Vera Stanhope

At last April's Malice Domestic, the attendees were treated to a preview of the eighth season of Ann Cleeves' adapted series Vera.

Vera Stanhope, a Detective Chief Inspector in Northumberland, is played by acclaimed British actress Brenda Blethyn. Ms. Blethyn was a guest at Malice and she discussed the series and its relationship to the books. Author Ann Cleeves was also a guest.

DCI Stanhope is the irascible, sometimes grumpy leader of a police team, who despite her abrupt barking of orders, respect her and follow her faithfully. The current season is Season 8 and there are usually four episodes per season.

I just starting watching Season 1 and will have to power watch to catch up. I enjoyed the episode we saw at Malice, but until recently I hadn't been able to find the earlier episodes. Ready to power watch to catch up!
And then I aim to read the books by Ann Cleeves.

If you haven't started watching Vera, you should. She is a strong character and TV can always use positive portrayals of older women.

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Purchase link for seven book series

A Catered Cat Wedding

There are cat people and then there are CAT PEOPLE. Suzie Katz (naturally) falls into the second category. She contacts Libby and Bernie to cater the wedding between her two Russian blue cats - Boris and Natasha. Suzie is very rich, very mean and very eccentric and has had numerous battles with her neighbors. (A Catered Cat Wedding will be released on September 25 by Kensington Books.)

As they plan the wedding in Longely, New York, Libby and Bernie feel as if they are planning a wedding for people. Suzie loves her cats and believes their lineage traces back to the Russian czars so the wedding will include sapphire-studded collars and a veil for the "bride".

The food will have a Russian flavor, naturally and includes caviar, plus raw, smoked and poached salmon and a variety pates, a wedding planner with the exotic name of Mrs. Gertrude Van Trumpet. Assisting with cat maintenance are Suzie's niece Grace and her hapless nephew Ralph.

Under the gigantic tent set up for the wedding, Libby and Bernie
begin putting together the foods. Invited guests include three women who have had nothing but trouble with Suzie. Little do they know that she plans to buy their houses and then demolish them. Not a nice person, our Suzie.

When one of the wedding gifts includes a box of mice, chaos ensues with cats and mice scurrying into several directions. While everyone is out chasing cats and mice, someone decides to murder Suzie by stabbing her in the throat with a letter opener.

Not ones to shy away fro a murder investigation, Libby and Bernie dive right in especially as the current police chief Lucy keeps threatening to lock them up. Even their father, the former police chief, decides to investigate.

Another zany investigation including Libby's mortician boyfriend Marvin, and Bernie's boyfriend Brandon.

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Interview with Colleen Gleason

What is the title of your newest book? How many books have you published?

MapYourMystery (left) had the
chance to meet Colleen Gleason recently

My upcoming release, Murder in the Oval Library: A Lincoln’s White House Mystery, will be released in early September.
The paperback version of the first Lincoln mystery, Murder in the Lincoln White House, will be out on July 31.

I also write the Stoker & Holmes Books series for teens, and the latest release in that series is book 4: The Carnelian Crow. Book 5, the final book in the series, is due to be released in 2019.

(Editor's note: the Stoker & Holmes books are fun for every reader, not just teens.)

How did you develop your character and choose your location?
When I began to formulate the idea of the Stoker & Holmes books, I knew I wanted to have a female Sherlock Holmes type of character. When the first book in the series came out in 2012, there weren’t any (or many) female Holmesian characters (that I knew of)—but since then, and even around the time my first book was released, there have been several other ones. But for me, when I was first thinking about this idea back in 2010, I knew I wanted a female detective with the abilities of Sherlock Holmes, as well as some of his presumed social clumsiness. And so I created Mina Holmes, who is Sherlock’s niece.

Since the Stoker & Holmes series is about two young women who work together, I also wanted a good foil for this female Holmesian character and I set about creating someone who, though seemingly different on the surface, actually has a lot in common with Mina. In real life, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was good friends with Bram Stoker, and so I thought it would be fun to have the other half of my crime-fighting duo be related to Bram—his sister, actually—and to have her fight vampires. Since, of course, Bram Stoker would have been writing Dracula at the time these books are set.

