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I am thrilled to introduce Gigi Pandian as today’s featured author. Gigi is a bestselling mystery author whose newest release, The Raven Thief, is the second book in the Secret Staircase Mystery series and features a fake séance, an impossible murder, and intrepid sleuthing.

If you follow my reviews on Instagram, you’ll know just how much I loved book one in this series, Under Lock & Skeleton Key (and The Raven Thief is equally fun!). These books are cozy and whimsical, but with head-scratching mystery puzzles that keep you entertained.

In the interview below, Gigi and I chat about the new book, Golden Age detective fiction, themes of family and culture, and more.

Connect with Gigi on Instagram, Facebook, BookBub, Amazon, and her website. Subscribe to her newsletter here and receive a free novelette and mini cookbook. Purchase The Raven Thief here.

Hi Gigi, thanks for joining! The Raven Thief, book two in your Secret Staircase Mystery series starring illusionist sleuth Tempest Raj, poses a locked room murder puzzle: during a fake séance, a body appears on the table—yet the eight participants never broke their circle of clasped hands. When plotting an intricate and seemingly impossible murder, how do you approach it? Do you start with the setup, or the solution?

Thanks for the invitation! I approach writing with the feeling I want to evoke: mysterious but lighthearted, with likable characters going on an adventure of some kind.

Before I was a mystery novelist, I was an avid mystery reader, and I still love the feeling that certain novels gave me the first time I read them, which is why I start there. Sometimes it was characters I adored that elevated the novel, sometimes it was an evocative setting brought to life by the author, and sometimes it was the aha moment when a baffling puzzle is brilliantly solved at the end. So in my own writing, I’ve tried to meld all of my favorite things together.

With that in mind, sometimes the solution of a complex mystery is the starting point, and sometimes it’s characters I see clearly in a certain location. So I approach each book differently, even my impossible crime novels like The Raven Thief. I didn’t start with the entire four-part puzzle. I had a couple of elements of the solution worked out before I began writing, but not all of it. Instead, I thought about the fun setting of a mystery-novel-themed home interior I wanted to create, and how Tempest and her friends and family would interact with it. My characters gave me the answers to the rest of the puzzle. And the tagline for the book: One murder. Four impossibilities. A fake séance hides a very real crime.

Both Under Lock & Skeleton Key and The Raven Thief reference plenty of Golden Age detective fiction, from Anthony Berkeley’s The Poisoned Chocolates Case to John Dickson Carr’s series featuring Dr. Gideon Fell. What do you love about these classic works of crime fiction? What do you think contemporary mystery writers can learn from the original masters of the genre?

The Raven Thief is a locked-room mystery series that directly pays homage to the Golden Age of detective fiction, but with my own modern twist. I love that in books from that era, the misdirection that authors created was much more about the fair-play clues than the psychology of the characters. My favorite books in the genre are lighthearted romps where you know that the puzzling mystery will be cleverly solved at the end. Authors like Anthony Berkley, John Dickson Carr, and Agatha Christie have made a deal with the reader in which the clues will be fairly presented.

In theory, the reader can solve the crime when the detective does. In practice, I never try to do that. It’s much more fun and satisfying to go along for the ride and then see how everything falls into place at the end.

One thing I’m doing in my books is developing characters and their relationships more than in some Golden Age novels, because I enjoy that as a reader.

What I especially loved about the Secret Staircase Mysteries is Tempest’s family and close-knit community alongside strong Indian and Scottish influences. What did you like about incorporating these themes of family and culture in a cozy mystery?

Thank you! Those elements were central to the idea for the series. The Secret Staircase Mysteries are locked-room mysteries featuring stage illusionist Tempest Raj, who uses her skills creating misdirection for her family’s home renovation company that builds magic into peoples’ homes through elements like sliding bookcases and hidden rooms. Secret Staircase Construction was founded by Tempest’s parents, so Tempest’s family is built into the premise. Her Indian grandfather and Scottish grandmother live in an in-law unit in the backyard — which happens to be a tree house.

My dad is from South India and my mom is of mixed ancestry including Scottish, and I’ve been traveling to India and Scotland since I was a kid. Those cultures are also incorporated into my Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mysteries, but Jaya is always jetting off to another country, whereas I wrote the book that became the first Secret Staircase Mystery right after the pandemic began. Therefore it was a wonderful escape to create a cozy small town that Tempest has just moved home to, with a family and friends surrounding her.

In addition to the Secret Staircase Mysteries, also write the Accidental Alchemist and Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt mystery series. How do you approach writing these three different series, especially when it comes to planning the mystery?

It’s less that I plan different series differently, and more that I’ve evolved as a writer in the decade since I’ve been a published author. I trust myself a lot more as a writer now than I did at the start of my career.

I always love to ask authors what’s coming up on their horizon. Can we expect any more books with Tempest and her gang? Do you have anything else in the works that you’d like to share?

I’m putting the finishing touches on Book 3 in the Secret Staircase mystery series, and then I’m returning to revisions on Book 7 in my Accidental Alchemist mystery series. I love alternating between series, because my brain needs time to set aside a draft manuscript and come back to it with fresh eyes. I’m having so much fun with everything I’m writing.

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Thanks so much to Gigi 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.

If strong female protagonists are your thing, stay tuned for today’s interview. Kris Bock’s Accidental Detective series stars fifty-year-old Kate Tessler, an ex-war correspondent who gets dragged into solving crimes in her Arizona hometown.

In the following interview, Kris and I talk about good sleuth qualities, mysteries in the American Southwest, writing advice, and more.

Connect with Kris on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, TikTok, BookBub, and her website. Grab Someone Missing from Malapais Mountain from all retailers here.

Welcome, Kris! Someone Missing from Malapais Mountain is book four in your Accidental Detective series. Its heroine, Kate Tessler, is a fifty-year-old former international war correspondent whose dangerous career led to a brush with death and a war injury. What inspired you to write Kate’s character? What qualities do you like to see in a mystery protagonist?

