Some people say America is a melting pot; others call
it a salad bowl. Either way we’re a country made up of many cultural and ethnic
groups that have played a huge part in making us who we are as a whole, both
enriching and educating us. Heather Haven has tapped into this amalgam in her
Alvarez Family Mystery series by creating a character whose genes are one part
Mexican immigrant, one part Caucasian blueblood—and all parts fun to read.
Award-winning author Heather
began her writing career at No Soap Radio in New York City. Learn more about
her and her books at her website.
People have asked what
inspired me to write the Alvarez Family Mysteries. The answer is I’m intrigued
by the dynamics of familial relationships and America’s history of immigrants
rising to heights often unattainable in their native countries.
That lofty statement made –
and pahdon me whilst I play the grand
piano – the truth is there’s something about a family who does their darnedest
to be supportive and positive no matter what, that can be heartwarming and often
hilarious. So enter the Alvarez Family, owners of Discretionary Inquiries, a
Silicon Valley based detective agency.
The lineup includes Liana
(Lee), protagonist and in-house detective; Lila, CEO, aristocratic, never-had-a
bad-hair-day mother; Richard, computer nerd kid brother, brilliant but goofy; Tío, uncle and retired executive chef who gives
unconditional love while frying up the best tortillas in town; and, of course,
Tugger, the foundling kitten helping to reunite the family in a most passive
yet feline way.
Regarding Lee Alvarez, I
wanted the protagonist of the series to be an intelligent, quirky, and flawed
woman, but not so much so she can’t learn and grow. Mainly, Lee’s happy to be in
the world. She loves life. She strives to be a B&BP or a bigger and better
person, even while she’s spilling coffee all over herself. I adore her and hope
it shows.
Also, and this is important
to me, she’s of blended heritage, half Mexican immigrant (her father’s side)
and half Palo Alto Blueblood (her mother’s side) i.e., Mexican American. There
are days when she’s up, down, all over the place.
I can relate to this big
time. The Italian half of my family came to the States at the turn of the 20th
century, when it was difficult to be an Italian immigrant. Traditionally, the
newest ones in are always the most challenged. But also traditionally,
immigrants usually work hard to integrate, to become useful and respected members
of our society. No pity, just hard work, with love and good times thrown in. Olé!
The Alvarez Family Mystery
Series shows a family managing to capture the American dream today while
stumbling over dead bodies and solving crimes in one of the hottest places in the
nation, Silicon Valley. All with a few laughs.
I am proud to say Murder is a Family Business, Book 1 of
the Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries, is included in Sleuthing Women: 10 First-in-Series Mysteries. The lineup of the
other nine authors is impressive as will see below. We are a murdering lot, but
fun!
Sleuthing Women: 10
First-in-Series Mysteries
is a collection of full-length mysteries featuring murder and assorted
mayhem by ten critically acclaimed, award-winning, and bestselling authors.
Each novel in the set is the first book in an established multi-book series—a
total of over 3,000 pages of reading pleasure for lovers of amateur sleuth,
caper, and cozy mysteries, with a combined total of over 1700 reviews on
Amazon, averaging 4 stars. Titles include:
Assault With a Deadly Glue
Gun, an
Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery by Lois Winston—Working mom Anastasia is
clueless about her husband’s gambling addiction until he permanently cashes in
his chips and her comfortable middle-class life craps out. He leaves her with
staggering debt, his communist mother, and a loan shark demanding $50,000. Then
she’s accused of murder…
Murder Among Neighbors, a Kate Austen Suburban Mystery by Jonnie Jacobs —
When Kate Austen’s socialite neighbor, Pepper Livingston, is murdered, Kate becomes
involved in a sea of steamy secrets that bring her face to face with shocking
truths—and handsome detective Michael Stone.
Skeleton
in a Dead Space, a Kelly O’Connell Mystery by Judy Alter—Real
estate isn’t a dangerous profession until Kelly O’Connell stumbles over a skeleton
and runs into serial killers and cold-blooded murderers in a home being
renovated in Fort Worth. Kelly barges through life trying to keep from angering
her policeman boyfriend Mike and protect her two young daughters.
In
for a Penny, a Cleopatra Jones Mystery by Maggie
Toussaint—Accountant Cleo faces an unwanted hazard when her golf ball lands on
a dead banker. The cops think her BFF shot him, so Cleo sets out to prove them
wrong. She ventures into the dating world, wrangles her teens, adopts the
victim’s dog, and tries to rein in her mom…until the killer puts a target on
Cleo’s back.
The
Hydrogen Murder, a Periodic Table Mystery by Camille
Minichino—A retired physicist returns to her hometown of Revere, Massachusetts
and moves into an apartment above her friends' funeral home. When she signs on
to help the Police Department with a science-related homicide, she doesn't
realize she may have hundreds of cases ahead of her.
Retirement
Can Be Murder, A Baby Boomer Mystery by Susan Santangelo—Carol
Andrews dreads her husband Jim’s upcoming retirement more than a root canal
without Novocain. She can’t imagine anything worse than having an at-home
husband with time on his hands and nothing to fill it—until Jim is suspected of
murdering his retirement coach.
Dead Air,
A Talk Radio Mystery by Mary Kennedy—Psychologist
Maggie Walsh moves from NY to Florida to become the host of WYME's On the
Couch with Maggie Walsh. When her guest, New Age prophet Guru Sanjay
Gingii, turns up dead, her new roommate Lark becomes the prime suspect.
Maggie must prove Lark innocent while dealing with a killer who needs more than
just therapy.
A
Dead Red Cadillac, A Dead Red Mystery by RP Dahlke—When her vintage Cadillac is
found tail-fins up in a nearby lake, the police ask aero-ag pilot Lalla Bains
why an elderly widowed piano teacher is found strapped in the driver’s seat. Lalla confronts suspects, informants, cross-dressers,
drug-running crop dusters, and a crazy Chihuahua on her quest to find the
killer.
Murder
is a Family Business, an Alvarez Family Murder
Mystery by Heather Haven—Just
because a man cheats on his wife and makes Danny DeVito look tall, dark and
handsome, is that any reason to kill him? The reluctant and quirky PI, Lee
Alvarez, has her work cut out for her when the man is murdered on her
watch. Of all the nerve.
Murder,
Honey, a Carol Sabala Mystery by Vinnie
Hansen—When the head chef
collapses into baker Carol Sabala’s cookie dough, she is thrust into her first
murder investigation. Suspects abound at Archibald’s, the swanky Santa Cruz
restaurant where Carol works. The head chef cut a swath of people who wanted
him dead from ex-lovers to bitter rivals to greedy relatives.
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Hi Lois! Thanks so much for hosting me on your charming, informative blog and giving me a chance to say my piece on what started my series! Grateful for the opportunity and quite glad to be part of the boxed set, Sleuthing Women:10 First-in-series mysteries. This has been a lot of fun and an opportunity to get to know 9 fine, fine writers better.
ReplyDeleteI love the Alvarez series and can't wait for the next installment (coming up soon I believe). Also this collection of first mysteries is one of the best anthologies out there.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Cindy Sample, for dropping by and leaving a comment. Coming from the author of the Dying For A....mystery series, that's high praise, indeed.
ReplyDeleteI have this box set and can't wait to start reading! Great post!
ReplyDeleteGreat reads in this set!
ReplyDeleteThank you Paty, for dropping by. So glad you are anxious to read our works! Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteHi Angela! Thank you so much! We do have a good time. YOu seem to have some Magic Moments of your own.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the process behind your great series, Heather. And thanks to Lois for bringing all this together.
ReplyDelete