With those two characters in mind, the London setting seemed obvious, and so I was off to the races, so to speak.

What is steam punk and how did you become interested in it?
Steampunk is a sort of historical science fiction genre—a mash-up of history, science fiction, sometimes fantasy, and very often a conglomeration of both real historical characters as well as literary characters. The “inventor” of steampunk was Alan Moore, who wrote the graphic novel The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. That is what most people consider the root of what we think of as steampunk today.

Steampunk is usually set in a historical time period, and often boasts the same look and feel of that time period in relation to fashion and machinery—but there is a lot of technology that didn’t exist at that time; in most cases that technology (ostensibly) is run on steam. Hence the term steampunk.

My world is set in what I consider to be traditional steampunk—Victorian London. There are many other examples of steampunk in other time periods, including the Will Smith movie Wild, Wild West and the Cherie Priest books.

I became interested in steampunk when the editor of my first published series (the Gardella Vampire Hunters) mentioned it to me and said, “You might consider writing steampunk some day, because you do a great job of mashing up historical settings with fantasy and supernatural elements.” I had to go home and look up steampunk because, back in 2007, I had no idea what it was!

(For a review of The Chess Queen Enigma, click here.)

What is a day in the life of an author like? Do you write a certain number of words, do you write in the morning or evening?
My days are usually somewhat flexible, though I prefer it when they follow a certain schedule: get up, do a morning journal that I try to write every day, maybe a few yoga stretches, make breakfast and/or a cup of tea…check my email…post on social media…attend to administrative work…then I read over what I’d written the day before, tweak it a little, then think about what I want to write next. (Because I don’t usually know what comes next till it happens!)

Then I’ll often break for lunch and maybe do some research if necessary. I usually do most of my “heavy” writing in the afternoon and evening—particularly the evening. That’s because before my first book was published, I worked full time and had young children, so the only time I could write was in the evening after they were in bed and my husband was settled in front of the television. :-) So I sort of trained my brain to work that way, which is kind of a bummer because now that my children are pretty much gone (I have a high school senior left at home), I have the whole day to be as productive as I like.

I generally like to write a certain number of words a day; when I do that, it keeps me on track to get the project done on time. That only happens (that I write my word quota) about on average 3-4 days a week—unless I’m near deadline. Then I write more and faster. :-)

Do you belong to a writers group or are you in touch with other writers? How does that help your writing?
I have a lot of friends who are writers, and while I don’t belong to a group that meets in person, I have a lot of contacts in the business and see them at conferences and other events. I have a small group of three friends with whom I do a writers get-away every spring. But most of my writer friends I speak to and interact with online.

If your books were made into a movie, who would you want to play the lead character?
I’ve had many thoughts about this, and I haven’t actually come up with great characters for Mina and Evaline! I don’t know enough of the younger up and coming actresses to be able to create a wishlist of who I’d like to have play them.

Who is your favorite author?
Elizabeth Peters, who also wrote as Barbara Michaels, JK Rowling, and Nora Roberts/JD Robb. I also love JK Rowling for her incredible world building.

How do you keep track of character details from book to book so they are consistent?
It’s not too much of a challenge, to be honest. They are who they are, and the characters don’t change in my mind. They’re already formed. I mean, it’s like I’ve met them and they are my friends—so I know who they are and what they’re like. Sure, in each book, I reveal (or discover!) something new about each character—as one does as we get to know friends better—but it’s all part of the same, whole person.

If you could not be an author, what would like to do as a career?
I’d probably be a travel writer or food critic. Or a sommelier. :-)

Stabbed in the Baklava

Returning to the Jersey shore after leaving the law, Lucy Berberian finds herself managing her parents Mediterranean restaurant - the Kebab Kitchen. In Stabbed in the Baklava by Tina Kashian, Lucy unexpectedly finds herself catering the wedding of the year. (Stabbed in the Baklava is published today by Kensington Publishing.) 

Socialite and buddy start Scarlet Westwood and her obnoxious wedding planner Victoria Redding order Lucy to keep the news of the upcoming nuptials a secret. The catch is the wedding is in two weeks. Lucy knows a successful event like this will be huge publicity for the restaurant, but an enormous amount of prep work is required.