In amateur detective mysteries, you have a lot of older women, such as Miss Marple, Jessica Fletcher, and Mrs. Pollifax, who have the advantage of years of experience with life. Then there’s Phryne Fisher in Kerry Greenwood’s series (made into the Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries for TV). In the books, she was an ambulance driver in World War I at age 16, so it makes sense that she’s fearless and desperate to grab ahold of everything life has to offer. Somehow these ideas combined in my mind to create Kate. She’s been a war correspondent, so she’s adventurous and fearless. It makes sense for people to ask for her help with problems they can’t or don’t want to take to the police, so I don’t have to have her accidentally stumbling on a dead body in every book. She knows how to investigate.

I traveled a lot when younger, although not to war zones. As I faced fifty, I wanted to create a mystery lead dealing with some of the same issues: aging parents, concerns about financing retirement someday, and a body that doesn’t recover like it once did. I didn’t necessarily plan to write humor, but people say they laugh a lot. That comes from how Kate sees the world, which is how I see the world. Laughter helps us survive the hard parts.

Many of your books, including the Accidental Detective series and others, are set in the American Southwest. What do you love about the Southwest as a book setting? Is there anything unique about this region that makes it a great setting for a mystery?

I’ve lived in a small town in New Mexico for over twenty years, three times longer than I’ve lived anywhere else. The landscape inspired my earlier romantic suspense novels, but I wanted to set the mystery series in a big city.

I set the series in Arizona because it provides so many mystery opportunities. The large senior population attracts scammers. Inpatient family members might kill to get an inheritance sooner. The border with Mexico creates anxiety over immigration and various kinds of trafficking. Plus you have all the usual potential crimes in any large population. I created a fictional city within the greater Phoenix metropolitan area and made the mayor someone Kate knew in high school, so she has a connection within the city government. I’ll be able to keep Kate busy for years.

My romantic suspense novels also include real places in the Southwestern United States. For example, in my treasure hunting adventure, Desert Gold, the heroine and her best friend hunt for the lost Victorio Peak treasure, a real Southwest legend about a heretic Spanish priest’s gold mine, made richer by the spoils of bandits and an Apache raider. I drew on personal experiences hiking in the desert for Erin and Camie’s adventures—though fortunately I’ve never stumbled on a rattlesnake nest or gotten caught in a flash flood!

Another book, What We Found, was inspired by finding the body of a murder victim while hiking in the woods. (Read about the whole experience of finding a dead body here.) Someone in law enforcement said that people often don’t report crimes they stumble across. That got me thinking—Why? What reasons would you have for not calling the police? The book also includes falconry, based on experiences I’ve had hanging out with a falconer.

Whispers in the Dark follows a young archaeologist who stumbles into danger as mysteries unfold among ancient Southwest ruins. That was inspired by a trip to Hovenweep National Monument some years ago. I loved that setting and had to use it in a book!

In addition to mystery, you’ve written suspense, adventure, and romance. What are your favorite aspects of these various genres? Are there qualities of any that are more fun—or more challenging—to write? What genre, if any, would you like to tackle in the future?

As a reader, I prefer not too much gore or violence, and I demand a happy ending! With cozy mysteries, you get intrigue, fun and interesting characters, plus a guaranteed satisfying ending. Romance, of course, must deliver a happy ending to the relationship. In romantic suspense, you need the happily ever after for the couple as well as a satisfying ending to the action plot.

For mysteries, I like to know more of the plot ahead of time, to make sure the pieces fit together and there’s enough action. Romance is more character driven, so I only need enough internal and external conflict to keep the characters apart long enough. If I know what they want and need, and why they can’t easily get it, I can start writing and see what happens. I started out as a writer with more focus on plot, so developing my character skills has been fun—but I do love a good, intricate plot with lots of action!

I also write a romantic comedy series with my brother, Douglas J. Eboch. He wrote the screenplay for the movie Sweet Home Alabama and thought it would be fun to write a prequel series where the movie characters are teenagers. It’s been fun and surprisingly easy to write with a partner. It probably helps that we’ve known each other for decades and always talk about writing when we get together! We now have three books out in the “Felony Melanie” series.

I don’t have plans to write in a different genre, but you never know. I’ve been reading some fun science fiction lately . . . But I have another mystery series with one book written, plus an idea for a third series, and a couple of romance series ideas. That should keep me busy.

You have written in so many genres, and published both traditionally and independently, is there anything you can share with new writers and authors? Can you share any writing and/or publishing wisdom that you’ve gathered over your author career?

I write fiction and nonfiction for children and adults—literally a little bit of everything when you consider the books for children, which include historical fiction, ghost stories, biographies, and nonfiction about science and history. My first published book was The Well of Sacrifice (written as Chris Eboch), an adventure for middle grade readers set in ninth-century Mayan Guatemala. It’s still used in schools when they teach the Maya.

I started writing for adults (as Kris Bock) and self-publishing over a decade ago, first romantic suspense and then a sweet romance series based around a cat café. Marketing is the hard part, so with the Accidental Detective series, I queried agents and eventually landed with a small traditional publisher. That’s been a good experience, but marketing is still necessary and hard! I make most of my money through educational publishing, which is work for hire, usually for a flat fee.

Do I have any wisdom? Basically, you have to work hard, learn a lot about the craft and the business, and hope you get lucky—and accept that you may not, and it’s not your fault.

As for writing tips, I get some of my best ideas while jogging. I’ll get moving and then start thinking about a story problem. Maybe the adrenaline is inspiring—or maybe the feeling of running is reminiscent of being chased, which encourages exciting plot ideas! As a bonus, it makes the jogging time go more quickly. I also like to take walks or go on hikes to brainstorm or even dictate scenes into my phone. Don’t assume something like that wouldn’t work for you. Try things and find out what does work

You can check out my writing tips at my Write Like a Pro! blog. I don’t post new material very often, but the sidebar down on the right-hand side links to past posts on various topics. I particularly like to talk about cliffhanger chapter endings!

I’ve also published two books of writing advice. Advanced Plotting and You Can Write for Children: How to Write Great Stories, Articles, and Books for Kids and Teenagers.

