AUTHOR HARINI NAGENDRA'S LATEST HISTORICAL MYSTERY SET IN INDIA

image from Wikimedia Commons

Harini Nagendra is a professor of ecology at Azim Premji University, and a well-known public speaker and writer on issues of nature and sustainability. The first book in her Bangalore Detectives Club series was a New York Times Notable Book of 2022, and shortlisted for the Agatha, Lefty, Anthony and Historical Dagger. Harini lives in Bangalore with her family, in a home filled with maps. She loves trees, mysteries, and traditional recipes. Learn more about her and her books at her website.

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Juggling with danger - circuses and street magic in 1920s colonial India

In my day job, I am an academic and university professor who conducts research on the ecology and history of Indian cities – and I come across many fascinating nuggets of information which I’d love to share with readers from different parts of the world. The Bangalore Detectives Club, my historical mystery series set in 1920s colonial India, was inspired by this desire to showcase the many, very interesting stories and anecdotes that needed to flourish outside the pages of scholarly academic literature. While I write non-fiction, too, it’s sometimes easiest to do this through a story.

 

Book 3 in the series, A Nest of Vipers, takes us into the world of jadoo—Indian street magic—with sleight-of-hand magicians and rope tricks which have fascinated me since I was a young child, growing up in Delhi in the 1970s, where it was common to see snake charmers, fortune tellers with parrots, and animal trainers with performing bears. Some of these forms of street magic have since been made illegal, especially the ones that involve caging and mistreating wild animals – and rightfully so. But others still survive to this day on the streets of India. 

 

Jadoo had an uneasy relationship to western stage magic in the early 20^th century. Indian street performers and circus artists made their way to Europe and America, and public interest in their performances began to attract the attention of Western magicians like Harry Houdini, who dressed in blackface at the Chicago World Fair in 1893 and pretended to be a Hindu Fakir. 

 

Houdini may not have known, but he was following in the footsteps of his illustrious predecessor Charles Dickens, who also stained his face and enacted the part of an Indian magician at children’s parties. Houdini’s biggest rival Howard Thurston travelled to India to learn the secrets of street magicians, which he then exploited on stage, but at the same time, denounced those that he learnt from, calling them charlatans and tricksters.

 

By 1922, when the Indian independence movement had spread across India, a few prominent circuses had begun to integrate acts that incorporated elements of anti-British sentiment, flirting with danger. The Bengali magician Das, who plays a key role in A Nest of Vipers, disappears in the middle of a dramatic performance, soon after making his distaste for the British Empire public on stage. His story was inspired by all the stories I read about Indian magicians, and by the nimble street acrobats I still see in Indian cities today, who are bold and imaginative, yet languish in obscurity - in contrast to their more successful Western counterparts. 

 

A Nest of Vipers

A Bangalore Detectives Club Mystery, Book 3

 

Death stalks the streets of Bangalore when the Circus comes to town . . .

It's January 1922. The Bangalore Constabulary is on high alert as The Prince of Wales is scheduled to visit the city to redeem his reputation after disastrous visits marked by violent anti-British riots.

Kaveri has none of these concerns on her mind, not when she has just been given VIP tickets to the famous Bangalore circus. But when a celebrity magician, shackled in an iron cage filled with deadly snakes, disappears into thin air, she is stunned to discover her friend and favourite policeman, Inspector Ismail, is telling her to leave the case well alone.

After solving two murder cases, Kaveri Murthy thought she had cemented her reputation as Bangalore's favourite lady detective. But when death threats are left at her doorstep, former friends become foes, and the bodies start to pile up, Kaveri realises she has never been in this much danger…

 

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MYSTERY AUTHOR ERICA MINER SENDS HER SLEUTH CAREENING FROM MISADVENTURE TO MISADVENTURE

Erica Miner is a violinist turned award-winning author, screenwriter, journalist and lecturer. Learn more about her and her books at her website.

A Protagonist’s Journey from Misadventure to Misadventure

As an author of a series, I’m always thinking about how the next book can be totally different from the current one, yet continue seamlessly from where we left off. The main character is the crux of this issue, and in Book 3 of the series I put her in a situation that would challenge the most intrepid violinist-cum-sleuth.

In the first book of my Julia Kogan Opera Mystery series, Aria for Murder, the young protagonist, Julia, starts off as a starry-eyed neophyte violinist about to make her debut in the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, the most prestigious company in the world. She’s excited and thrilled. But she has no idea something terrible is about to happen, and before long she finds herself entangled in a murder investigation, with her life in peril.