Lucy's ex-boyfriend Azad Zakarian is the new head chef and they have some uneasiness with each other. It seems Azad regrets their break up and would like to get back together, but Lucy thinks that might not work out in their current employment situation.

When the night of the wedding rolls around, the staff is ready go and the vans are loaded. There is a mix of delicious Armenian, Greek and Lebanese foods including, of course, lamb and chicken kebabs with vegetables, a variety of hummus flavors and baklava. 

Stumbling into the kitchen during the reception is a very drunk best man Henry Sims, a local banker. When an argument ensues between Henry and Azad, Lucy tries to calm things down, but the implied threat from Azad worries her. He says "one of these days that banker is going to get his due."

Later as she heads back to the van to get another pan of baklava, she hears another heated argument with Henry, this time with wedding planner Victoria. At the end of the evening as they a loading up to leave, Azad discovers Henry's body in the van with a skewer in his neck - dead.

Naturally Azad is a suspect, but Lucy and her pal Katie decide to investigate even though Katie's police officer husband says they shouldn't. What they discover surprises even them.

Stabbed in the Baklava is a mouthwatering experience, especially with all the food described. There are recipes at the back of the book, too.

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In Want of a Knife

A befuddling title until you reach the end. With one teen girl dead, found in a bizarre outfit, and another one missing, Zoe Zola and Jenny Wilson are prepared to assist the police. In Want of a Knife by Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli is a chilling tale and the third book in this series located in Bear Falls, Michigan.

Janice Root, the daughter of an orchard owner, was found dead and wrapped in material at the side of the road. A shy teen who worked at her father's farm stand, there seems to be no reason she would wind up dead. When the autopsy shows she died of asphyxiation, police chief Ed Warner is stumped. He asks Zoe, Jenny and ex-police officer Tony Ralenti.

A few days later Cammy Otis, a special girl, is discovered missing and Zoe and Jenny are determined to find her alive. Jenny is having an employment crisis and is debating leaving her home town, her mother Dora and her special guy Tony and moving back to Chicago. Zoe is in the midst of a writer's crisis with regard to her Jane Austen book; both are looking for distractions.

In the meantime the town of Bear Falls has welcomed some very influential new residents, one who promises to donate two million dollar to the town if residents will come to his housewarming party. Everyone has ideas on how to spend the money, but when little person Zoe meets little, but obnoxious Fitzwilliam Dillon, and his entourage, the two million might be in jeopardy.

The search for Cammy is racing on as the days pass. Following clue after clue, Zoe and Jenny finally figure out where she is and rush to save her.

An excellent mystery and yes the "knife" title does figure in.

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Queen Anne's Lace

A beautifully woven tale from two eras in the life of Pecan Springs.  In Queen Anne's Lace by Susan Wittig Albert, China Bayles discovers here shop Thyme and Seasons was the home to the Duncan Family in the late 1880s. Without any advance warning, odd things begin to happen around the shop and China thinks she sees a ghost.

Usually it is her partner Ruby who is in touch with the spirits, but it seems this ghost wants China to discover something that might impact someone today. The bell over the door rings occasionally, photos appear on the bulletin board and China dreams about the woman.

Looking through old photos she found in the attic, China tries to piece together the relationship of the people in them. The house was called the Duncan Family home, and she learns a young woman named Annie Laura lived in the house with her husband. When her husband was killed in a train accident, Annie went into premature labor and lost her baby that same day.

The story goes back in time to tell Annie's tale, how she made lace and sold it to the fine dress shops in Austin, then branched out to San Antonio. She hired local women to help her with the work. Annie lives as a widow for three years when her next door neighbor Adam, himself a married man, seems to take an interest in her. His wife Delia is away frequently and he soon discovers she has been using Queen Anne's Lace seeds to prevent pregnancy.

A lovely book, beautifully written.

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Bad Time to Be In It

A little gritty than my usual cozy, but suspenseful. Bad Time to Be in It by David Burnsworth is the second book in the Blu Carraway series. Blu is back in South Carolina after a successfully completed bodyguard job in Belize.

Now he'd like to rest and recharge and maybe try to win back his lady love. Abby's more difficult to bring around. When his partner Mick Crome appears to be going off the rails hanging out with women half his age, Blu worries their partnership might be going down the drain.