Lastly, can you share what you’re currently working on? Are there any new books, either in the Accidental Detective series or otherwise, that we can look forward to?

In the Accidental Billionaire Cowboys sweet romance series, a Texas ranching family struggles to maintain their privacy and work ethic after an enormous lottery win. Can they build new dreams and find love amidst the chaos? The first two books are out, with three more to follow this year.

As for The Accidental Detective humorous mystery series, Someone Murderous at The Midnight Motel comes out September 15, with one more book scheduled after that so far!

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Thanks so much to Kris 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.

I’m thrilled to welcome cozy mystery author Diane Kelly as today’s Cluesletter featured author. As the author of more than forty mysteries, Diane’s cozies are themed everything from taxes to moonshine.

Diane’s latest release, Primer and Punishment, is the fifth book in her House-Flipper Mystery series. (Don’t you just love that theme?) Our interview below covers fixer uppers, publishing paths, and the career advice she’d give her younger self.

Connect with Diane on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and her website. Sign up for her newsletter here. Grab Primer and Punishment from all retailers here.

Primer and Punishment is book five in your House-Flipper Mystery series. True to its theme, this series follows carpenter Whitney Whitaker as she turns fixer-uppers into charming homes. In your opinion, what makes for a good cozy mystery theme? And/or, what was the inspiration for this house-flipping series?

A good cozy mystery theme is one with broad appeal that also has many aspects to be explored. As evidenced by the popularity of home improvement shows, renovation is something a lot of people find interesting, including me! There are a wide variety of housing styles, including houseboats like the one featured in this story, and the theme has given me a lot to work with. My characters have remodeled a stone cottage, a colonial, a decrepit roadside motel, an old country church, and now a houseboat.

When I launched this series, I knew I wanted to set it in Nashville, where I lived from 2014 to 2016. Such a vibrant and creative city! I considered various ideas and discussed my thoughts with my friend Paula over lunch. She pointed out how Nashville was booming and that a lot of renovation was going on. I owe the idea to her. As they say, fiction writers are liars and thieves, though in this case the theme was more of a gift from a friend.

You also write several other series, including the Mountain Lodge Mysteries, Southern Homebrew Mysteries, Paw Enforcement, and tax-themed Tara Holloway series. Do you have a favorite series to write? Does your writing process change depending on the series?

I love all of my series for different reasons, so it’s hard to pick one and say it’s my favorite. I will say that Laying Down the Paw, the third book in my Paw Enforcement series, is the one I am most proud of. I dug much deeper emotionally in that book than in any other. There’s a teen boy character—Dub—who is in crisis. My husband and I were doing respite foster care at the time and saw firsthand what these children go through. I drew on that experience in writing the book. I cried a bit while writing it, but I hope it brought some understanding of what some children are forced to endure when they don’t have a loving, supportive family. Even though cozies are generally lighter books, I try to bring attention to issues in subtle ways when I can and when it fits the story.

I’m also very partial to Death, Taxes, and a French Manicure, my first published book, because it was proof my dream had come true and that my hard work had finally paid off. It was such a thrill when my editor gave me the cover image for that book. That’s when it first really felt real.

You have published both traditionally and independently—what are the differences between self-publishing your books and working with a traditional publisher? Can you share the advantages and disadvantages to each, and share some advice for authors?

The great thing about traditional publishers is that they get your books into bookstores, do some publicity for you, design the covers, edit your work, and do any necessary formatting and uploading, so the author can focus more on the writing. With self-publishing, the author has to take care of each and every detail, or hire the parts out. But the upside is that publishing independently gives a writer much more flexibility. Stories don’t have to be a specified length. They also don’t have to fit neatly within genre guidelines, which publishers and bookstores generally prefer because it makes the books easier to market and sell. An author can write what they want, when they want, and get it out for sale much quicker—but their chances of seeing their indie books in bookstores or libraries are very slim. Most stores and libraries only carry traditionally published books. Whether a book is traditionally or independently published, authors need to do quite a bit of promotion on their own.

Choosing which avenue to pursue comes down to the amount of control an author wants to have, and whether the story fits within a publisher’s guidelines. For me personally, I like putting my full-length novels in the hands of a traditional publisher’s professional team. But for my novella-length work or short stories, I’ve found indie is the way to go since there aren’t a lot of high-paying markets for shorter works and it can take a lot of time to shop them around. I’d rather just get them out for sale when I have them ready and skip the middleman.

Having written so many novels, what advice would you give your younger self? Do you have advice for newer writers and authors hoping to find similar writing success?

Buy noise-canceling headphones immediately! Haha. Seriously, though, when I discovered them, it was a game changer. When I have my headphones on, I can get “in the zone” much quicker and ignore things that might otherwise distract me.

For new authors, I’d advise them to schedule writing time and find a place to do it where nobody else will be around and interrupt them. If someone really wants writing to become their career, they have to treat it like they would any other job. They have to show up on schedule and do the work. Other things have to take a back seat during that time. If they aren’t willing to make some sacrifices, it simply won’t happen.

Lastly, I know you have a few new books on the horizon. Can you share what they are? Are you working on anything else that you’d like to talk about?

Fiddling With Fate, the third book in my Southern Homebrew moonshine series, will release on April 4. It’s centered around a bluegrass band that Hattie Hayes, my modern-day moonshiner, hires to sing a jingle for her Moonshine Shack. My next Mountain Lodge Mystery, Snow Place for Murder, will release on October 24. I’m working on that book right now and having so much fun with it!

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Thanks so much to Diane 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.

Olivia Matthews’s new book, Against the Currant, kicks off a brand new culinary cozy mystery series. The Spice Isle Bakery series promises good food, good company, and a heaping of murder. Olivia, who also writes romantic suspense as Patricia Sargeant and Regina Hart, joins the Cluesletter to chat about plotting cozy mysteries, mystery versus romance, and the craft of writing.

Connect with Olivia on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and her website. Subscribe to her newsletter here. Purchase Against the Currant here.

