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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!

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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.

When I heard the phrase “sheep detectives,” I admit, I wasn’t sure about how (or even if) such a premise would work. But Big Bad Wool sold me on the idea—maybe not that sheep make the most skilled detectives, but the fact that a flock of them working together just might solve a case.

I’m not the least sheepish to welcome Leonie Swann to the Cluesletter to discuss animal sleuthing, working with a translator, and more. Offbeat, suspenseful, and just darn cute, Big Bad Wool is for those of us who are looking for a different kind of crime novel (maybe one without  so many pesky humans).

Connect with Leonie on Instagram, and grab your copy of Big Bad Wool from your retailer of choice here.

Welcome, Leonie! Big Bad Wool is the highly anticipated sequel to your 2005 hit Three Bags Full. Both books follow an enterprising flock of sheep as they solve mysterious crimes. What makes these sheep so capable of solving crime?

On the surface of it: nothing at all. That’s what makes it so interesting to watch them investigate. Objectively speaking, there is very little that recommends sheep for detective work. They have spent their whole life in a meadow. They know barely anything about human society, and what little they know they have learned from questionable romance novels. They can’t interview suspects – they can’t speak to people at all. The odds are stacked against them and, in my opinion, watching them persevere in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles is one of the great allures of the book. It is uplifting to see them struggle and ultimately succeed.

Because there is a point when the whole thing flips, when you as a reader realize that they are actually doing a very respectable job. There is very little wool over their eyes and underneath all that fleece they are astute observers of human behavior. Their theories may be zany and involve way too much hay, but they certainly don’t think inside the box – they probably don’t even know what a box is. This naïve approach means that the sheep are incredibly unbiased in their observations. Add to that an acute sense of smell that tells them facts a human would overlook, and a great team player attitude, and you end up with a surprisingly capable bunch of investigators. While every single sheep is hampered by its own ovine fears and limitations, together they are a flock to be reckoned with.

I loved how you played with the sheep’s perspectives—the dramatic irony in us knowing what the sheep are describing, while the sheep themselves interpret it in their own way. Did you find this challenging or enjoyable to write?

Both, obviously. It is great fun to ask yourself what a sheep would make of a certain situation, or our human world in general – and once you get the hang of it, it is also shockingly intuitive. I believe this is one of the reasons why the story works: In our own way we are herd animals, too, and it is easy to empathize with the sheep’s food-based and fear-based approach to life.

On the other hand, the average human reader is likely to be much more at home in mystery novels than the sheep will ever be. He or she knows how crime fiction is supposed to work and will be able to see through the sheep’s wild speculations. Keeping things sheepish enough for the ovines while making the plot transparent for the human reader is a constant balancing act, but it also allows for a lot of irony, fun and some surprising philosophical insights. I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of writing it.

Having read (and enjoyed!) The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp, I have to ask: What do you like writing more, human detectives or sheep detectives? Did your approach to writing the Miss Sharp Investigates series differ from the Sheep Detective books?

On one level, there is surprisingly little difference. People are sheep, too. Just like our ovine friends we are social animals, constantly torn between individuality and conformity, personal fear and greed, and the warm but demanding embrace of a flock. This is one of the reasons why sheep are great protagonists.

That being said, writing from a sheep point of view is very restrictive. While this is a creative challenge and often inspiring, your options as a storyteller are limited. When I started the Agnes series, it was quite refreshing to deal with characters who could pick up the phone (or anything else, for that matter), read a letter, or – shock and horror – use the internet (inexpertly). As a writer, you find yourself with a much bigger toolbox to drive the plot forward. However, once again I deliberately chose protagonists, who are not exactly running full steam. The retired detectives of the Sunset Years are all well past their prime, and they wrestle not only with murderers, but also with the pitfalls of old age.

Whether you are a sheep, who can’t read in the first place, or an old lady who has forgotten her reading glasses, we are all imperfect creatures struggling to make sense of an imperfect world. That’s what intrigues me, and that’s what my stories are about. Solving murders is just the icing on the cake.

Can you share some insight into the translation process? How did you work with your translator, Amy Bojang, to bring this story to life in English?

I simply love the translation process! I know there is a lot of talk about things being lost in translation, but things can be found in translation too. I work quite closely with my translator Amy and it always gives me joy when she comes up with an English expression that just fits the story and the situation perfectly. Sure, not every pun works in both languages and sometimes you need a new approach to a certain aspect of the text, but generally speaking I feel that the process gives me a chance to hone the text, to get the absolute best out of it for an English-speaking audience. If there are translation issues, we bounce ideas off each other until one of us comes up with a good solution – it’s very satisfying. Experiencing the text in translation is the closest I will ever get to reading a book of mine for the first time – still my story, but no longer my words. It really is exciting!

Lastly, what’s next for you? Are you currently working on any new projects, and/or do you have anything else you’d like to share?Right now I am seriously toying (yes, you can seriously toy – I’ve been doing it for months now) with a new sheep adventure, continuing the story of Three Bags Full and Big Bad Wool. The process of translating and editing the English language versions has brought the flock back into view, and I realized that I miss them quite a bit. There are a lot of very endearing sheep characters that are close to my heart. I always get readers’ requests to “do more sheep,” and for many years, I have been resisting. You cannot step into the same river twice, for other waters are ever flowing onto you, to quote Heraclitus. I do not believe in endlessly repeating a formula. For me, every story has to be unique to a certain extent, to catch you off guard, to surprise you. The challenge now is to build something that readers will recognize and enjoy, while finding new and hopefully fresh aspects of the theme. I have been ruminating on this for quite a while, and, slowly but steadily, it is coming together.