 

Julia survives, and in Book 2, Prelude to Murder, Julia heads to Santa Fe to perform at the Opera. Here she finds further in-house violence, this time at an outdoor theatre set between two mysterious mountain ranges, where both ghosts and murder proliferate. Unable to resist becoming involved in an investigation, Julia ends up the target of a ruthless killer and is barely able to defend herself to save her own life and return to the Met. 

 

Now, at the beginning of Book 3, Overture to Murder, five years have passed, during which Julia has managed to stay out of trouble. But San Francisco Opera calls on her in desperation: their concertmaster (first of the first violinists) has suffered serious injuries in a hit and run accident. Would she be able to replace him while he recovers? 

 

Challenge is something Julia is drawn to like a wasp to a piece of prosciutto on the brunch table. She loves the violin, she loves opera, and she has fond memories of when her father showed her the delights of the City by the Bay, even though she was only five years old at the time. San Francisco 

 

Opera is the second most prestigious company in the US, after the Met. Serving in the all-important position of concertmaster, even if only for the summer, would be a life changing experience, too good to pass up. The entire season would be focused on the monumental Ring of the Nibelungen, the masterful but fiendishly difficult four-opera cycle written by the 19^th century German giant, Richard Wagner. Being a prominent orchestral leader for this astounding work would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, too good to pass up. There’s just one slight detail that might make her hesitate.

 

Her five-year-old daughter.

 

At the end of Prelude to Murder, Julia had been flabbergasted when she discovered she was pregnant. She never had considered having children, least of all at the age of 23. Her career was her primary focus, her obsession in almost every way.

 

But she cared deeply for Larry, her significant other, and figured it must have been her destiny to have his child, even if she was not quite ready to become a parent. When Rebecca was born, Julia was delighted to have a little girl—a “mini-me,” as Larry insisted on calling his daughter. He took to being a dad as if he had been born to it. Now if only Larry would stop bugging her about getting married, Julia thought, everything would be perfect.

 

Julia also loved San Francisco. Now Rebecca was the same age as Julia when her father had shown her the entrancing city, and Julia thought it the ideal age to do the same with Rebecca. She would be busy fulfilling her obligations at the opera, not to mention teaching violin to her rebellious five-year-old, but Larry would take up the slack. Surely Julia would find a bit of time here and there to join her family in availing themselves of the joys of the iconic landmarks of San Francisco. Julia gladly accepts the job offer, and she and her loved ones head west.

 

It turns out her job is not the only challenge that confronts Julia. Despite the expertise she has gained from six years of experience at the Met and Santa Fe, she is not prepared for the unexpected stress from a theatre with more than its share of detestable divas of both the male and female categories, irritable stage directors who have it in for her…and murder.

 

Once again, Julia succumbs to the lure of a brutal crime needing to be solved. In between the arduous rehearsals and tense performances in the theatre she follows her natural curiosity to the clues that are hidden in the recesses of the eerie basement with its ancient, dangerous looking equipment and the upper reaches of the theatre where, she is told, ghosts have been encountered. 

 

As before, Julia’s sleuthing attracts the ire of a brutal killer. But she could not have anticipated the dreadful surprise that the perpetrator has in store.

 

Overture to Murder

A Julia Kogan Opera Mystery, Book 3

 

After jeopardizing her safety investigating killings at the Metropolitan Opera and Santa Fe Opera, intrepid violinist Julia heads to the San Francisco Opera to replace ailing concertmaster, Ben, who has suffered serious injuries in a hit and run accident. Julia suspects the mishap might not have been accidental, especially when a prominent company member becomes the victim of a grisly murder. As before, Julia cannot resist becoming involved in the investigation. Fiery artistic temperaments and danger lurking in the dark hallways and back stairways of an opera house with its own ghosts provide a chilling backdrop to Julia’s sleuthing. This time, however, it’s not only her own life that is in peril.

 

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MY AUTHOR'S HOLIDAY GIFT TO OUR READERS

You Get a Mystery! And You Get a Mystery! And You Get a Mystery!

‘Tis the season for holiday cheer, getting together with friends and family, festive parties, and exchanging gifts. I love this time of year because my author, Lois Winston, is too busy with holiday festivities to dream up new ways to torment me with assorted murder and mayhem. She says it’s her holiday gift to me.

 

But this year she’s also got a gift for all our blog readers.

