BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--MYSTERY AUTHOR JOLIE TUNNELL'S ANCESTRAL RESEARCH BECOMES AN HISTORICAL MYSTERY SERIES

Today we welcome award-winning and bestselling mystery author Jolie Tunnell, who brings the past to life in her suspenseful historical mysteries. Her books offer readers a historical whodunnit with the flavor of turn-of-the-century Wild West. Learn more about her and her books at her website where you’ll also receive a free book by signing up for her newsletter.

Inspired by the Mysteries in my History

The Great Loveda Brown grew out of a desire to know more about the lives of my pioneering ancestors. As the self-designated keeper of the family trees, I wanted to know more about the people who formed the roots, the branches, the leaves, and yes, the nuts.

 

Passing down generational stories is as old as fire rings, but somehow a few special members in my family remained shrouded in mystery and kept to the shadows. What happened to the couple with the scandalous divorce? Why was that person tried for murder? Who came over on the Mayflower and what were their aspirations?

 

The horse thief. The elopement. The Viking. The Cherokee. Meningitis. The 1918 flu pandemic. Suicide.

 

Why? The question was as tantalizing as it was a tribulation. There was always another why behind the why! The further I dug, the deeper the mysteries grew until I had to write it all out in order. I needed something much bigger than a family tree chart. I needed a novel.

 

The book I wrote is a fascinating look into why people do what they do. For better or worse, we’ve arrived via a network of choices made by people who are no longer here to see how the story ended. The early 1900s were a time full of global juxtapositions, when inventions overtook the old ways, things that were possible became worth fighting for, travel began to be commonplace, and the women on my family tree were doing things you would never have guessed by looking at their sober and sepia-toned photographs.

 

The Idyllwild Mystery Series was born. I wanted to give these strong and ornery ladies a voice in the fictional characters of a novel. What history and society locked away, I coaxed from the shadows and invited to dance. I plant that spirit of optimism and exploration, uncertainty and instability, isolation and imagination, deep into each plot for Loveda Brown.

 

And always, I ask the page, “why?”

 

“Is the wilderness truly an appropriate place for ladies of refinement, such as yourself?” Mr. Peabody asked.

 

Mrs. Keen drew herself up even taller. “Mr. Peabody, it is the exact place for ladies. The American West was tamed with the blood, sweat, and tears of our pioneering foremothers. We are but the sixth state to give women the vote, and we are certainly not going to let them down now. Our daughters will have a voice.”

 

It may take a great many books to do it. But they will.

 

The Great Loveda Brown

An Idyllwild Mystery, Book 1

 

When Loveda Brown arrives in the tiny mountainside town of Idyllwild, California, as yet the Wild West of 1912, she is running from her husband. But when a body turns up the next day, she realizes she might have worse things following her…that cold, clenched fist holds something that forces Loveda to stay in Idyllwild and use all of her wits to stop another murder from happening. Probably her own.

 

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#CRAFTING WITH ANASTASIA--MYSTERY AUTHOR PATY JAGER AND HER NEW SLEUTH'S UNIQUE HOBBY

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of fifty-one novels, eight novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it. Learn more about Paty and her books at her website and blog. 

Everyone Needs a Hobby

I have admiration and empathy for Indigenous people. I am inspired by their beliefs and culture, I have empathy for the way they have been treated, and I admire their facing all adversities. That is why I do my research, talk to people in the tribes I write about, and try my best to show the good and the bad of their lives. 

 

The main character of my new Spotted Pony Casino Mysteries is a female disabled veteran who grew up on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation. This is a reservation in NE Oregon where the Umatilla, Cayuse, and Walla Walla tribes were banished to during the treaties. There are also some Nez Perce from marriages and very few true Cayuse tribal members. They are a strong group of tribes who are resilient and have learned to use technology and embrace moving into the future all while also managing to hang onto their roots and culture.

 

 Dela Alvaro isn’t Indigenous. Her mother is Swedish and her father was Hispanic. She grew up on the reservation where her mother taught school. After school she joined the army and planned to make a career in the Military Police. However, while out on a mission, their jeep was hit by an IED. 

 

As a lower leg amputee, Dela has had to change her expectations for a job. She also has to learn how to deal with life as an amputee. I, nor anyone in my family, is an amputee. So I have been watching Youtube videos and have joined a Facebook group for lower limb amputees to read how they cope and the obstacles they come across. Reading some of their vents has helped me to better see how they feel and react to situations. 

 

I do this with any culture, occupation, or as in this case, disability I come across to help me portray the character as best I can. I take being as factual as possible in my fiction seriously. 