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Thanks so much to Leonie 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.

I am ecstatic to welcome Liann Zhang as today’s featured author. Her debut thriller Julie Chan Is Dead, about a supermarket cashier who assumes her dead twin sister’s influencer identity, had me reading late into the night (yes, it was a sub-24-hour binge read for me). If you love, hate, or love-to-hate influencers and online culture, this one should be at the top of your list.

Below, Liann joins us to talk about influencer research, thriller pacing, and more.

Connect with Liann on Instagram, TikTok, and her website. Grab a copy of Julie Chan Is Dead from your retailer of choice here.

Welcome, Liann! Julie Chan Is Dead is an absolutely wild ride, following a young woman who discovers her estranged twin’s body and adopts her influencer identity. What drew you to the influencer world as a setting for a thriller? Did you do any research on influencers to help realistically craft this world?

I was briefly a small-time influencer during my teenage years, so I saw a lot of the behind-the-scenes. There is naturally so much natural connection and love, yet tension and jealousy among influencers. A lot of interesting behavior as well. When combined with my chronically online knowledge of influencer scandals, I knew there was a good book hidden there.

It takes years for a book to get published—and yet Julie Chan feels eerily relevant, especially considering the recent TikTok trend labeling New York City influencers as “boring.” (Those who aren’t chronically online probably won’t know about that, but trust me, it was a whole thing.) How did you approach writing about online culture?

Yes! I was so pleased when I saw the NYC influencer discourse, because I could self-insert my book into it, haha! It felt very timely, and I was so glad to see that many people seemed to have the same thoughts as me about it. 

Considering the pace in which the online world seems to move and pivot these days, I worried about the relevance and timeliness of my book. I worried that, by the time the book pubbed two years after I initially wrote it, the issues that I discussed would have been yesterday’s news and that no one would care. Thankfully, it hasn’t been the case. In fact, I think, the internet is coming to certain conclusions about influencer culture that reflect the themes of my book. Almost a certain “influencer-consciousness” that’s been propelled by the over-saturation of influencers thanks to apps like TikTok. 

I still believe that influencers will be an evergreen topic for the foreseeable future. However, I think it helped that I didn’t focus on specific scandals or niche topics that become a relic of a short period of time, but instead discussed a lot of the underlying structures that impact social media. Topics like race and class will never go away, even if influencers do. So, I think by anchoring my topical book in these enduring themes, I helped ground the novel in a wider, more conceptual framework that won’t fade as quickly as your typical influencer scandal.

Julie Chan is propelled into this new lavish lifestyle by a mix of desperation and opportunity. What do you love, or hate, about her character, and perhaps also that of her influencer twin? What themes did you want to explore by placing a “normal” person into this influencer life?

Julie mirrors a lot of myself in the way that she has this toxic love-hate relationship with social media. If you couldn’t tell by the book, I have many conflicting thoughts about being online. I love the connection and community and genuine joy I can find on social media. Yet I hate the shallowness, the superficiality, and the general time-suck, brain-cell-eating amoeba that apps like TikTok can be. And perhaps, that is what I love most about Julie. She’s raw and honest about her distaste of online-culture, yet when she finds herself trapped in it, she struggles to let go. I think she mirrors a lot of what real people feel about social media on a magnified level.

I wanted to show how easily a person like Julie, who seems to have a decent head on her shoulders, could get sucked in and churned out by the machine of social media. How easily she could be inducted into this world because of the very vulnerable and real desire for attention and connection. And in a way, she is an exaggerated exemplar of most influencers—don’t all influencers start out as “normal” people? Yet, I see it all the time: They become different people as their millions grow. They become more jaded, more selfish, more morally-gray. At some point, the influencers you looked up to for being “normal” stop being relatable. Off the top of my head, I can think of five influencers who were relatively “normal” but go on to do interesting things in pursuit of followers. And they rarely revert to who they were. They never learn their lesson. Just look at the news! Look at the scandals! Julie is just like them.

Julie Chan evolves into something that, for me, was wholly unexpected. From a craft perspective, and without spoilers, how did you decide to take the story where you did?

I had the ending planned from the beginning, but everything else was a bit nebulous except for a few scenes here and there. Personally, I am a pantser, and I let the characters choose their own adventure and dictate the ways specific scenes play out. As I was writing, listening to some ominous classical music, many of the more intense moments came very naturally to me. It’s almost as if Julie transported into my soul and forced me to write those scenes. That being said, I am also a horror fan and someone who likes to explore the extremes of the human condition. Also, as a kid who had unrestricted internet access from a very young age, I saw many things I shouldn’t. So, let’s just say, I’m a little deranged. (Affirmative.) Everything in Julie Chan felt like a natural choice for me.

Lastly, what are you currently working on and/or are excited to share?