Hi Olivia! Thanks so much for joining. Against the Currant is the first book in the Spice Isle Bakery series, which stars Lyndsay Murray and her West Indian bakery. Culinary cozy mysteries are always popular—what do you like about this subgenre of cozy mystery? How does writing this series compare with your other cozy series, the Peach Coast Library and Sister Lou mysteries?

Hi, Manon! Thank you so very much for inviting me to visit with your community. I’m really excited to be here.

This is such an excellent question. Thank you for asking. I’d always wanted to write a fish-out-of-water protagonist. My Peach Coast Library Mystery series allows me to do that. Marvey’s a native New Yorker who’s transplanted to a small Southern town. My Sister Lou Mystery series features an older protagonist—she’s 63—whose secret weapon is being underestimated by the people she’s investigating.

Now, my Spice Isle Bakery Mystery series centers me in an intergenerational cast of characters and I’m loving it. There are three generations of the Murray-Bains family in the bakery, Lyndsay, her parents and her maternal grandmother.

In addition to cozy mystery, you also write romance as Patricia Sargeant and Regina Hart. What do you love about writing in these two genres? Can you compare cozy mysteries with romance, and/or speak to where they might intersect?

Another excellent question! Manon, you’re really keeping me on my toes. Ha!

I actually started my publishing career in the romantic suspense genre. The protagonists in my romantic suspense stories are ordinary people I’ve put in extraordinary circumstances. Their journey forces them to find their inner heroes. I absolutely LOVE doing that, which is one of the reasons I’m also drawn to cozy mysteries. My cozy mystery protagonists are amateur sleuths who’re forced into homicide investigations. That’s where my romance and mysteries intersect.

My contemporary romances feature a different type of villain. I refer to them as inner demons: self-doubt, distrust, fear. This forces my romance protagonists to turn in a different direction. They have to look inside themselves instead of outside. That’s where my romance and mysteries diverge.

With multiple mystery series under your belt, what does your writing process look like, particularly for mystery? Are you an outliner, or do you like to write and see how the mystery unfolds?

I’m a plotter. I have to outline my stories. It’s a self-defense tactic, I think. I’m afraid of the blank page. I outline my stories chapter by chapter and scene by scene. My outline for Against the Currant is forty-two pages long. This includes thumbnails on my cast of characters and research links/notes.

Now, this doesn’t mean things don’t change while I’m writing. As the characters become more three-dimensional, sometimes they take the story in a different direction. For example, in Mayhem & Mass, my first Sister Lou Mystery, one of my characters decided to quit their job. Imagine my surprise! But I always know who my villain is and why they committed their crime. This helps me with my foreshadowing.

You have also offered workshops, writers’ groups, and conferences to help writers craft their own stories. What do you love about teaching and presenting? If you’d like, can you offer any quick writing tips to Cluesletter subscribers?

LOL! I love, love, love, talking about the business and craft of writing. I really love it when my presentations become dialogues or exchanges.

As for a quick writing tip, I’d like to suggest that authors remember every scene has a Goal, Motivation and Conflict. The conflict doesn’t have to be an argument. And it doesn’t have to be between your protagonist and your antagonist. The scene could feature your protagonist and their friend or relative. So when you walk into your scene, ask yourself what is your Protagonist’s goal in this specific scene and why do they want it? What is your Protagonist’s Friend’s opposing goal in this specific scene and why do they want it?

To illustrate, perhaps your Protagonist’s goal is to interview a suspect at their home because they want the suspect to have a false sense of security. In contrast your Protagonist’s Partner’s goal is to interview the suspect at the police station because they think the suspect will provide more information in an unfamiliar setting. Your Protagonist and their Partner are in conflict in this scene and that tension gives the scene an engaging pace.

Book two of the Spice Isle Bakery series, Hard Dough Homicide, is slated for release this May. What can you tell us about this installment? Additionally, are there any other projects or upcoming releases you can share with us?

Thank you so very much for asking about Hard Dough Homicide, my second Spice Isle Bakery Mystery. You’re correct; its release date is May 23, 2023. Here’s the book description:

Someone in Brooklyn’s Little Caribbean neighborhood has an appetite for murder …

Spice Isle Bakery owner Lyndsay Murray’s always looking for new ways to grow her family’s business. But she already regrets agreeing to host the retirement dinner for local high school principal Emily Smith. The tyrant used to be her mother’s boss and they did not get along. Six guests arrive for the celebration, but only five survive. Emily starts convulsing—right after eating the curry chicken—and dies soon after. It’s not long before the police are knocking on Spice Isle’s door, bringing the Murray family back into the heart of another murder investigation—driving away customers in the process. Lyndsay can’t help but wonder if this is the end of the bakery, even though it’s just begun. She must put aside her reservations about investigating another crime, because the Murrays refuse to go down without a fight.

Thank you also for asking about my other projects. Down to the Wire is the first book in my Toure Security Group romantic suspense trilogy, which I’m writing as Patricia Sargeant. It’s scheduled for release in October 2023. I’m also wrapping up my Brooklyn Monarchs sports romance series in 2023. I’m writing that series as Patricia Sargeant, too.

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Thanks so much to Olivia 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.

I’d like to welcome today’s featured author, Samuel W. Gailey. His third novel, Come Away From Her, is a tense and twisty mystery set in rural Pennsylvania, where everyone has secrets and motives to hide. My favorite part? Both the body and the killer are identified at the very end of the book.

Read on for my interview with Samuel, in which we chat about small-town settings, plotting mysteries, and writing screenplays versus novels. And connect with Samuel on Instagram, Facebook, and his website. Grab Come Away From Her here.

Hi Samuel, thanks for joining! Come Away From Her follows Tess, a deaf woman whose arrival in Black Walnut, Pennsylvania, upsets the status quo of the small town. As a small-town native yourself, what do you love about this setting for a mystery? How does the setting of a small, close-knit community enhance or challenge a mystery-suspense story?