 

Knowing I had this post to write for Anatasia Pollack’s Killer Crafts and Crafty Killers blog, I decided Dela needs a hobby. Even as an amputee, she runs. She knows her body has to be in good condition to be able to do her job or any job with her disability. But I thought, she needs something she can do for herself. To ease the tension of her job and maybe take her out of herself, if that makes sense.

 

When you get to know her, you will understand why I didn’t pick hobbies like beading or weaving. Not something she would do. But music…They say music soothes. That is what Dela needs on her down time, something that soothes and lets her forget. I decided to have her play the Native American flute. Not only will she play them, but she is also learning how to make them. Of course, Dela won’t let anyone know she is making them until she feels she has made the best one she can make.

 

Having been in the Army for nearly two decades, she has to rejoin the civilians, which requires her friends and co-workers to draw her into their lives and make her feel comfortable. I am having a blast writing this character. I hope if you choose to read the book, you’ll enjoy getting to know Dela and her friends.  

 

Poker Face

Spotted Pony Casino Mystery, Book 1

 

Dela Alvaro is a disabled veteran who grew up on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation. When an IED in Iraq ended her military career, she came home to reassess her life and landed a job in security at the Indian run casino on the reservation. 

 

Not even a year into being the assistant to the head of security, Dela is promoted on a trial basis. When one of the casino employees is found stabbed and stuffed in a laundry chute, she knows she can kiss head of security good-bye if she doesn’t find the killer before the media gets hold of the story. 

 

While she is in over her head, she can’t decide if the FBI Special Agent called in to help is a blessing or a curse. It’s a man she ran across in Iraq who overrode her authority. When a second casino employee is killed, Dela has to decide if she can trust the special agent with not only keeping her job but keeping the rest of the casino employees safe. 

 

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#CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--AUTHOR PATY JAGER'S NEWEST NATIVE AMERICAN MYSTERY FEATURES BEADWORK, FLUTES & A POWWOW

Paty Jager is the award-winning author of the Shandra Higheagle and Gabriel Hawke Mystery series. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters.Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it. Learn more about Paty and her books at her website. 

Beads and Flutes

My favorite part of writing a book is getting to research topics that I’m interested in, and sometimes I learn new things that I find interesting.  The newest release in my Shandra Higheagle Mystery series is set at a powwow. 

 

I attended a powwow about six years ago. It was a kaleidoscope of color, interesting music, and unique vendors. The atmosphere is one of rejoicing and roots. While this book is set at a different powwow. and I had help from my friend Carmen Peone, who lives on the reservation where I set my story. I hope the reader gets a good sense of what the event is all about. 

 

While doing my research, from both my attending a powwow and gathering information about the one where my story is set, I was intrigued by the various vendors who set up booths and sell either products they themselves make or products to help make regalia (the clothing worn during the powwow dancing), jewelry, leather, feathers, sage, beads, and other items. There are also t-shirt booths and kitsch items. 

 

From the moment this story came to me, I wanted the victim to be a woman who did beadwork. I wanted her strangled with one of her own necklaces. Not because the woman deserved it, but because it was a symbol for the person who did the killing.  

 

I’ve done very little crafting with beads and found it interesting to watch beading videos, look up beading terms, and even the types of beads used by Native Americans. 

 

Before glass and metal beads were introduced from Europe, beads were hand carved from bone, shell, copper, and stone. These days the tiny glass seed beads are what are used in the beadwork that can at times tell a story.

 

This beadwork shown above is by my friend Carmen Peone to depict a horse in her True to Heart Trilogy.

 

Jingle cones are metal cones that are sewn on dresses in a pattern so they will knock together as the Jingle Dancer moves. This is a distinctive noise made by the Jingle Dancer. The sound is like sleigh bells.

 

When I started writing books with Native American characters ten years ago, I began listening to Native American flute and drum music. I love the flutes. Their ethereal tone and the journey they take me on while listening to the music made that another booth I put in my story. The character makes authentic flutes from elderberry wood. There is nothing more relaxing to me than listening to Native American flute music. 

The first legend of the flute as told by deceased Lakota Elder, Phillip Brown Bear (Phil Lane) can be found on the Wind Dancer Flutes website. This is a website where you can purchase handmade flutes or CDs by Roger McGee. Roger’s CDs are part of the music I listen to when I write. The photo is of one of his flutes.

 

Vanishing Dream

A Shandra Higheagle Mystery, Book 16

 

Deceit, Gluttony, Murder

 

Shandra Higheagle Greer’s deceased Nez Perce grandmother appears in her dream, dancing at a powwow. Since Grandmother only appears when there is trouble, Shandra believes, she, Ryan, and the twins should attend the yearly Powwow at the Colville Reservation. 