I’m currently tidying up my first draft of my new manuscript. I sold in a two-book deal, so it’s already being slated. It’s about a true crime podcaster, and as you might expect from me after reading Julie Chan, the main character can be a little off her rocker. (In a positive way.) Lots of weird fun, I hope!

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Thanks so much to Liann 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.

When I read Murder at Gulls Nest in January, I knew it was destined for my “favorite books of 2025” list. Between the writing, the setting, and the sleuth, Jess Kidd’s latest release became an instant favorite.

Which might explain just how thrilled I am to have her in today’s Cluesletter. In the interview below, Jess shares insights into nun-turned-detective Nora Breen and her investigation in 1950s England.

Connect with Jess on Instagram and her website. Grab a copy of Murder at Gulls Nest here.

Welcome, Jess! Murder at Gulls Nest follows former nun Nora Breen, who asks to be released from her vows to investigate the sudden disappearance of her former novice at Gulls Nest, a seaside hotel in Kent. I adored Nora, as a character and especially as a sleuth—how did you craft her character? What qualities of hers do you think make her an excellent natural investigator?

I wanted to create a sleuth with an outsider’s eye – so the idea that Nora has been effectively dead to the world in an enclosed Carmelite order appealed to me. Nora is propelled by the mystery surrounding her favourite novice back into society and much has changed. I wanted to create a protagonist with a defamiliarised point of view so that we adapt to this new and different world alongside her.

I also wanted to explore the idea that the traits that she may have had to repress (and which might not have endeared Nora to her mother superior!) may be very useful in her new role as amateur detective – she’s downright nosy, wilful and curious. Nora has also learnt to live in community, so she brings patience and empathy to bear on her investigations. I wanted to create a detective both for then (the 1950s) and now, especially at a time when many of us are starting to see the value in human connection over consumption. Nora has left the monastery with not much more than the clothes she stands up in, but it doesn’t worry her. She very much lives in the moment. I also love the fact that as a middle-aged woman Nora takes up space and confronts expectations about her age and gender. It’s a case of ‘underestimate Nora Breen at your peril!’

What I especially loved about Gulls Nest was its collection of characters, especially those who inhabit Gulls Nest. How did you curate this eclectic group of suspects? What do you think are the most important considerations when creating a pool of suspects in a mystery?

The boarding house setting felt like the perfect way to bring together a group of eclectic characters. I use the term ‘flotsam and jetsum’ for this pool of odd people who have washed up out of season and find themselves living in cheap accommodation. All of them come with a backstory and for some of them it is no accident that they’ve chosen to inhabit a seaside town where the everyday rules are relaxed.

While you’ve dabbled in mystery with your other books, like Things in Jars and Mr. Flood’s Last Resort, Gulls Nest is more in line with a traditional cozy mystery. What challenged or excited you about writing this one? Did you approach writing its mystery in a different way?

I’m usually described as a cross-genre writer; previously I’ve always gravitated to having a mystery element along with a touch of magical realism, Gothic, or folklore – whatever I felt was needed to tell the story the best way I could. Murder at Gulls Nest does follow a more traditional mystery structure.

For example, there’s an amateur sleuth, her sidekick, a central puzzle, and some comfort to be drawn in the idea that mysteries can be solved. But it was important to me that this wasn’t at the expense of creating complex characters in a realistic historical setting that can often feel gritty, given the time and place. It had to resist the temptation to add a ghost or some surreal element. I can write supernatural element in, of course, but according to the rules of the mystery genre, Nora might have to debunk them!

Your books cover several time periods, from the seventeenth century to the 1980s; Gulls Nest is set in Kent in 1954. What has been your favorite time period to write? How do you research and prepare for each book’s setting?

I love them all, especially when I embark on a time period I don’t know much about on the outset. I use various approaches. The Night Ship is based on the true story of the Dutch merchant ship Batavia, the flagship of the VOC, which wrecked in 1629 at Beacon Island off the coast of Western Australia. To conduct this research, I travelled to Australia and the maritime museums at Fremantle and Geraldton. I was also lucky enough to spend time with a diver who photographed the wreck as it was discovered and raised in the 1960s. I also spent time walking about on the replica of the ship in Lelystad, Netherlands. This was a dual time period book with some of the story focussed on the crayfishing community in the 1980s so the recordings of oral accounts were helpful there.

In terms of logistics, the research for Gulls Nest was much easier! For this book photographs were my main source of inspiration as I’m a visual writer. In fact, the Gulls Nest boarding house was inspired in part by one picture in particular. It showed the dining room of a similarly grim seaside accommodation in early 1950s England. A boarder sits at the dining table which has a sticky-looking tablecloth and cruets. Over him stands a formidable-looking landlady in an apron with her arms crossed high on her chest! I was also fortunate enough to interview a religious sister, albeit not from an enclosed order such as the Carmelites, but this still helped me to gain insight into Nora’s background.

Lastly, what are you working on right now? Can we expect more Nora Breen, and/or is there anything else on your horizon you’re excited to share?

I’m delighted to say I’ve just finished the first draft of Nora Breen’s second adventure! It’s called Murder at the Spirit Lounge. I’ll give you a little taster here:

Dolores Chimes, famous medium, arrives in Gore-on-Sea, even surly Detective Inspector Rideout succumbs to promises of messages for the afterlife. Then a reading goes disastrously wrong, striking Dolores dead with terror. In the following days five of the six sitters at the séance meet their deaths in ways apparently supernatural. The race is on for Nora to find a ghostly serial killer before the sixth victim – Rideout himself – dies.