I grew up in a small community next to Black Walnut, and at that time, there were roughly 380 residents. Everybody knew everybody. We knew where everyone worked, what kind of truck you drove, and what folks liked to do on a Friday night. But we didn’t necessarily know what transpired behind closed doors. Folks were private, even secretive. And there was a sense of isolation, of being cut off from the rest of the world—especially in the 1980s when my story takes place. It was a pre-internet, pre-cell phone world. The residents were hardscrabble men and women who tended their farms or worked at the local slaughterhouse, hunted deer, rabbit, turkey, and pheasant to fill their freezers with meat for the winter, and generally found themselves leery of outsiders. Coupling all this with the harsh terrain and brutal winters, I felt this setting was ripe for a mystery/suspense novel.

My debut novel, Deep Winter, was set in the same region, and in both books, the presence of an outsider upsets the status quo of its residents. But ultimately, it’s the power and strength of the community that brings the characters together. I consider the community itself a character, too.

Your background is in film production, specifically screenwriting. How did that career prepare you for writing novels? Are there any skills from screenwriting that particularly helped you when plotting your books?

Screenwriting has certainly shaped my storytelling. Especially when it comes to pacing and showing conflict versus describing it. In every scene within a screenplay, there must be conflict. There doesn’t necessarily have to be a resolution, but every scene should convey something new about the characters and plot. That moves the story forward and keeps the viewer hooked, and wanting more. 

Another technique that I apply to novel writing is ending each chapter with a cliffhanger.

What is especially exciting about this book is its story structure—while a body is revealed almost immediately, the reader doesn’t find out who is dead and who the killer is until the end of the book, uncovering all characters’ motives throughout the story. How did you approach writing this twisty story? Can you share how you planned the mystery/how you plotted the book?

I used a similar device in Deep Winter and my current work in progress. I think it sets the hook immediately and propels the reader to keep turning the page.

The unknowing of who was murdered, coupled with the mystery of who committed the crime, creates an organic element of suspense. And I believe that starting with the crime then flashing back fifteen days creates a compelling structure that capitalizes on our human nature to be curious and crave closure. In Come Away From Her, I wasn’t sure who committed the murder until the very end of the first draft. Every character had a motive and flaw. I even had myself guessing who was murdered and why.

Your other novels include The Guilt We Carry (2020) and Deep Winter (2014), both of which are praised for their suspenseful, sharp writing and characters. How did writing those novels compare or differ from Come Away From Her? Were there any new or unexpected challenges that you faced while writing the new book? 

Whereas Deep Winter’s early drafts were very close to the final version in its story plot, structure, and character development, The Guilt We Carry and Come Away From Her underwent dramatic changes. 

In Come Away From Her, I struggled with developing Tess’s character. After numerous drafts, I didn’t feel like I knew her voice. Once I removed her literal voice and made her deaf, she blossomed into a character with grit and tremendous inner strength. Silence and deafness, usually perceived as a flaw or weakness, became her power. 

Lastly, what’s on the horizon for you? Do you have other books or writing projects in the works?

I just adapted The Guilt We Carry to pitch as a limited series, and I’m finishing up a novel set in the late 1700s centered on a German Mennonite family of settlers grappling with a murder committed by one of their own children. It’s Bad Seed meets The Revenant. 

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Thanks so much to Samuel 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.

I’m excited to introduce today’s featured author: Ellie Alexander! Ellie is the author of the popular Bakeshop Mystery series, the sixteenth(!!) book of which, Muffin But the Truth, came out at the end of December. Read on for my interview with Ellie where we chat about her new release, writing mysteries, marketing, and more.

Connect with Ellie on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, BookBub, and her website. Grab Muffin But the Truth from all retailers here.

Muffin But the Truth is book 16 in your Bakeshop Mystery series. This series, like all of your books, is set in the Pacific Northwest. What do you love about the Pacific Northwest as a book setting? Is there anything unique about this region that makes it a great setting for a mystery?

I know I’m biased, but I think the Pacific Northwest is the perfect setting for mysteries. There’s so much wild space—deep deciduous forests that stretch out forever, remote mountain peaks, cliffside beach trails. As I’m writing this now, I’m thinking of all the places to hide bodies. Is that a problem? That might be a problem. Come to think of it, don’t ask me about my Google search history either.

But in all seriousness, I want the Pacific Northwest to feel like another character in my books. Sense of place is so important to me. I want readers to feel like they’re walking through Ashland’s charming plaza visiting the family-owned shops and restaurants or meandering through Lithia Park stopping to snap pictures of white-tailed deer or taking in a production of Romeo and Juliet under a star-filled sky in the Elizabethan theater. I write about real places and hope that readers will have a touch of wanderlust and want to come explore the region after reading one of my books.

There’s also something unique about Ashland because it’s home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. It attracts actors, playwrights, and creative types of all kinds. It’s not unusual to see someone parading down the street in a cape or to pass by a group of college students putting on an impromptu concert. That might seem outlandish if the series was set in Texas or New York, but it’s authentic to Ashland, which I love. 

In addition to the Bakeshop series, you also write the Sloan Krause series, as well as the Pacific Northwest Mystery and Rose City series (both as Kate Dyer-Seeley). With so much mystery experience under your belt, how do you approach writing a mystery? What have you learned over the course of your writing career? Does your writing strategy change depending on the series?

It is a lot of mysteries. Sometimes I have to pinch myself when I think about how many books I’ve written. I think one of the things I’ve learned over the years is to trust the process. I’m pretty regimented in my writing routine. When I’m working on a new book, I write 2,000 words every day (Monday–Friday) and I don’t let myself leave my office until I hit my word count. That gives me a very rough, like horrendously rough, draft in about six weeks. I don’t do any editing as I go. In the drafting stage I’m just trying to get the story out. Once I have a completed first draft, I put it away for a while to give myself some distance from it and then I come back and start the editing process.

When I was first writing I would read through my drafts and feel sick to my stomach because they were so bad. They still are bad, but now I know that’s my process. Editing has become more like layering. The magic happens every time I begin to layer in sensory details like baking or describing a sepia tone sunset.