 

Back in August, Lois attended the Killer Nashville Mystery Conference. One of the workshops she went to was about how to grow your newsletter subscribers list through Reader Magnets. Lois decided to give Reader Magnets a try.

 

What’s a Reader Magnet, you ask? It’s a freebie, usually a short story or novella, that readers receive as a thank-you for subscribing to an author’s newsletter. If you subscribe to Lois’s newsletter, you’ll receive a free e-copy of Mosaic Mayhem, one of the three Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mini Mysteries that are connected to the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series (otherwise known as those books Lois writes about me.)

 

A reluctant Amateur sleuth, bumbling kidnappers, mistaken identity. What could go wrong?

 

So much for a romantic getaway...When cash-strapped mom and reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack is offered an all-expense paid three-day trip to Barcelona, her only worries are whether her passport is still valid and arranging care for her semi-invalid mother-in-law during her absence. However, within hours of landing in Europe, she finds herself staring down the barrel of a gun and needing to convince a Spanish crime syndicate they’ve kidnapped the wrong person. Why do people on both sides of the Atlantic keep trying to kill this pear-shaped, middle-aged single mom, and magazine crafts editor? 

 

Click here to join Lois’s newsletter and get your free copy of Mosaic Mayhem.

 

Lois is also taking part in the “Detectives (Who Aren’t Detectives)” promotion this month, which features stories by authors who write about amateur sleuths. If you subscribe to any of the participating authors’ newsletters, you’ll receive a free mystery from them. This is a great opportunity to fill your virtual stocking with stories to read throughout the cold winter months ahead. And hopefully, you’ll find some new favorite authors. Click here to find all the participating authors and their free books.

 

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for some holiday-themed mysteries, Drop Dead Ornaments and Handmade Ho-Ho Homicide, the seventh and eighth books in that series Lois writes about me, are sure to put you in the holiday spirit. Both books are available as ebooks, paperbacks, hardcovers, and audiobooks, as well as in a 2-book ebook bundle. They also make great gifts for the mystery lovers in your life. So grab your beverage of choice and curl up in your favorite chair to join me as I’m once again involved in solving a murder or two (or possibly more!)

AN INTERVIEW WITH AMATEUR SLEUTH JUNIPER BLUME FROM AUTHOR DAPHNE SILVER'S RARE BOOKS COZY MYSTERY SERIES

Today we sit down for a chat with Juniper Blume from author Daphne Silver’s Rare Books Cozy Mystery Series

What was your life like before your author started pulling your strings?

I had been a rare books librarian at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. I thought I had found my place and settled down… but Daphne apparently had other things in mind for me. She took me on a real expedition - scouring for an ancient Celtic manuscript in a cemetery near the Chesapeake Bay. It’s funny because I had spent a lot of time traveling before becoming a librarian, and it never occurred to me that there might be so many adventures in my home state. 

 

What’s the one trait you like most about yourself?

Like a lot of librarians, I’m endlessly curious. Everything fascinates me. I believe everything has a story to tell, and I want to know it all. I’m never bored as a result. 

 

What do you like least about yourself?

Remember how I want to know it all? Well, I’m also a big “know-it-all.” I have a tendency to run my mouth and share pretty esoteric information, especially about Maryland and book history. In one of Daphne’s books, I get dubbed “Encyclopedia Blume,” like the Encyclopedia Brown children’s series. 

 

What is the strangest thing your author has had you do or had happen to you?

Hah. She loves to mess with me. The strangest was probably in the climax of the first book Crime and Parchment, but I don’t want to give that away, so instead, I’ll come back to what I mentioned earlier about searching for an ancient Celtic manuscript in a Maryland cemetery. Did I include that it was at midnight? And that I hid the truth about my going from my sister? Not only did I not find that book then, but I did find a body instead!

 

Do you argue with your author? If so, what do you argue about?

She thinks she’s in control, but really, even she knows she isn’t. One time she was working on a story about me, and I asked her why she had glossed over this whole other story? Daphne claimed not to know what I was talking about, but I crossed my arms and gave her my patented librarian look. Then she put away that story to start the new one. It’s going to be book 3, coming out in November next year. The one she had been working on will be book 4, coming out in November 2026! Daphne knows I have a lot of stories, and I won’t let her slide on telling them. 

 

What is your greatest fear?

Something happening to my family. Losing my grandmother Zinnia - or Nana Z as everyone called her - really upset me and kept me away from my sister Azalea. I’m glad we’ve reunited, but all these mysteries make me worry for her, my niece, and my rescue pup Clover. Fortunately, we have a great support system, and I won’t let anything happen to them. 