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Thanks so much to Jess 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.

Today, we’re traveling back in time to the Roaring Twenties with Olesya Lyuzna’s Glitter in the Dark, a queer historical mystery so sumptuous it feels decadent to read. If you like glitzy showgirls, kidnapped singers, and speakeasies with secret codes, you’ll love this one.

Olesya and I bonded over our love for the 1920s (I even shared a terrible photo from 2013 when I sewed my own flapper-inspired dress to see The Great Gatsby in theaters) and it was an absolute joy to read her interview.

Connect with Olesya on Instagram, TikTok, and her website. Grab a copy of Glitter in the Dark here.

Welcome, Olesya! Glitter in the Dark follows aspiring reporter Ginny Dugan in Roaring Twenties New York City. After witnessing a kidnapping, Ginny teams up with a brooding private eye to solve the case. What do you love about Ginny’s character, specifically when it comes to detecting? (And, perhaps, how she plays off her partner, Jack?)

Ginny Dugan is the kind of girl who parties ‘til sunrise—and remembers everything you hoped she’d forget. 

She’s inspired by the ambitious, rebellious women of the 1920s—and also by the modern party girls I’ve known and adored. You know those magical 3 a.m. encounters in a club bathroom, when some girl you’ve never met is calling you a goddess—and somehow, she’s right, and also your soulmate? This book is for those women. It’s about the beauty and chaos of nocturnal life, and the razor-thin line women walk when they move through the city at night, that fragile balance between freedom and danger.

Ginny knows every backdoor, every bouncer, every bootlegger worth their salt. That makes her the perfect person to investigate the disappearance of a Harlem torch singer—no one sees her as a threat, and she knows how to disappear into the night. She might have a questionable reputation, but she’s also got sharp journalistic instincts—and a point to prove.

Jack couldn’t be more different. He’s a jaded private eye who thinks Ginny’s just one bad decision away from disaster. But when circumstances force them to team up, something clicks. Jack brings the discipline, Ginny brings the spark. He’s methodical; she’s impulsive. He plays by the book (mostly); she sets the whole damn thing on fire. And soon enough, that initial friction starts to look a lot like chemistry . . .

I was blown away by the way you captured 1920s Harlem—I felt like I was right alongside Ginny in a way that felt immersive, dramatic, and believable. What kinds of research did you do to craft the setting? Is there anything—historical tidbits, surprising facts, etc.—that you were especially interested to learn?

I’ve been obsessed with the 1920s for as long as I can remember, so this book is the result of years of research and curiosity. I was especially drawn to Harlem in this era—a place full of creative promise, but also troubling contradictions. It offered artistic and economic possibility, especially for Black artists fleeing the South in search of freedom. At the same time, many of Harlem’s most iconic nightclubs were owned by white gangsters, and strict, racist rules were enforced behind the scenes—even as Black performers were the ones drawing the crowds.

Because the book is so rooted in nightlife and performance, I spent a lot of time watching surviving silent films (tragically, more than 75% are lost forever—shoutout to the Toronto Silent Film Festival for keeping the survivors in the spotlight), reading about the Harlem Renaissance, and falling in love with the work of authors like Jessie Fauset and Nella Larsen. This map of the Harlem club circuit lived on my wall as I wrote, helping me visualize the geography and rhythm of the nightlife. I also got really interested in how women were portrayed in the media during that time. The stories were wild, often ridiculous, and genuinely inspiring in their own strange way (especially for those of us who support women’s rights and wrongs!).

Beulah Annan was a prime example—she shot her lover in cold blood, then reportedly played a foxtrot record (“Hula Lou”) on repeat and drank cocktails while waiting for the police to arrive. The press couldn’t get enough of her, and her story later inspired Chicago. My personal favorite is the Bobbed Haired Bandit—the media’s nickname for Celia Cooney, a 20-year-old pregnant woman who held up a string of grocery stores wearing a sealskin coat over a beaded dress. She carried a baby automatic and pointed it straight at the shopkeeper, while her husband stood armed in the background. She even left handwritten notes taunting the police for failing to catch them: “I hear that the police have orders to shoot and kill me on sight. That’s all right—but the police will not be the only ones to shoot.” Her husband was part of every job, but in the papers, she was the star.

You participated in the (now defunct ☹️) Pitch Wars mentorship program in 2020. Can you share a bit about your experience and how it shaped your project?

Pitch Wars was the best thing that happened to me in this journey (and maybe in my entire life!). Even with all the incredible milestones that followed—an agent, a two-book deal—nothing compares to the moment someone saw potential in my messy little draft and said yes.

Working with Layne Fargo and Halley Sutton was a dream come true. I already admired their work, but the connection we formed during those three months of revision went beyond anything I expected. They just got the story I was trying to tell. They pushed me to go deeper, darker, sexier—to trust my instincts and stop sanding down the edges of my voice. That mentorship didn’t just shape the book. It changed how I think of myself as a writer.

