anything else you’d like to share?

I’m about to begin the editorial process for my second Ranger Makalani Pahukula Mystery. This time I will take her to Hawai‘i Island and a paniolo—Hawaiian cowboy—ranch!

Thanks so much to Tori 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.