My writing process doesn’t change. It’s like muscle memory at this point, but what does change when I’m working on different series is my physical space. If I’m writing a Bakeshop Mystery my office is filled with magazine cutouts of delectable pastries and coffee, Shakespeare quotes, and pictures of Ashland. If I’m writing a Sloan Krause Mystery, my office becomes a shrine to Leavenworth with pictures of German chocolate cake and frothy beers. I have Spotify playlists for each of my characters and even candles that help center me in their worlds.

I’d love to get some insight into your marketing strategy. How do you plan your social media, mailing list, events, and other outreach? You’ve published both traditionally and independently—does your marketing strategy vary depending on whether the book is indie versus traditionally published?

Social media has become an extension of my writing and such a big point of connection, which I was expecting. There’s so much negativity about social media and much of it is deserved, but I’ve been completely humbled by the ability to make real connections with readers who end up feeling like family and friends. Maybe we’re lucky because we’re in the bookish world and I’m convinced that book people are the best people, but I also think some of it is showing up from a place of authenticity. 

I definitely plan my social outreach around book releases, launch parties, and events. I love to create unique experiences for readers, like writing short spinoff mysteries together during the height of Covid shutdowns or giving people a look at the places that inspire my writing. Sharing recipes is another favorite, but I’m certainly not a professional chef so my finished bake might not be perfect, but hopefully it tastes delicious.

In terms of traditional versus independent publishing I love the freedom that comes with indie releases. For example, getting to share cover art in all of its stages. In my traditionally published books, there are different copyright issues which means I can’t share the initial pencil sketches or illustrations. It’s fun to give readers a true behind the scenes look at every stage of publishing.

You also offer courses, coaching, and webinars to help writers craft their own stories. What do you love about these offerings? If you’d like, can you offer any quick writing tips to Cluesletter subscribers?

Teaching and coaching are my passion! It’s been such a delight to see my students finish their first mystery, submit to short story contests, sign with agents, land traditional publishing contracts, and publish independently. I feel like a proud parent. I can’t stop gushing. I feel like I had to carve out my own path on my publishing journey and I so wish that I had had a mentor or teacher to be able to guide me, offer support, or even just tell me that writing a crappy first draft was totally okay, so getting to be in that role for new writers is one of the highlights of my career.

Ohhhh, one of my best pieces of advice is to flip the switch when you feel stuck. I’m not a fan of the term “writer’s block” because I think semantics are important and if we’re telling ourselves that we’re “blocked” it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. I encourage writers to do other things and try other exercises when they’re feeling stuck. Like ask yourself everything that would NOT happen next. You might be surprised at the ideas that open up while you’re thinking through every scenario that wouldn’t happen. 

Lastly, what are you currently working on? Do you have any releases on the horizon?

The 17th book in the Bakeshop Mysteries, Catch Me If You Candy, releases in August. The 6th book in the Sloan Krause Mysteries Beer and Loathing releases in March and I’m working on a sequel to Lost Coast Literary, a holiday romcom, and cozy sci-fi serial. So many new books to come this year!

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Thanks so much to Ellie 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 featured author (the last of the year!) is Leah Dobrinska. With a background in small-town romance, Leah’s newest release is her first cozy mystery. Death Checked Out stars a librarian gets mixed up in a murder. Don’t you just love a mystery with a bookish theme?

In the interview below, Leah shares publishing tips, writing strategies, and plotting romances versus mysteries.

Connect with Leah on her website, Goodreads, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Bookbub. Be sure to subscribe to her newsletter too! Grab Death Checked Out today from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Hi Leah, it’s great to have you! Death Checked Out is book one in your new Larkspur Library Series, and features a library director who stumbles upon a dead body. In your opinion, what makes a good cozy mystery sleuth? Also, why do you think bookish cozies are so popular?

Thank you so much for having me! Yes, Death Checked Out stars Greta Plank, the library director in the small, lakeside town of Larkspur. She’s equal parts clever and kind. She’s a glass-half-full kind of person, but stumbling upon a dead body and getting caught up in a murder investigation definitely forces her to check some of her optimism. 

A good cozy mystery sleuth can take many forms, but universally, I’m drawn to sleuths who have a true, recognizable desire to help those around them. They get embroiled in investigations and invested in the outcome because they’re trying to right a wrong and they want to see good prevail over evil. They’re innately curious, so they’re constantly asking questions. They don’t take no for an answer because they see the bigger implications of what they’re doing.

In my opinion, sleuths who are layered are especially compelling. I’m drawn to the sleuths who are not only working to solve the case in the book, but who are also undergoing some sort of personal transformation throughout the story. Maybe the sleuth is older and she’s having a sort of revival or coming into her own after life has knocked her down a bit. Maybe the sleuth is younger—she’s scrappy and working hard to build the life she wants. In any case, I think a good cozy mystery sleuth is someone we can root for!

And I think bookish cozies are so popular because book people are the best people! Books open up doors and worlds, so it tracks that a main character with a bookish background (or day job!) would have tremendous (fictional) fodder from which to draw on to help her solve the case. Likewise, bookish cozies automatically earn bonus points because the amateur sleuth immediately has something in common with the audience. To be able to see ourselves in a cozy mystery sleuth goes a long way in helping us to enjoy her adventures and the story as a whole.

Death Checked Out is your first cozy mystery, but you also write a small-town romance series. What do you love about writing in these two genres? Can you compare cozy mysteries with romance, and/or speak to where they might intersect?

I love happy endings! For me, that is the biggest tenet that connects these genres, and the main reason I plan to continue to write romances and cozy mysteries. There’s a lightness to be found in both genres that I appreciate. That’s not to say that romances and cozies can’t deal with tough stuff and have depth and grit, but just that there’s a happy resolution. That’s what I’m here for!

In both romances and cozies, I think we want to see a character’s motivations. This is something that’s crossed over for me between genres. Why is a character the way that he is? What inspires them to act how they do? These sorts of questions are universal and have helped me to write characters in romance books and cozy mysteries that (hopefully) land well with readers.

Likewise, several specific tropes can and do intersect between romance and mystery. For example, in my romance series, the Mapleton novels, and my mystery series, I’ve employed the small town trope. I’ve worked to build communities that readers will come to care about and grow invested in, complete with side characters who feel like friends.