It’s heartbreaking that Pitch Wars is no longer around, but I’m determined to keep its spirit alive—so if you’re a writer who sees something of yourself in my work, my inbox is always open for questions. I’m also thinking of taking on a mentee in the near future. Stay tuned!

As a debut author, was there anything that surprised you about the writing and/or publishing process? What advice would you give yourself five years ago?

Honestly, everything surprised me! Five years ago, I’d just started writing Glitter in the Dark and had no idea how unpredictable this journey would be. Some things moved fast—I signed with an agent less than a year after starting the draft. But the book didn’t sell for another three years, which felt like an eternity after that whirlwind start.

If I could give my past self one piece of advice, it would be: focus on the work. It’s easy to get swept up in the industry noise—book deals, film options, timelines, comparisons. And when things aren’t going your way, it can drain all the joy out of the creative process. 

The antidote is always the same: return to the page. Read. Write. Swap stories with other writers. Lose yourself in the world you’re building. That’s the part that belongs to you—and it’s the only thing that keeps the rest of it meaningful.

Lastly, what are you currently working on? Can we expect more of Ginny, and/or is there anything else you’re excited to share?

Yes! More Ginny is on the way. I’m currently working on the next book in the series, which follows Ginny and Jack on a brand-new case—this time involving a self-help cult and the mystery of Ginny’s missing ex. It’s a story about obsession and longing, the lies we tell ourselves to survive, and who gets to control the narrative. Think all the heat of Glitter, but with a darker pulse—and a heart that’s maybe just beginning to break.

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Thanks so much to Olesya 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.

Joining us today is bestselling author Tess Gerritsen, whose highly-anticipated sequel to The Spy Coast is out now. In The Summer Guests, a young girl goes missing, and it’s up to a group of retired CIA operatives to investigate.

I found The Summer Guests properly mysterious and a little eerie, but with enough levity to make it easy to read and enjoy. For those reasons, plus Tess’s skilled storytelling, I think you will enjoy it, too.

Connect with Tess on Bluesky, Facebook, and her website. Grab a copy of The Summer Guests here.

Hi, Tess! Thanks so much for joining. The Summer Guests is the second installment in your Martini Club series, which follows a group of ex-CIA operatives investigating a missing teen in the seaside village of Purity, Maine. How did you come up with the characters of retired spy Maggie Bird and her friends? What is challenging—or exciting—about crafting a mystery with multiple investigators, as opposed to just one?

When I wrote The Spy Coast, I was inspired by the real-life detail that quite a few retired spies live in my small town in Maine. I wondered what their lives are like in retirement, and what secrets they could tell. I’d look at gray-haired people in the grocery store or post office, and try to imagine what their lives were like when they were younger. And that’s what launched the first book, in which I explore the past life of one spy in particular, Maggie Bird. When a dead spy turns up in her driveway, Maggie recognizes it as a threat from her past. To deal with it, she turns to old friends in town who have similar skills. That’s how my characters Ben, Declan, Ingrid, and Lloyd were created.

In many ways, they created themselves, which is how characters usually come to me. They start speaking in my head, revealing their personalities, and they bloom on the page. They’re all sharp and capable, but with their quirks. Ben is a bit of a thug. Declan is the diplomat. Ingrid is the brainy one. Lloyd is the lovable analyst. One of the major themes in this series is what it’s like to grow older, to feel ignored and overlooked while you’re still fully capable of handling a crisis. These characters have gray hair and wrinkles, but they’re still ready for adventure, and they represent for me the possibilities of what life still holds in store as we grow older.

Mysteries with retiree sleuths are having a moment—what do you love about an older protagonist? How do you use the age and experience of Maggie and her friends in the context of a thriller?

I didn’t think about that particular trend when I wrote this. It was much more of a personal book for me, because I’m growing older, and I live in a town where a lot of retirees live. I look around and see incredibly brilliant and well-accomplished neighbors, and those are the characters I wanted to write about, people who might be overlooked just because they’re older, in a world where wisdom and experience are shrugged off as unimportant. Current events provide a painful example. Young tech-bros now seem to be in charge of our federal agencies, and these “whiz kids” are heedlessly laying off older people who have the institutional wisdom to keep those agencies functioning.

While book one in the series, The Spy Coast, has an international edge, The Summer Guests takes place entirely in the small town of Purity. How does setting influence your writing process? Do you find a more limited location easier or more challenging to write?

I chose a local setting for The Summer Guests after I learned that a small branch of the CIA’s MKULTRA program was active here in Maine back in the 50’s–70’s. For those who are unfamiliar with MKULTRA, the program involved the testing of experimental psychoactive drugs such as LSD and it led to the tragic death of at least one person. (We may never know if there were other deaths.)

Setting the story in a small Maine town allowed me to explore the background of my non-CIA character, police chief Jo Thibodeau, who has an uneasy relationship with the local spies. And it also brings to the forefront the very real conflicts in Maine between the locals and people “from away.”

You have enjoyed a long career, with over twenty published novels and film and TV projects (like TNT’s Rizzoli & Isles, based on your popular series of the same name). What have you learned over your career? Can you offer any tips or wisdom for budding writers and aspiring authors?