 

What makes you happy?

Finding out the story behind a book. Each book has two stories: the one we read in it, but also the one we bring to it. Every reader adds to their book’s story, and I love discovering those journeys. 

 

If you could rewrite a part of your story, what would it be? Why?

Easy. I’d never have waited so long to get back in touch with my sister Azalea. I’m relieved we’ve reconnected now. 

 

Of the other characters in your book, which one bugs you the most? Why?

Probably my neighbor Cordelia, as she was my grandmother’s nemesis. She can be quite haughty and has always thought she was better than my grandmother. That’s really frustrating. 

 

Of the other characters in your book, which one would you love to trade places with? Why?

There is this one guy, Leo, who gets to sponsor archaeological digs around the world. Right now, he’s leading expeditions in Europe. How absolutely incredible would it be to go there and search for these historic treasures in Italy and England? 

 

Tell us a little something about your author. Where can readers find her website/blog?

Daphne Silver is the Agatha-winning author of the Rare Books Cozy Mystery series. The first in the series, Crime and Parchment, won the Agatha Award for Best First Mystery Novel. She’s worked more than twenty years in museums and symphonies and has the great fortune of being married to a librarian. When she’s not writing, she’s drawing and painting. She lives in Maryland with her family. Although she’s not much of a baker, she won’t ever turn down a sweet lokshen kugel.

 

Learn more about Daphne and her books, find links to her other social media, and sign up for her newsletter to receive a free short story from Juniper’s cozy-verse, at her website. 

 

What's next for you?

The Tell-Tale Homicide, the second book in the Rare Books Cozy Mystery Series, just launched on November 19th, so I’m hoping readers will continue along with Juniper’s journey! Rare books librarian Juniper Blume lands her dream job: creating a new museum in her Chesapeake Bay town of Rose Mallow, Maryland. But on her very first day, she makes a shocking discovery—a dead man clutching a book by Edgar Allan Poe, stolen from the collections!

Crime and Parchment

A Rare Books Cozy Mystery, Book 1

 

Rare books librarian Juniper Blume knows this much… an ancient Celtic manuscript shouldn’t be in a Maryland cemetery. But that’s exactly what her brother-in-law claims.

 

Last year, Juniper saw the 1,200-year-old Book of Kells in Ireland. She learned how their bejeweled covers were stolen centuries ago, never to be seen again. So how could they have ended up in Rose Mallow, a small Chesapeake Bay town? Being Jewish, the Book of Kells might not be her sacred text, but as a rare books librarian, the ancient book is still sacred to her, making it important to Juniper to find out the truth.

 

Rose Mallow is the same place where Juniper used to summer with her sister Azalea and their grandmother Zinnia, known as Nana Z. Ever since Nana Z passed away, Juniper’s avoided returning, but her curiosity is greater than her grief, so she heads down in her vintage convertible with her rescue dog Clover.

 

Juniper discovers that her sister Azalea has transformed their grandmother’s Queen Anne style mansion into the Wildflower Inn, backing up to the Chesapeake Bay. Although Juniper isn’t much of a cook, Azalea has kept their grandmother’s legacy alive, filling the house with the smells of East European Jewish treats, like sweet kugels and tzimmes cake. Will coming back here feel like returning home or fill Juniper with a deeper sorrow? Can she apologize to her sister for not being there when she was needed most?

 

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CASTLES, GENEALOGY, AND MURDER IN SCOTLAND WITH MYSTERY AUTHOR CLARA McKENNA

The author leaving Stirling Castle, Scotland

Clara McKenna currently writes the Stella & Lyndy Mystery series about an unlikely couple who mix love, murder, and horseracing in Edwardian England. She's a vintage teacup collector and an avid traveler, the UK being a favorite destination. When she can't get to England or Scotland, she happily writes about it from her home in Iowa. Learn more about Clara and her books at her website.

Every time I start a new mystery novel, I begin with a "what if" premise based on an unusual situation. What if an American heiress arrives in England thinking she's attending a wedding at an aristocrat's country estate, only to discover she's actually the intended bride? Or what would happen if at a grand country estate packed with Christmas guests, both the cook goes missing and the housekeeper turns up dead? Or, in the case of my upcoming release, I wondered: what if an unexpected visitor joins a weekend party during a golf tournament at The Old Course—the hallowed birthplace of golf in Scotland—and ends up in the bushes, battered to death?