But a more critical event occurs soon. Mick's long-time girlfriend and local bartender Maureen has been kidnapped. Mick, it seems, received a desperate phone call from Maureen saying she is in trouble. When the phone is yanked away from her, a male voice says "Listen Crome, it's payback time. You took from me so I'm taking from you. I'll be in touch." The text message shows her in a room with white walls, scared with a gun to her head.

Blu and Mick know they have made many enemies over their years in business, but they try to dig
deep to find some clues about who has Maureen. When another case comes along, Blu takes it. Ron Jansen believes someone is following him and it probably has to do with the affair he is having with a local woman, one he would not name.

When a masked man hides out in the back of Blu's truck and announces that Jansen and the woman are not really having an affair, they want to bring big cruise ships to the port of Charleston. Blu is confused especially when the masked man says he has powerful friends who will stop the plan.

With the help of two young independent news correspondents, Blu and Mick follow the trail to its local conclusion. Suspenseful with plenty of action.

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Interview with Wendy Tyson

What is the title of your newest book? How many books have you published?

My latest book is titled Rooted in Deceit: A Greenhouse Mystery. It's the fourth book in the series. In addition to the Greenhouse Series, I’ve also had four books in the Allison Campbell Mystery Series (beginning with Killer Image) published by Henery Press, and my mystery A Dark Homage is being released by Down & Out Books in January 2020.

For a review of Rooted in Deceit, click here.

How did you develop your character and choose your location?
A few years ago, my husband and I started our own small vegetable farm with the intention of developing it into an organic CSA (community supported agriculture). Unfortunately, things fell through with the land we were leasing and the farm never made it past its first season. During a book signing in a small town in North Carolina about a year later, I was moved by the interactions I witnessed between the shop owners, their children, and the townspeople. It dawned on me that a version of our small farm could live on in a fictional small town. Thereafter, Washington Acres Farm and the fictional town of Winsome, Pennsylvania were born.

In terms of the characters, I wanted to showcase smart, strong women. Megan Sawyer, my main character, is an environmental lawyer who left her law career to try her hand at organic farming on the family’s historic homestead. She’s joined by her grandmother, Bonnie “Bibi” Birch, and a host of eccentric townspeople. Growing up, I was blessed to have many intelligent, independent women in my life. My characters are inspired by their strength and creativity.

What is a day in the life of an author like? Do you write a certain number of words, do you write in the morning or evening? 
I try to write every morning for at least an hour. I created the habit of writing first thing when I wrote my first novel, more than a decade ago. I work full-time, so writing time—and creative thinking time, frankly—is precious. As my writing commitments have increased, I’ve needed to expand that time, and now I take vacation days to write and/or I write on weekends. I prefer to write during long stretches of time, when possible (I call myself a binge writer!), so vacation time works well.

Do you belong to a writers group or are you in touch with other writers? How does that help your writing?
I don’t belong to any official writers’ groups, but I do have a strong network of authors. I write for International Thriller Writers’ two online magazines, The Thrill Begins and The Big Thrill, and I’ve developed friendships with many of my fellow columnists. In fact, we’ve even worked on an anthology together (The Night of the Flood from Down & Out Books) and have a second in the works. There is a strong sense of community amongst crime writers, and I’ve met and kept in touch with many through trade groups like Sisters in Crime and conferences like Malice Domestic and Bouchercon.

When I first started writing, I didn’t have a network. I basically wrote in a vacuum. It wasn’t until after my first novel came out that I really entered the crime writing community and realized how important fellowship is for everything from beta readers to emotional and marketing assistance. The friendship of other authors, bloggers, and readers has been invaluable.

Do you model your character after yourself or any one you know?
I think a little bit of me—good and bad—exists in every one of my characters. With Megan, there are the obvious things. We both garden, we’re both attorneys—she’s an environmental lawyer and I’m an ERISA attorney. We both have a deep love for animals and a strong belief in sustainable agriculture and real food. Both of us can become annoyingly single-minded when focused on something important to us. Megan is very organized and measured—much more so than I. She’s more reserved, too. I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve. You have to work a bit harder to gain Megan’s trust and friendship.