Write what moves you emotionally, and concentrate on the emotional arc your characters take, rather than spending all your time on the mechanics of the plot. When I write a crime scene, I’m not focused on the blood and guts or violence, but on what my sleuths are feeling. Likewise, when I wrote about spies in The Spy Coast, I didn’t focus on the gunplay or the derring-do, but on the emotional impact of living in the world of espionage—the paranoia of not knowing who your friends are, the stress of never being able to tell the truth.

When I was planning the third in the Martini Club series, and I was asked “what is your book about?” I didn’t say it was about an aging assassin or an old vow of revenge; instead, I said it was about the emotional journey that my character Ingrid goes on when her old lover walks back into her life—and her marriage comes under threat. The word I’d use to describe that book is “longing,” for things that could have been.

Lastly, what are you currently working on? Do you have more Martini Club thrillers in the works, and/or anything else you’re excited to share?

I’m writing the third book in the Martini Club series, titled The Shadow Friends. When one of the speakers at the local global security conference is poisoned with Polonium, my circle of spies is thrust into the center of the investigation. Complicating matters is the reappearance of Ingrid’s former lover (and fellow spy), who is convinced the killer is the same assassin they encountered in a previous operation. Their hunt for the killer sends Ingrid on an international mission, with her worried husband Lloyd in pursuit.

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Thanks so much to Tess 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.

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.

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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.

Today, we welcome C.L. Miller to the Cluesletter to talk with us about her latest mystery, The Antique Hunter’s Death on the Red Sea.

I enjoyed this cozy whodunnit set on board an antiques cruise sailing to Jordan—it’s a clever installment in this series starring an antiques specialist-turned-detective. Fans of Antiques Roadshow will find a lot to love in these books!

Connect with Cara on Instagram, Goodreads, and her website. Grab a copy of The Antique Hunter’s Death on the Red Sea from your retailer of choice here.

Hi, Cara! Thanks so much for joining. Your Antique Hunter’s series follows Freya, an antiques specialist, in pursuit of stolen antiques and dangerous criminals. What do you love about Freya’s character? Which of her qualities make her an excellent detective?

Hello, and thank you for having me. I love Freya’s journey of finding a new direction in life, coming out of her shell and starting over again once her daughter has left home for university. I grew up in the antiques world, my mother was an expert on the BBC Antiques Roadshow and wrote over 140 books on the subject, so Freya’s knowledge of antiques and the qualities someone would need to be an antique hunter came from a very authentic place. In the antiques world, we call it ‘the eye’ when you have an instinct about an item. Perhaps there is something not quite right about it that makes you take a closer look, and it might be then that you discover that the item is a fake. This can also help when tracking down a murderer!

The Antique Hunter’s Death on the Red Sea is the second in the series, and unlike the first, it’s set largely in one location: an antiques cruise sailing toward Jordan, on which a shady art trafficking ring is doing business. How did you prepare to write this globe-trotting mystery? Did you find a smaller setting more or less challenging to write?

I think both settings, and indeed each book we write, have their own set of challenges but I loved being immersed in the cruise ship setting. For this book I got to go on a brilliant research trip to Petra in Jordan with my family—a place I have always longed to visit—and I also went on a short cruise from Los Angeles down to Mexico, which my kids still consider one of their best holidays! I love worldbuilding, so the setting of Death on the Red Sea was a joy to write and it was fun to change it up in a series, as I think it keeps things interesting for the author and the reader. 

Antiques are in your blood, having begun as an editorial assistant for your mother, Judith Miller, on publications like The Miller’s Antique Price Guide. What have you enjoyed most about writing on a subject so close to home?

I love getting to put antiques that I collect or find fascinating into my books and letting readers discover some interesting pieces. Quite a few items from my own mid-century modern collection have found their way into the books! In Death on the Red Sea, we look at costume jewelry and shipwrecked ceramics amongst other things. I also like highlighting the art and antique underworld with topics such as cultural repatriation and trafficking—it’s a world you don’t see on the genteel Antiques Roadshow.

For the writers in the crowd, what have you learned about writing mysteries so far? What do you find most—or perhaps least!—enjoyable about plotting a mystery novel?

I am not a plotter—I wish I was—but murder mystery novels by their very nature are very plot driven, so by about draft three I have a spreadsheet to keep all the clues, motives, and suspects straight in mind while I edit. I love the challenge of setting out a mystery, but it can take a lot of editing to get everything to fit together and for the right antiques to be showcased.

Lastly, what’s next for you? Are you working on more antiques mysteries, and/or is there anything else you’re excited to share?

My third book in the series, The Antique Hunter’s Murder in the Castle, set in a Scotland castle in the snow with a focus on Scottish antiques, has just been handed into my editors and will be with readers in 2026.

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Thanks so much to Cara 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.

Today’s interview is thrilling—literally! Megan Collins joins us to chat about her latest release, Cross My Heart, which stars a heart transplant patient who becomes romantically obsessed with her donor’s husband. (Is it too on-the-nose to label it heart-pounding?)

I am not kidding when I tell you all I read this book in under twenty-four hours. It’s so addicting, between the prose and the premise and all the crazy, messed-up hazards of love and obsession.

Dare I call it the perfect choice for an anti-Valentine’s Day read? 👀

Connect with Megan on Instagram, Goodreads, and her website. Grab a copy of Cross My Heart from your retailer of choice here.