 

What fascinates me is that no matter how different these initial premises might be, my mysteries inevitably circle back to family. I write about an English mother-in-law who'll stop at nothing to protect her son's inheritance, an ambitious father who uses his daughter to get what he wants, and the hopeful truth that sometimes in-laws, friends, and even stable hands can be as close, protective, and loving as any blood relative.

 

But never has one of my books reflected my own family history quite like Murder at Glenloch Hill. Though I've played little of the game, golf runs deep in my roots—my grandfather's converted garage became a repair shop that drew professionals to his doorstep. The Scottish setting, it turns out, is literally in my DNA. Growing up, I knew about my Danish maternal great-grandmother and the stories of my grandfather's grandfather, who came from Ireland alone at age eleven. Yet it wasn't until I finally got my DNA tested that I discovered just how much of my ancestry originates in Scotland. Many of the surnames in my family tree that I had assumed were Irish turned out to be Scottish, including my own maiden name.

 

So when the opportunity arose to visit both the birthplace of golf and the land of many of my ancestors, I jumped at the chance. I decided to bring my characters, Stella and Lyndy, along for the journey. Stella (née Kendrick), who's from Kentucky, shares this Scottish heritage—before her father made his millions selling and racing Thoroughbreds, his family built the distinctive Scottish-style dry stone walls that surround so many horse paddocks throughout Kentucky.

 

During my visit, I discovered not only the rich history of the great game of golf but also my own clan affiliations. I learned I belong to both the Stuart clan (one of Scotland's most famous surnames) and the McEwen clan. It felt appropriate to honor this connection by making Stella's distant Scottish cousins McEwens as well. I'm particularly thrilled that my publisher took my suggestion to feature the McEwen tartan on Stella's skirt on the book cover—a proud declaration of family ties for all to see.

 

In the end, whether I'm writing about missing cooks, bartered brides, or murder by golf club, my mysteries all come back to family—the ones we're born into, marry into, or discover along the way.

 

Murder at Glenloch Hill

A Stella and Lyndy Mystery, Book 6

 

On a weekend trip to the Scottish countryside, American transplant Stella, and British aristocrat, Viscount “Lyndy” Lyndhurst, learn how sinister bad sportsmanship can be when a prestigious golf tournament becomes a deadly game of murder . . .

Along with cheering on her soon-to-be brother-in-law, Freddie Kentfield, at The British Open in Scotland, Stella embraces the chance to connect with her distant cousins, the McEwens, at their grand estate, Glenloch Hill. But she and Lyndy don’t receive the warm welcome they expect when their arrival is marred by missing luggage, evasive hosts, and the perceived mistreatment of a young laundry maid. Adding to the tense atmosphere, Freddie's roguish father, Sir Edwin, appears at the manor uninvited, his presence casting a shadow over the events—and stirring up more unanswered questions . . .

As golf clubs swing on the green, so do Lyndy’s fists in an uncharacteristic outburst. Chaotic circumstances take a dark turn when Sir Edwin is found bludgeoned outside the laundry house—the maid waiting beside the body, no murder weapon in sight—and all eyes on Lyndy . . .

Suddenly caught in a whirlwind of kilts, elite golfers, and deadly rumors, Stella rushes to protect Lyndy's innocence and save herself from real danger. But can she both navigate the unspoken rules at Glenloch Hill and survive a cutthroat competition against a killer who will stop at nothing to win?

 

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AN INTERVIEW AND A BISCOTTI RECIPE FROM DEBUT MYSTERY AUTHOR ELLE JAUFFRET

Today we sit down for an interview with mystery and speculative fiction author Elle Jauffret who also offers us a recipe for some delicious biscotti. Learn more about her and her books at her website where you can also find links to her social media accounts.

When did you realize you wanted to write novels?

I have always crafted stories since I could write. I finished the first draft of my first novel in 2004 and never really stopped after that. I realized I wanted to write novels seriously and for a living in 2015.

 

How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication?

Being traditionally published became a desire in 2015, but a serious goal in 2020. So nine years as a dream and four years as a goal.

 

Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author?

Traditionally.

 

Where do you write?

At my desk at home and wherever I can (in the car, waiting for my kids after school/practice, at the doctor’s office, etc.)

 

Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind?

I write in silence or with the sound of the rain/storm.

 

How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular?

Claire Fontaine, the main character of Threads of Deception, is a former criminal attorney who wakes up with a French foreign accent syndrome. She is based on my life as a former criminal attorney who speaks with a French accent (though my accent is native French, not a speech disorder). Her struggles with her accent are similar to mine, but I have never investigated a murder like she does. All the characters in the story are also composites of my friends (especially Suggie Oh, Ben Torres and Vikram Thomas.)