Another trope I’ve used in both my romances and my mysteries is the grumpy/sunshine trope. Think Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. One character is a consummate grouch; the other is the opposite. The interplay between the two gives me a lot of fun situations and moments to play with as an author. This trope works well in a lot of different genres.

From a story structure standpoint, both romances and cozies usually have a moment that some refer to as the “all is lost” beat. In a romance, this could be when the couple faces insurmountable odds and it doesn’t look like they’ll have any chance at their happily ever after. In a cozy mystery, this could be when the sleuth finds herself in real danger. While the moment will obviously be different in a romance versus a cozy, it exists in both! 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that a romantic subplot can be found in many cozy mysteries, so that’s a very direct way these two genres intersect. Cozies are known for their love triangles. This is a hotly contested trope. Some people love it and some people don’t. I fall in the latter camp, so I don’t include a love triangle in Death Checked Out, but I definitely am working to set the stage for a romance to come! You can take the romance writer out of the romance genre, but . . .

While your small-town romance series is self-published, Death Checked Out is a traditional deal. Can you share your experiences with both publishing paths? Do you have advice for authors hoping to either self-publish or go the traditional route?

Self-publishing my small town romance series was a humbling and transformative experience, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I learned a ton about my craft, and I reveled in having complete control over the process. I hired professionals to help me along the way, including editors and a wonderfully talented cover designer, and I built a small following of readers who have provided me with tremendous support. I’m so grateful for the indie community, and I love being an indie author.

At the same time, I am thrilled to have found a home with a publishing house for Death Checked Out. Getting to benefit from the expertise and knowledge of the industry professionals at Level Best Books and having them back my cozy mystery series has been wonderful and a huge stepping stone for my career.

It was a definite adjustment going from being in total control of all aspects of the publishing process with the Mapleton novels to turning over that control to my publisher for Death Checked Out. Fortunately, I feel like I am very much in a partnership with my editor and the team at Level Best, and everyone there has been a pleasure to work with.

My advice for authors hoping to self-publish is to plug into the indie writing community. There are so many free resources out there and your fellow indie authors are a wealth of knowledge. It can feel overwhelming and intimidating when you look at everything that goes into publishing on your own, so keep in mind that you don’t have to do it alone.

That being said, remember that there is no one way to be an indie author. You’ll look around and see others publishing in different ways, at different paces. If what someone else is doing is not how you work, don’t worry. Don’t get bogged down in comparison. I like to remind myself and anyone else who needs to hear it that the world needs the story that you have to tell, and only you can tell it!

My advice for those hoping to go the traditional publishing route is to be prepared to be patient. So much waiting is involved in every step of the journey—waiting to see how agents respond to your queries; waiting to see how your book does on submission; waiting on feedback from your editor; waiting for the book to come out. The list goes on! What I’ve found to be the best way to combat all this waiting is to keep writing. You can’t control the traditional publishing timeline, in many cases, but you can control the words you put on the page.

Can you speak a bit about the process of writing your first mystery? How did you plan the mystery puzzle/plot the book? Were there parts that were easier or more difficult to write than others?

I read a ton of cozy mysteries as I was preparing to write my own. In several cases, I read with a notebook next to me and I documented, chapter by chapter, what an author accomplished and how she was crafting her story. It was helpful for me to begin to understand the nuance of the genre by reading within it.

When I was plotting Death Checked Out, I used the story beats outlined in Save the Cat Writes a Novel. It’s the first time I’ve plotted in that way, and I did it because I wasn’t as familiar with writing in the cozy mystery genre, and I wanted to make sure I was hitting those moments that readers expect.

When I set to work, I had my scenes and beats written out and organized on a giant stack of notecards, and I wrote the entire first draft based off those notecards. This helped me make sure I was dropping clues at the right times while not being too obvious.

For Death Checked Out, the hardest part of the mystery for me was the middle. I wanted my amateur sleuth to be following a couple different leads, but striking the balance between them and making sure I was being realistic throughout some of those early moments in the investigation (while keeping things interesting!) took a lot of fine-tuning.

I was always writing toward a specific scene. It was the scene that inspired the entire story, and I knew it would take place at about the seventy five percent point of the manuscript. If you read Death Checked Out, chapters 35 and 36 are what I’m talking about! Writing that scene (and the events that followed) was by far the easiest for me. The pace flew and the story spilled out from there.

Lastly, what are your current projects? Can you tell us anything about future books in the Larkspur Library Series, or anything else on the horizon?

I have a three book contract for the Larkspur Library Mysteries, so at least two more stories are forthcoming from Level Best Books. These books are scheduled to be published in December 2023 and December 2024. I can’t say much yet, but I have a partial draft completed of the second book in the series, and it centers on Larkspur’s fall festival.

I’ve also been working on a completely separate cozy mystery series. It needs some tweaking, but I’m thrilled with the concept and as soon as it’s ready to take center stage, I’ll see what my agent thinks and hopefully find it a publishing home.

I do plan to continue my indie author career, as well. I have more Mapleton novels in the works and have been writing a rom-com series that I can’t wait to share with my readers.

Thank you so much for having me and for asking such thoughtful questions! I’m so grateful for all you do to connect authors and readers in the mystery community.

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Thanks so much to Leah 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.

My featured author today is Gary Birken, MD. As a former full time pediatric surgeon, Gary puts his expertise to work in penning medical thrillers that blend hospital settings with heart-racing suspense. And for the writers and authors in the crowd, Gary offers a unique perspective on publishing, having published both traditional and indie.

In today’s interview, Gary and I discuss his two careers, the appeal of medical thrillers, traditional versus self publishing, and more.

Connect with Gary on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and his website. Sign up for his mailing list here. Click here to purchase Prognosis Critical, and click here to view Gary’s other novels.

Hi Gary, thanks so much for joining! Before you penned your first novel, you were a full-time pediatric surgeon. How has your career in medicine influenced and impacted your writing? Besides the themes of your books, are there any surprising similarities or differences between your two careers?