Hi, Megan! Thanks for joining the Cluesletter. Cross My Heart follows Rosie, a heart transplant patient who becomes romantically obsessed with her donor’s husband, bestselling thriller novelist Morgan Thorne. Between this new obsession and her questionable dating history, Rosie is presented as an unreliable narrator (but, if you’re like me, you’ll root for her anyway!). What do you love—or even hate—about Rosie’s character?

Thanks for having me! Rosie is actually my favorite protagonist I’ve ever written. I love that she is so open-hearted, generous, and empathetic toward other people.With that said, I often describe her as a really good person with some really bad habits. She tends to go a little overboard when it comes to love, molding her personality to the person she’s with or wants to be with, to the point where she loses a bit of herself in the process.

As a heart transplant recipient who knows that her health is very precarious, she’s also laser-focused on finding a romantic partner, before it’s too late for her. That makes her do some fairly questionable things, like—oh, I don’t know—sort of stalk the husband of her heart donor, convinced that since he already loves the heart that’s in her body, he’s destined to love her too.

I was so enthralled by the fine line Cross My Heart draws between love and obsession, and the danger those emotions can provoke. What do you love about these two themes, especially in the context of a thriller novel?

I think the search for love is something we can all relate to, but I often feel our society puts so much pressure on that search. The media, the billion-dollar wedding industry and the hundreds of dating apps available at the click of a button often send the message that finding a partner is the most important thing, and getting married is one of the most important achievements you can have. And if you’re someone who, like Rosie, is watching everyone close to you find their person while you’re still facing heartbreak after heartbreak, it can turn that search for love into something a little darker.

With this book, I wanted to write about how toxic our culture’s obsession with finding The One can actually be, and how it can drive people to behave in unhealthy ways themselves.

You’ve penned four other thrillers—including Thicker Than Water and The Family Plot. How would you compare Cross My Heart to your past projects? Was the writing process any different, and/or how did it change or challenge you as a writer?

While my other books have focused on dysfunctional families (or families who think they’re perfectly functional until something happens to reveal the disturbing secrets beneath the surface), Cross My Heart is my first book in which a romantic relationship takes center stage. Of course, it being a thriller, things turn dark pretty quickly, and this book definitely has the biggest twists of all the ones I’ve written to date. That was exciting to tackle, but also intimidating, and in fact, I had the idea for this book for a long time but held off on writing it because I wasn’t sure I had the ability to execute those massive moments. Now, whenever anyone tells me they didn’t see [redacted] coming, or their jaw dropped when [redacted], I’m reminded that I did, at least for some readers, succeed in what I set out to do, and in that way, I shouldn’t put those mental roadblocks up for myself.

Sylvia Plath said, “The greatest enemy to creativity is self-doubt,” which is a quote that’s always resonated with me but which I feel even more acutely after writing this book and seeing readers’ responses. Now I know that if I’m creative enough to come up with the idea—and if I believe in the idea—then I can figure out how to get it out of my head and onto the page. It might take me a long time, and a lot of trial and error, but that’s just part of the process.

As an instructor of creative writing, what’s the best writing tip you can offer—especially for writing twisty, suspenseful thrillers?

It sounds very simple, but my biggest tip is to read! Thrillers (and all stories, really) have such a specific rhythm to them, and the more you consume, the more you’ll sharpen your skills with pacing, tension, and suspense.

I also encourage people to write about their obsessions. For example, I adore wedding dresses and Taylor Swift, and not only do I have several Taylor Swift references peppered into my book (which made the drafting days fun!), but Rosie manages a wedding dress shop, and the experience she has with that work greatly impacts her worldview and journey and keeps her constantly reminded of how many people are finding The One and how she, so far, has not.

Lastly, what are you currently working on? Do you have more thrillers in the works, and/or anything else you’re excited to share?

I can’t talk about anything officially or specifically yet, but I promise I’m hard at work on another thriller that will be as dark, twisty, and wild as I can make it! Other than that, I’m excited to start my second year of teaching the Ultimate Novel Writing Course through Jericho Writers, which is an online course open to all writers worldwide who want a year of mentorship, resources, and community as they work toward drafting and/or revising a novel. Applications for this year’s course are open until February 16!

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Thanks so much to Megan 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.

Our first featured author of the year is V.J. Randle. Victoria reached out to me with an offer to send a PR box of her Scottish murder mystery, aptly titled Cold Secrets, which she has been serializing weekly on her Substack. Naturally, I began reading it immediately, and was hooked before my copy came in the mail!

In the interview below, Victoria and I chat about the novel’s characters, its unconventional publishing path, and more.

Connect with Victoria on Substack, Instagram, TikTok, and more. Grab a copy of Cold Secrets here—or start reading it now on her Substack!

Welcome, Victoria! Thanks so much for joining. Set in the wintry Scottish Highlands, Cold Secrets follows Robert Begg and a crew of friends as they work to solve a decades-old murder case. What do you love about Robert as an investigator, as well as his friends that comprise this group of sleuths?

Such a pleasure to be here—thank you for having me.

Robert is such an unlikely sleuth, which is why I love him! He’s the sort of guy who’s happy to be running his bar (The Pine Needle) and quietly reading his hiking books. He’s certainly not looking for any drama when Londoner Mirabella Rowley disrupts his New Year’s Eve party, claiming his recently deceased father has something to do with a decades’ old murder . . .