 

Describe your process for naming your character?

I have a book in which I write names I like and what they mean to me. When I write a novel, I review the list and pick the ones that fit the best. In the case of Threads of Deception, I named my character after Clairefontaine, my favorite brand of notebooks.

 

Real settings or fictional towns?

Threads of Deception is set in San Diego County, a real location in California, but takes place in the fictional town of Caper Town. Using a fictional setting allows me to reference people and places freely without concerns that real individuals might assume they're being portrayed. Plus, it gives me the creative freedom to build my own world.

 

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?

My main character, Claire Fontaine, has a speech disorder that causes her to speak with a French accent, even though she doesn't actually know the language. She despises it, much to the bewilderment of her best friend Suggie Oh, who finds the accent attractive and can't grasp why Claire is so eager to be rid of it.

 

What’s your quirkiest quirk?

I tend to stare at people without breaking gaze. It’s not intentional—I just get really focused. Sometimes I have to remind myself to look away. Otherwise, it can get a little intense. Some people find it unsettling, but others say it makes them feel like I’m really listening.

 

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why?

The Harry Potter series. It’s an amalgam of all the myths and stories I grew up with, perfectly woven into a modern setting with captivating characters. What really stands out to me are the social themes—friendship, identity, justice—that resonate so strongly, making the story feel both timeless and relevant.

 

Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours?

I wouldn’t know where to start (laugh).

 

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

Texting while driving (blocking traffic/dangerous driving)

 

You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?

I want to say satellite phone with a solar charger, a notebook and a pen.

Otherwise: machete, lighter/fire starter, survival blanket/tarp.

 

What was the worst job you’ve ever held?

My worst job was working in the Biotherm makeup manufacturing company in Monaco, where I had to put tiny stickers under sample products by hand because the machine was broken. The rhythm of the work was frantic and the task incredibly monotonous, leading to aching hands by the end of the day. To make matters worse, it was hot inside the facility—there was no air conditioning and we weren't allowed to open the windows. 

 

Who’s your all-time favorite literary character (any genre)? Why?

Hermione Granger because she is intelligent, compassionate, courageous, and independent. I love how she fights for what’s right. She is the ideal best friend.

 

Ocean or mountains?

I’ve been pondering that question for ages and never found an answer.

 

City girl/guy or country girl/guy?

City girl. I spent my early childhood in the French countryside (Provence) but lived in the city since I was nine years old. I love the city’s vibrancy, architecture, and diversity. 

 

What’s on the horizon for you?

I have two more books coming in the Suddenly French Mystery series. Threads of Deception is the first book of the series. The second book will come out in 2025 and the third in 2026.

 

Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your books?

I am a French-born American lawyer, a US Navy wife, and the mother of two boys. I worked as a jurist for The Embassy of France, as a criminal attorney for the California Attorney General’s Office, and as a writer for a literary magazine’s “fiction food” column.

Threads of Deception is my debut novel and the first of the Suddenly French mystery series.

 

One of my favorite snacks are lemon-thyme biscotti. They represent my childhood: running barefoot through the woods and the sandy beaches of the French Riviera.

 

Lemon-thyme Biscotti 

 

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour


1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder


1/2 teaspoon salt


2/3 cup granulated sugar


3 tablespoons lemon zest (from about 2 lemons)


1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme


6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature


1-1/4 teaspoon almond extract

2 large eggs

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

 

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and thyme. Set aside.

 

In a second bowl, mix lemon zest and sugar until smooth and well combined. Then add eggs, butter, and almond extract.

 

With mixer set to low, combine contents of both bowls until incorporated.

 

Divide the dough in half and flatten each half into a 9”x6” rectangle (1/2-inch thick) on a baking sheet. Use wet fingers if needed.

 

Bake 25 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes on a rack. 

 

Cut 3/4-inch-thick slices (they should be 9” long). Prop the slices sideways on the baking sheet and return to the oven. 

Lower temperature to 325 degrees and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Then turn them on their other side for another 10 minutes.

 

Biscotti should be golden and feel dry. Set on rack to cool completely.