There’s no question in my mind that when I compare my careers as a pediatric surgeon and that of a writer, the similarities outweigh the differences. Interestingly, I believe the practice of one has made me better at the other. Both disciplines require paying extreme attention to detail, applying a logical approach to behavior and problem solving, and oftentimes, a sharp focus on “connecting the dots.” Whether as a physician in pursuit of an elusive diagnosis or standing at the operating table for many hours, my years as a doctor have provided me with a fund of knowledge and level of experience which have been a key contributing factor in helping me create what I hope have been seven realistic and entertaining novels of medical suspense.

One area where writing has had a significant impact on me as a physician has been stress relief. All physicians face the ever-present problem of day-to-day stress—the strategies they employ to combat it are as varied as the days of the year. For me, disappearing into Starbucks, putting on my headphones, and writing for a few hours has done wonders in recharging my stress resilience battery and improving my work-life balance.

In Prognosis Critical, protagonist Dr. Jacey Flanigan begins a new career in pediatric cardiology only to discover suspicious activity and questionable medical practices threatening patients at the hospital. What makes the medical setting and theme so perfect for thrillers? Are there particular advantages or disadvantages to this subgenre compared to other types of thrillers?

The medical environment is particularly well suited as a backdrop for a mystery novel. Serious illness and hospitals cause profound anguish, which can conjure up images of misery, the fear of the unknown, and helplessness. This perilous milieu takes the reader out of their comfort zone and creates fertile ground for a suspenseful book. The author is able to take the reader on a dramatic journey filled with rising tension and uncertainty.

The medical setting also provides the author the possibility of creating one of the most reader-satisfying conclusions: the end to pain and suffering and a heavy dose of justice to the conspirator. On the other hand, having a medical background for a novel oftentimes poses a unique problem for the story-writer: creating authentic medical scenes without confusing the reader with unintelligible medical jargon or flooding them with complex scientific information is a difficult task. Sidestepping this error is essential if the author hopes to keep their reader engaged. One literary technique that’s useful in avoiding this problem is to insert a character (such as a student or family member) in the scene whose inquiries allow the doctor or nurse to explain critical plot points in layperson’s terms. The result is added realism while at the same time allowing the reader to grasp the critical plot points, making them less likely to move on to a different book.

You published your first medical thriller over twenty years ago. Has your approach to writing medical thrillers changed since the release of that book? Has the market and/or reader expectations evolved over the years?

Over the course of the past twenty plus years that I’ve been writing, I don’t believe my general approach to planning a medical thriller has changed much. I continue to begin each novel by selecting a timely and controversial medical issue, and then fashioning a conspiracy plot around it. However, one area of change most authors experience is an improvement in his or her skills as a fiction writing. An example of this is the process of editing and revising. This endeavor can be a particularly difficult and challenging one. Cutting scenes and scrapping chapters from your labor of love isn’t easy, but it’s absolutely necessary. An editor once warned me, “Don’t let your writing interfere with your storytelling.” She was referring to a three-paragraph description I wrote of a lonely leaf floating to the ground. “While it may be inspired,” she told me, “it does nothing to advance the plot. I therefore recommend you place a trash can under the leaf before it strikes the ground.” The lesson learned? Writers of any mystery subgenre have to keep their readers wondering what’s going to happen next and create a desire that borders on a compulsion for that book lover to keep turning the pages to find out. If you write something that doesn’t advance the plot, well . . . you better have a darn good reason for keeping it.

Regarding changes in the reading public: I don’t think the time-honored reader-author contract has changed too much. It’s a rather simple agreement: the reader agrees to buy the author’s book, and in return the author agrees to entertain the reader. The advantage goes to the author—all they have to do is keep the reader engaged and happy in their choice, which is sometimes easier said than done. On another note, one interesting change I’ve observed has been a something new in the public’s interest in the novel’s main character. Specifically, the emergence of mysteries that feature a snarky unreliable protagonist (Gone Girl is a good example). It’s been an intriguing departure from the “likeable” main character that traditionally has been mainstream.

Five of your books were originally published by Berkley, and when your rights reverted, you established your own publishing imprint (Erupen Titles) and rereleased them. What are the differences between self-publishing your books and working with a traditional publisher? Given your experiences in multiple publishing paths, do you have advice for indie authors getting started today?

I think I could talk all day about the differences I’ve encountered between traditional and indie publishing. To begin with, just the decision to pivot to self-publishing was one I didn’t make lightly. But, from what I’ve experienced to this point, I believe the benefits of self-publishing in many ways outweigh the downsides and stack up favorably when compared to a traditional approach. If you consider the operational aspects of publishing, there’s no question that a traditional track is an easier way to go. Not having to deal with the many details of getting your manuscript between covers and then to market can be very attractive. Many authors have therefore chosen to confine their efforts to creative ones and leave the business of writing to others. But this choice does not come without a price—once you sign on the dotted line and publish through conventional means, the author oftentimes become a minor player in the future of their labor of love. If that’s okay with you, traditional publishing is probably for you.

There’s one other point worth mentioning for those considering self-publishing: It is of course possible to take on the entire project yourself, but another option to consider is working with a professional in the field. For me, the decision to partner with an expert in bringing my seven novels to the indie platform continues to offer strategic and operational advantages.

Lastly, what are your current projects? Are you working on more novels, do you have more plans for your publishing imprint, and/or what are you planning next?

Currently, I’m working on two manuscripts: one is a story of medical suspense that focuses on an ethical issue I’ve long wanted to write about. I’m pleased with the progress I’m making and have my fingers crossed its release date will be this summer. I’ve have also started work on a murder mystery that draws on elements of the cozy subgenre. There’s no question it resides a little outside of what I’ve written in the past, but it’s turning out to be an exciting project. Finally, it has more than crossed my mind that at some point, I’d like to try my hand at narrative non-fiction. I anticipate selecting five of my most interesting cases over the years (not necessarily triumphs) that have had a profound effect upon me and the families involved.

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Thanks so much to Gary 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.