He eventually investigates the case out of a sense of duty towards his community and friends, as opposed to any sort of ego. I enjoyed creating a younger-millennial sleuth with the money worries and anxieties that can go with being in your late twenties.

His friends Eilidh, Justine, and Hammy remind me of the warm and brilliant people you find living in the North-East of Scotland (Findrussie is a fictional village set in the Highlands, but I’ve drawn a lot from Moray, Speyside, which is my home). It’s lovely to explore friendships between people of different generations. Each of their unique traits certainly helps solve the crime!

A large part of the investigation relies on local knowledge, which is why the “Pine Needle” team is uniquely placed to move from clue to clue. I love mysteries which expose the secrets kept by small, unassuming communities. It’s been compared to Only Murders in the Building and The Marlowe Murder Club—both of which I’m very pleased with!

After penning (and shelving it) a few years ago, Cold Secrets gained readership on Substack, after you began serializing it in September 2024—and now, it’s published! What prompted you to serialize the book, and what have you learned during this process?

Well, this a bit of a sad story (and, strangely, pertinent to Robert’s situation at the opening of the book).

Having shelved Cold Secrets because my publisher, Bloodhound Books, wanted to focus on my other series (The Hellenic Mysteries), I’d accepted the fact this book was destined for the Google Drive-aether. However, in August, my father very suddenly passed away. I found myself unable to work on my work-in-progress in the aftermath, but I still wanted to do something useful.

Cold Secrets had already been edited years ago, and I’d also commissioned some lovely artwork for it; both these endeavours were going to waste. So, I tentatively (and, if I’m honest, somewhat impulsively) posted the first two chapters on Substack.

I’d never considered it fully before, but, of course, the mystery genre lends itself very well to serialisation. Within the first week, I had around 250 subscribers. This kept growing to the 650 readers I have today.

The wonderful thing about a platform like Substack is you can see how invested your readers are in your story. It’s powerful encouragement to know people are opening your email and reading a chapter each week! The feedback was also lovely: Unlike when I’d released my previous novels, there was more scope for meaningful conversations with readers.

I would never have considered publishing Cold Secrets without the backing of a publisher if it weren’t for the serialisation process. However—with a dedicated readership, some wonderful pre-publication reviews, and a certainty that Findrussie’s mystery already had people hooked—it seemed silly not to turn it into a “proper” book!

The chapters on Substack actually function per se as a marketing tool. When approaching book bloggers, booktokers, bookstagrammers etc., I can direct them to the released chapters and they can decide whether they like them or not (thankfully, they have!).

I know some authors serialise their fiction as they write it, however, this seems like an extremely stressful thing to do. I’ve noted how important it is to publish consistently (even to the minute!), so the pressure of releasing an unfinished work every week would be overwhelming for me. My advice to anyone considering the serialisation route is to have your manuscript ready-for-publication before doing anything else.

Your other series, the Hellenic Mysteries, are set in present-day Greece and draw on your experience as an educator of Latin and Greek. Can you share a bit about those books? How would you compare writing the Hellenic Mysteries with a murder mystery like Cold Secrets?

The first in the series, The Athenian Murders, follows police officer Michail Mikras, his partner Katerina, and detective Sofia as they investigate a string of murders seemingly inspired by the Greek myths. This is more of a whydunit, rather than a whodunit, and readers enjoy how knowledge of mythology ultimately helps Michail and his colleagues solve the case. If you like mythology and mystery, then there’s a good chance this will be up your street.

The Saturn House Killings, the second book in the series, takes place on the island of Aegina. The same team investigates a body found on the beach of an exclusive luxury resort. There’s very much an eat-the-rich theme present, which lots of readers have enjoyed. Michail Mikras has actually been compared to the detective Monk from the television series!

Unlike the Hellenic Mysteries, Cold Secrets isn’t told from the point of view of law enforcers. This actually gave me a lot more freedom as a storyteller. When you’re writing from the perspective of the police, you must ensure certain procedural elements are correct, otherwise, readers will rightly begin to pick holes in the plot’s credibility. With Cold Secrets, it was easier to build a traditional whodunit without the constraints of procedure, placing the reader right at the heart of the mystery with Robert and his team.

Cold Secrets is just a segment of your other content on Substack—what else do you like to discuss on the platform? Why do you, as an author, love using Substack to communicate with your audience?

As I’m sure is the case for all authors, random (and, I like to think, interesting) thoughts are always popping into my head and it’s good to noodle them out! My Substack, Myriatid, publishes articles about my borderline fetish for notebooks, the Renaissance, the symbology of owls, cultural commentary  . . . you name it!

It’s a great place to connect with people over shared interests. Book promotion is essential, but it does seem a bit tiresome to be constantly talking about my books and reviews, et cetera. Substack allows me to write about unrelated topics and connect with readers over these.

Lastly, what’s on your horizon? What are you currently working on and looking forward to?

I have a few projects on the go. I’m currently finishing a standalone murder mystery set in a luxury hotel in the Highlands (no surprises there!). I’m also excited to get started on the sequel to Cold Secrets—readers seem to love these characters and I’d like to spend more time with them.

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Thanks so much to Victoria 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.