 

Threads of Deception

A Suddenly French Mystery, Book 1

 

High-profile D.C. criminal attorney, Claire Fontaine, is leaving the legal world behind to become a private chef after a criminal explosion destroyed her law firm and left her with a French Foreign Accent Syndrome. In order to heal and reassess her life, she returns to Caper Cove, California to cater for a fashion TV show on the request of a rising designer friend, only to find said friend dead. Determined to prove that it's not a suicide but a murder, Claire teams up with childhood best friend, Suggie Oh, and clashes with Detective Ben Torres who happens to be her new roommate.  

 

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AUTHOR AVERY DANIELS TALKS ABOUT GOTHIC FICTION

Avery Daniels has worked in fortune 500 companies and the Department of Defense her entire life. She resides in Colorado with two brother black cats as her spirited companions, volunteers for a cat shelter, and enjoys scrapbooking and card making, photography, and painting in watercolor and acrylic. Learn more about her and her books at her website and blog.

Gothic fiction: Perfect for a Spooky Read

I hope you enjoy the cooling temperatures, approaching sweater weather, soup time. I thought since I'm an author, what better topic at this time of year than gothic fiction: a little about what it is and some authors to delve into. I employed some gothic touches in my recently released Second Time Around, the second book in my Accidental Vampire PI cozy mystery series.

 

The term “gothic” refers to an architectural style that originated in northern France in the 1100s. This style was used on cathedrals, castles, mansions, and more, featuring large, looming windows, pointy peaks, and dark facades. This dramatic Gothic architecture inspired a whole gloomy genre of music, fashion, and, of course, literature—which is what we’ll focus on here. FYI, the goth subculture is influenced by 19th-century Gothic fiction and horror films. I always wondered about the connection. 

 

Taking its inspiration from gothic architecture, the gothic genre is noted for its ominous depictions of somber shadow-filled castles, mansions, or manor houses with secret rooms and even darker family secrets. For me, I particularly enjoy the mood that is evoked and how the setting of the book becomes a character itself as it becomes so intrinsic to the story. I didn't use a gothic mansion in my story, but an isolated mansion on a lake did the job well. I included a dark family secret, as well. Delicious, huh?

 

This writing style features high drama, supernatural elements, and sweeping emotions. Gothic fiction took romantic elements and added a darker tone and creates the sensation of isolation, of being surrounded by the mysterious and a sense of being kept on edge. I believe gothic fiction was the precursor to the psychological thriller that incorporated varying degrees of romantic and paranormal elements.

 

The first recognized gothic work is British author Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, published in 1764. Other early contributors were William Thomas Beckford, Matthew Lewis, Ann Radcliffe, and Clara Reeve. Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher," a short story about the doomed Usher family and their descent into madness, was the first widely published Gothic fiction by an American. It is saturated with despair and foreboding and considered a classic.

 

Then these mainstay gothic novels hit the scene: Dracula by Bram Stoker, Rebecca and Jamaica Inn by Daphné du Maurier, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. With these blockbuster books, the gothic genre was firmly a member of the fiction family.

 

The 1970s saw a wave of gothic romance become wildly popular with authors like:

Victoria Holt (The Bride of Pendorric, Mistress of Mellyn, and The Shivering Sands), Mary Stewart (Nine Coaches Waiting, This Rough Magic, The Moon Spinners, and Madam, Will You Talk?), Dorothy Eden (Darkwater, An Afternoon Walk, and Ravenscroft), and Barbara Michaels (House of Many Shadows, Witch, and Wings of the Falcon). I've read many of these, but not all.

 

More recent examples of gothic novels (oh yes, gothic is still going strong) are Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Hacienda by Isabel Canas, The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Gracia, Anatomy by Dana Schwartz, Gallant by V.E. Schwab, The Bone Orchard by Sara A. Mueller, and The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. 

 

There is a difference between gothic and horror. In my opinion, many things that are horror often get mislabeled as gothic. To me the tension and foreboding is gothic whereas terror and frightening images, themes, and situations is more the realm of horror. Gothic is the nerve-wracking anticipation of what your imagination and spooky atmosphere have evoked while elements of romantic exist, where horror is the terror chasing you and about to kill you. That's why I think gothic fiction was a precursor to the modern psychological thriller. 

 

As I mentioned, I enjoy the mood that is evoked and how the setting of the book becomes a character itself. I brought some gothic elements into Second Time Around, Accidental Vampire PI #2. Besides the handsome witch and quirky vampire, I added a dollop of a ghost and her mystery, the insolated mansion, and the family secret.  

 

Do you like gothic touches or full-blown gothic fiction? What is it you like about gothic novels? Have you read any of the books I listed and which ones? 