If your books were made into a movie, who would you want to play the lead character?
I think Emma Stone would make an excellent Megan. And for Megan’s love interest, Dr. Denver Finn? Sam Heughan (of Outlander fame). (If you’re reading this, Sam, I wrote the part just for you!)

Who is your favorite author?
My favorite authors include Elizabeth George, Tess Gerritsen, Jonathan Kellerman, and so many other crime writers. Many other writers have influenced me as well, from Stephen King to Margaret Atwood to James Herriot.

How do you keep track of character details from book to book so they are consistent?
Great question! They live mostly in my head. I generally don’t have an issue keeping everyone straight. They are real people to me, and I have a clear image of their traits, likes and dislikes, habits, etc. Occasionally I need to double check something, and when that happens I refer to the earlier books.

If you could not be an author, what would like to do as a career?
My other job is an attorney, but growing up I wanted to become a veterinarian, a dolphin trainer, or an archaeologist. I love animals and would probably do something with a rescue or environmental group, I suppose. The one constant in my life has been being a writer—I always knew I would write.

Deadly Dram

Who knew distilling whisky would be deadly. Abi, Grant and Patrick attend an awards weekend for whisky distillers from around the world. In Deadly Dram by Melinda Mullet, a streak of nativism hits the “Barley Boys” as Abi calls them and suddenly two judges are dead. Is someone trying to kill the judges to keep the non-Scots out of the running? (Deadly Dram will be released on September 4.)

Spending three days at a five-star resort was supposed to be a dream come true for photojournalist, now whisky distiller Abi Logan. Also attending is her partner and handsome, but aloof distiller Grant MacEwen. Complicating matters is the stunningly gorgeous "old friend" of Grant's Brenna Quinn. Abi keeps reminder herself she doesn't want to get involved with Grant, but that doesn't seem to be working for her. 

Also along is her friend Patrick who is editor of The Whisky Journal and a sponsor of the event. There are whisky distillers from as far away as Japan and India.

When the first judge Sir Richard Simpson dies from drinking from a bottle of whisky left in the room by Hinatu Harukawa, the Japanese distiller, all the bottles are confiscated, although none but Sir Richard's contained anything but whisky. His contained liquid nicotine.

Because of a vocal fight with his younger brother, Trevor becomes the number one suspect. No one but the maid and Sir Richard had entered his room the night of the murder. When the second judge Archie MacInnes is poisoned with truffles donated by Patrick's company, Abi begins to worry that someone is trying to influence the judging by killing the most liberal judges. 

Abi struggles to find the killer endangering Grant’s life as she tries to make the connection between the two dead judges.

Another excellent adventure in whisky distilling.

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The Island of the Mad

When an old friend asks Mary Russell to find her aunt who disappeared from Bethlem Royal Hospital, know Bedlam, Mary knows this will not be an easy task. In Island of the Mad by Laurie R. King, Mary gets herself voluntarily committed to Bedlam so she can investigate the disappearance.

Hoping not to be in Bedlam any longer than a few days, she tells her husband Sherlock Holmes to also let Mycroft know where she is. Fortunately she is able to escape with some new information. Lady Vivian Beaconsfield had been in and out of Bedlam , voluntarily committed several times. She always said she felt "safe" there. What was she afraid of outside?

Evidence points Mary to Lady Vivian in Venice with her nurse. Also missing is expensive jewelry inherited from her mother and some money from her account, partially controlled by her brother the Marquess of Selwick.

Italy is in the midst of a takeover by Il Duce, Benito Mussolini and his Black-shirted Fascists, making

it dangerous for the outspoken Mary. Sherlock, encouraged by his brother, decides to join Mary in Venice. Being the small town it is, Mary is positive she will have no trouble finding Vivian.

While Sherlock spends his time getting to know American composer Cole Porter and reaching Venice for Vivian, Mary drifts over to the more flamboyant Lido. On one of her trips across the Lagoon, she thinks she sees the Marquess of Selwick with the Black Shirts looking for Lady Vivian, too. Mary doesn't think his association with the Fascists is a good sign, and she doubles her efforts to find Vivian.

Another entertaining adventure for Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes.

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