 

While out for a walk the first night, Shandra sees someone lurking in the dark between the vendor tents. The following morning a vendor is discovered strangled with her own beads. 

 

When members of Shandra’s family are attacked, she finds it hard to stay out of the investigation. Following a suspect, she’s captured. No one knows her whereabouts. Trying to call upon her grandmother to come to her aid, Shandra realizes the dreams are vanishing and fears so could her life. 

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COWBOY BOOT #FASHION WITH GUEST AUTHOR PATY JAGER

Corral West Flat Heel Cut-Out Boots

Award-winning author Paty Jager has been a frequent guest here at Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers over the years, but we had no idea one of her characters had such impeccable fashion sense—at least when it comes to cowboy boots. Leave a comment (along with a way to contact you) about your own fashion footwear preferences for a chance to win a copy of Paty’s latest book.

Paty writes murder mysteries, western romance, and action adventure and has authored 30+ novels, a dozen novellas, and a passel of short stories. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor. Learn more about Paty and her books at her website and blog. 

Shandra Higheagle talks Cowboy Boots

Hello, I’m Shandra Higheagle, potter by trade and amateur sleuth hobbyist. My heritage and passion for the earth comes out in the vases I throw from clay I gather on Huckleberry Mountain. The purification process for the clay heals my soul and gives my art more depth.

Broad Toe Flat Heel Boot

I didn’t pick my hobby, it picked me. My deceased grandmother began coming to me in dreams when first myself, and then my friend, were accused of murder. My dreams helped Detective Ryan Greer piece together the clues that pointed to the real killer.

But the reason Anastasia has me on her blog today is to talk about my fashion passion.

Cowboy boots. I have twenty pairs of fancy boots in my closet. And I have four pair of everyday riding boots. When I sold my first vase at a gallery, I bought my first pair of embellished fancy boots. When Ryan moved in with me, he was delegated to a small space in my closet. I wasn’t going to get rid of my boots or take them out of the closet. He has to make do with what space there is left. A woman has priorities when it comes to her boots.

As I said, I have every day boots. These have a less dramatic heel, it makes walking on uneven ground easier, and no embellishment on the boot itself. These are plain cowhide leather. Everyday boots are for mud, rain, cleaning stalls, and riding horses. The bottom of the sole is slick to slide in and out of the stirrup easily and the heel just high enough to catch on the stirrup and keep your foot from sliding all the way through.

Dan Post Tall Shaft High Heel

My fancy boots, ones I wear to town, to art shows, and when I dress up can have embroidery, cut-outs, different leathers, colors, stains, and studs. I have two pair that have leather fringe. One is a boot and one is a bootie. A bootie is a short only 7or 8-inch shaft or the height of the boot. A boot can have an 11 to 12-inch shaft on some of the fancier boots. There is also a walking heel, which is shorter and flatter and a fashion heel, which is about 3 inches high and narrower at the bottom than at the top. These boots are stylish but can be as hard on the feet as a high heel sling if walked in for a long period of time. And you can purchase boots with different type of toes. There is rounded, snip, pointed, square, and broad square.

I wear my fancy walking heel boots to town and events where I’ll be on my feet a good part of the day. Nighttime events and times when I know I’ll be doing more sitting than walking, I wear my fashion heel boots.

Lucchese and Old Gringo are the Cadillac of boots. They usually run $300 to $2000 a pair. The other brands Laredo, Corral Boots, Justin, Ariat, Dan Post, Tony Lama, Ferrini, Durango, Boulet, Roper, and Nocona, to name the most common ones, have prices ranging from $100 to $400.

Lactose Cut-out Boot

I have the lower priced boots for every day and some of my fancy boots. I have one pair of Luchesse and one Old Gringo. I like having many different pairs of boots, but I can’t afford the high-end lines very often.

What about you? Do you like shoes or boots? Maybe handbags? What is the one item you tend to have more than any other in your closet?

Leave an answer in the comment section along with your email, and I’ll draw a name to win a copy of my latest Shandra Higheagle Mystery as either a print book or an ebook.  The drawing will be held on Monday, June 19^th.

Fatal Fall

Book eight of the Shandra Higheagle Native American Mystery Series

Avarice…Family…Murder

When the doctor is a no-show for her appointment, Shandra Higheagle becomes wrapped up in another murder. The death of the doctor’s elderly aunt has everyone questioning what happened and who’s to blame. Shandra’s dreams soon tell her she’s on the right path, but also suggests her best friend could be in grave danger.

Detective Ryan Greer knows not even an illness will keep Shandra from sneaking around, and he appreciates that. Her insight is invaluable. When she becomes embroiled deeper in the investigation, he stakes out the crime scene and waits for the murder to make a tell-all mistake. 