 

Second Time Around

An Accidental Vampire PI, book 2

 

Misty, a most unlikely vampire, is on the trail of a killer in a ghostly mansion.

 

Misty’s detective boss is still absent and she accepts a job protecting the town’s most despised member. When Victoria Amherst is struck down under her watch she is determined to hunt down the killer. She is joined by suave witch Rowen once again as she pieces together a picture of murder from the past as well as dirty deeds in the present. The rogue vampire who turned her is still running rampant and she continues to pick up his trail, but now she's on his radar. Can she find him before he strikes at her where she lives? As if that weren't enough, the head of the Vampires in town is determined to set her up with a vampire of his choosing to keep Rowen out of her life.

She has to keep her teeth sheathed and juggle all the challenges. She can't risk a misstep on any dilemma before her.

 

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AN INTERVIEW WITH MYSTERY AND ROMANCE AUTHOR RHONDA BLACKHURST

Cozy mystery, romantic suspense and Hallmark-style contemporary women’s fiction author Rhonda Blackhurst enjoys hiding behind her computer screen, where she can unashamedly enjoy her addictions of dark chocolate and coffee. Learn more about her and her books at her website.

When did you realize you wanted to write novels? 

I knew I wanted to write before I could write—literally. At four years old, I scribbled with crayon on the knotty pine walls of our home. My parents weren’t impressed! I started out writing poetry but discovered novels were my true love.

 

How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication? 

In 2010, I heard about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and participated for the first time. That’s when publication popped into my head. In 2012, I published my first novel, The Inheritance. From there, I was hooked.

 

Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author?

When I set out for publication, I made a pros and cons list for both trad and indie. The only pro on the trad side was validation, so I chose indie. Validation from my readers was more important. Ten years later, the idea of trad publishing wiggled its way into my head, so I tried it. Inn the Spirit of Murder and Inn the Dead of Winterhave been picked up by The Wild Rose Press.

 

Where do you write? 

I focus best in my home offices in Colorado and Arizona. I’ve placed window film on the windows in CO. It lets the light in, but also keeps my attention in. My desk in AZ faces the window where I see citrus and palm trees, quail, and even a frequent coyote. If my mind gets “squirrely,” I pull the shade.

 

Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind? 

Silence, nature sounds, or music without lyrics.

 

How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life?

I retired from the Adams County District Attorney’s Office two years ago, where I handled some off-the-wall weird cases; some were too good from which to not pull threads. When I hear a reader say, “There’s no way that could happen,” I know that yes, it can and it does.

 

Describe your process for naming your character? 

I take care when naming characters. In my latest series, the main character is Andie Rose Kaczmarek. The surname is Polish for innkeeper, of which she is both.

 

Real settings or fictional towns? 

All three series (including the duology) are set in fictional towns loosely based on real ones. I use the real names of close-by larger cities.

 

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written) which one would it be? Why? 

Where the Crawdads Sing. It’s absolutely brilliant!

 

Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours? 

Raising my boys. There is so much I would do differently as I’ve learned more. That said, they’ve grown into fine young men I couldn’t possibly be prouder of. 

 

You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?

Coffee, dark chocolate, and a box of books. (A box is considered one thing, yes?) 😊

 

City girl/guy or country girl/guy? 

As a kid, it was always my dream to be a reporter in New York City. Now I’m 100% a country girl!

 

Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your books?

Inn the Spirit of Murder was released July 24, 2024. Book two, Inn the Dead of Winter, is well on its way once I hit the final okay button, zipping it off to production. Book three, Inn Hallowed Ground, is well underway. I’m also plotting a standalone mystery from multiple points of view and am included in a mystery merge short story anthology, hopefully to be released by the end of this year.

 

Inn the Spirit of Murder

A Spirit Lake Mystery, Book 1

Six-year-sober life coach and skeptic, Andie Rose Kaczmarek, and her red retriever emotional support animal, Aspen, become the new owners of the surmised haunted Spirit Lake Inn in Minnesota. When Andie Rose finds a body in the inn's kitchen, she fears it will be the death of what's most important-the stellar reputation of the inn her grandparents, Grandpop and Honey, built. Aware of the risk of stress in sobriety, she gets an AA sponsor-feisty, spirited Sister Alice who, 30 years ago, traded in one habit for another. 

 

Andie Rose falls prey to a new, potentially more dangerous addiction—solving the murder. But in typical Sister Alice fashion, she transforms the danger of solving a murder into a spirited good time. Will Andie Rose flip from skeptic to believer?

 

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