But will he be able to act fast enough to keep Shandra or her friend from being the next victim?

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FAVORITES, FAILURES & FRUSTRATIONS--GUEST AUTHOR PATY JAGER

Bud

All Paty Jager’s work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Her penchant for research takes her on side trips that eventually turn into yet another story. Her Shandra Higheagle Mystery series, set in a fictional ski resort in Idaho, is full of quirky characters, twists, turns, and a bit of mysticism. Learn more about Paty and her books at her website and blog.

Today Paty talks about one of her favorite things—horses. Tell her which is your favorite animal, and you could win a copy of Killer Descent.

The Smell of a Horse!

Having grown up on a 200-acre farm with cattle, dairy cows, hogs, sheep, chickens, and horses, I love being outdoors and caring for the animals. Which was a good thing when I married a man who enjoys raising cattle. He doesn’t have my love of horses but we compromise. I won’t complain about all the old tractors he buys if he doesn’t complain about my horses.

As a child we had a stubborn Shetland pony my older brother and I rode. His name was Billy, which was kind of coincidental since that was my dad’s name. They both had a stubborn streak. Must be the name. ;) I don’t remember falling off Billy, but he would go under low things and get as close to the corner of the barn as he could, trying to dislodge the rider. It was funny the day my uncle decided he was going to teach Billy to behave. He ended up having to bail off when Billy scraped him off on a building.

We had an older horse, Missy, who was given to us when I outgrew Billy. When I was twelve, some people who purchased hay from my family gave us three horses for the hay. One was a three-year-old mare. She was orange colored – not a sorrel and not a buckskin. She had buckskin in her and had a brown stripe down her back and a black, brown, and orange mane and tail. Her name was Junebug. Since we both had birthdays in June, I claimed her and waited impatiently as my brother trained her. One day while he was in the barn looking for something, I snuck in the corral, untied her, and climbed on. From then on we were best pals. I rode Junebug from the time the snow was gone until it started again for the next six years.

In the summer, my two brothers and I had all day to ourselves, both our parents worked. My older brother had summer jobs, but my younger brother and I would saddle up our horses at least twice a week and pack a lunch. We’d ride the mountain behind our property or the hill on the other side of the canyon until we had to be back to make dinner and do chores.

Some days, I’d just want to be alone, I’d slip the bridle on Junebug, hop on her bareback, and ford the river to wander through the birch and pine trees, daydreaming. During one such trip, I was lying along Junebug’s back, staring up at the sun blinking through the trees, and she jumped sideways. She rarely spooked. I sat up and looked in the direction she jumped away from. I could have sworn I saw a warrior on a horse between the trees. I blinked and the vision was gone.  I think to this day that is why I am fascinated by the Nez Perce band that lived in the Wallowa Country before the white man encroached.

After I left home, my dad sold Junebug to a family with three young girls. I raised a family and went through several different horses trying to find another gem like Junebug. One of our daughters is as horse crazy as I am. She did Horse 4-H, and I went along to all the events. It was fun not only watching her grow as a horsewoman but to learn things I didn’t know. Growing up, I’d just hopped on and rode.  I had my daughter’s first 4-H mare bred by a friend’s stud. In 2000 she gave birth to a colt. I named him Buddy, but usually call him Bud. 

Bud and I worked together to make him my horse. He’s a good sturdy quarter horse. I’ve had a couple of ropers want him because he’s low to the ground and compact, but I wouldn’t sell him for any amount of money. I trained him and enjoy riding him even though he has a lazy streak. When I ride with the grandkids, they are always thirty feet in front of me because Bud is in no hurry to do anything. What is aggravating is when I ride him alone. He thinks everything is going to get him and stops and stares and snorts. Even things he’s walked by a hundred times!

Despite the falls—I’ve had many over the years— horses are my favorite animal. I love their earthy scent, soft noses, and the rhythm of their hooves as they move across the ground. Writing western romance allows me to put my favorite animal in my books.  My character, Shandra Higheagle, in my contemporary mystery series owns horses and enjoys riding on Huckleberry Mountain.

Tell me about your favorite animal and I’ll put your name in a drawing for my ebook Killer Descent.

Killer Descent

Book five in the Shandra Higheagle Mysteries

Abuse…Power…Murder

Once again Shandra Higheagle finds herself a suspect in a murder investigation when an ex-lover is found murdered on a Huckleberry ski run. A past she’d planned to never divulge now must be shared with the first man she’s trusted, Detective Ryan Greer.

Ryan puts his job in jeopardy when he’s booted from the case and uses all resources plus a few extra to prove Shandra is innocent. The information leads them down a road of blackmail and betrayal of the ugliest kind.

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