Tule Mystery invites you to join the fun with your hobby: mystery books! Simply guess which one you think readers will vote to advance in the month of March—and win all 16 mystery books if you get the most correct. It’s our version of winner takes all!
Details on the giveaway contest can be found here.
One lucky winner will win 16 TULE MYSTERY EBOOKS!
In March, Americans’ attention turns toward the excitement of the NCAA basketball tournament and the joy of bracketology—aka guessing who will win games in a winners-take-all scenario.
But why stop the prediction fun there?
Tule Mystery invites you to join the fun with your hobby, too: mystery books! Simply guess which one you think readers will vote to advance in the month of March—and win all 16 mystery books if you get the most correct. It’s our version of winner takes all.
(But we have some cool prizes for runner-up and third place, too!)
It’s a two-step process that begins with some sleuthing of your own.
Step one: click here to fill out your predictions. Want to know more about each book in the competition? See the info button for each title under the Participants tab and choose wisely—once you complete your entry, there’s no going back. You have until midnight on March 10 to complete your guesses. At that time, all entries will be locked in, and voting will start on March 11 between book pairings to see who wins each round. The more accurate your predictions, the better your chance at winning.
Be sure to bookmark the bracket page as well to check your standing in the Predictions Ranking tab.
Step two: Our books can’t actually lace up tennis shoes and dunk on each other on a basketball court. Instead, we’re going to ask mystery readers to vote on which title should advance in each pairing.
Round one: March 11 – 17, 2024
Round two: March 18 – 25, 2024
Round three: March 25 – March 31, 2024
Round four: April 1 – 8, 2024
The winners will be declared on the Tule Mystery Facebook page at 9 p.m. EST on April 8.
Starting March 11, look for Tule Mystery’s voting links through our Tule Mystery Facebook page, our Tule X account, and in our newsletter. Feel free to share the voting links with your fellow mystery readers. Influencing the vote is definitely allowed, but everyone gets just one opportunity to vote in each round.
Questions? Email Julie Sturgeon at tulepublishing@gmail.com and put “Tule Mystery Madness” in the subject line.
Bracket voting starts here: https://widgets.commoninja.com/3369c8dc-ef14-444f-9608-0c584094ed28
Want more Tule Mystery? Check out whodunnit and what’s coming soon at our mystery page here.
This week sees the release of A Death in Chelsea, the second book in my Lady in Blue Mysteries series. These stories follow the fictional adventures of Dorothy Peto, who was one of the first women to become a police volunteer during the First World War, so I thought I would share a little more information about her and the other women who helped form the Women Police Volunteers (WPV).
Dorothy Peto
Dorothy Olivia Georgiana Peto was born in Hampshire in 1886. Her family was wealthy and well-connected and her father was a successful landscape artist. She was educated at home and had dreams of becoming a novelist until war broke out in 1914. Deciding to make herself useful, she joined the voluntary police patrols in Bristol and Bath (although in my stories she is based in London). Despite her work training other women volunteers, when the war ended, she struggled to find a position with the regular police. Eventually, she was made director of the ten female police officers in Liverpool.
In 1930, she transferred to the Metropolitan Police and became the first attested female superintendent. She formed her own branch of women police officers and insisted they should interview any woman charged with indecency and take charge of cases covered by the Children and Young Persons Act of 1933, especially those involving child abuse. When she retired in 1946, the number of female police officers at the Met. had grown from fifty-five to two hundred. In her later years, she returned to Hampshire and died in 1974.
Nina Boyle
Constance Antonina Boyle, known as Nina, was born in Kent in 1865. When her two brothers went to fight in the Boer War, she followed them to South Africa and worked first as a nurse and then as a journalist. It was while she was in Johannesburg that she first became interested in women’s rights.
When she returned to England, she joined the Women’s Freedom League and continued working as a journalist. She often wrote about how women were unfairly treated by the courts. Her protests at the Marlborough Street Magistrates Court led to her being arrested several times.
When war broke out, she campaigned for women to be allowed to join the police. Her request was refused, so she joined forces with Margaret Damer Dawson to form the WPV in 1914. However, she left the organization only a year later following disagreements about enforcing curfews on women. She spent the rest of the war working as a nurse in the Balkans.
After the war, she travelled to Russia but what she saw there turned her against communism and to the right politically. When she returned to England, she attempted to stand in the Keighley by-election (the first woman to do so). Although her name didn’t appear on the ballot paper, her efforts meant women were allowed to stand in the General Election in December 1918. She also worked with the Save the Children Fund and began writing mystery and adventure novels featuring strong female characters, with titles such as “Out of the Frying Pan” and “Good Old Potts!”. Nina died in London in 1943. The Nina Boyle Memorial Prize was established in her name and is offered by the Royal Holloway University to either a History or Social Policy Student.
Margaret Damer Dawson
Mary Damer Dawson was born into an affluent Sussex family in 1873. Her father died when she was a young woman, leaving her independently wealthy. She used her money to fund various charities especially those concerned with anti-vivisection and campaigned against animals performing in circuses and being killed for meat. She also created a home for foundlings and was a talented pianist.
In 1914, she founded the WPV with Nina Boyle. It was Margaret’s money that financed the patrols. She had a close personal and professional relationship with Mary Allen. The two women lived together and when Nina left the WPV, Mary became Margaret’s second-in- command. When Margaret died in 1920, aged just forty-seven, Mary was the main beneficiary named in her will. The house Mary and Margaret shared at 10 Cheyne Walk now has a blue plaque to commemorate her and a birdbath dedicated to her memory stands in the garden nearby. It is inscribed with the following quote, “He prayeth best who lovest best all things great and small”.[9]
Mary Allen
Mary Sophia Allen was born into a large and wealthy family in 1878. Although she was close to her sisters, she argued with her father, who was very traditional and against the emancipation of women. Mary left home in 1908 and joined Mrs. Pankhurst’s WSPU. She was imprisoned three times for breaking windows. During her incarceration she went on hunger strike and was force fed twice.
When war broke out in 1914, she joined the WPV and became close to Margaret Damer Dawson. She was seen as slightly eccentric as she preferred to be addressed as Robert or Sir.
Following the end of the war and Margaret’s death, Mary continued to wear her Women’s Police Service uniform. She was increasingly drawn to far-right politics. She met Hitler and Mussolini and joined the British Union of Fascists. The British government became concerned by her activities and when the Second World War broke out, she was banned from travelling more than five miles from her home in Cornwall and was not allowed to use a car, telephone or wireless. After the war, she continued to campaign for animal rights until she died in 1964.
All four of these amazing women were awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire). None of them ever married or had children.
I hope you enjoy reading “A Death in Chelsea” to learn more about these inspirational women.
About the Author.
H L Marsay grew up binge-reading detective stories and promised herself that some day, she would write one too. A Long Shadow was the first book in her Chief Inspector Shadow series set in York. Luckily, living in a city so full of history, dark corners and hidden snickelways, she is never short of inspiration. She has also written The Secrets of Hartwell Trilogy and The Lady in Blue Mysteries. The Chief Inspector Shadow Mysteries have recently been optioned for television.
When she isn’t coming up with new ways to bump people off, she enjoys drinking red wine, eating dark chocolate and reading Agatha Christie – preferably at the same time!
The Accidental Detective humorous mystery series: A witty journalist solves mysteries in Arizona and tackles the challenges of turning fifty.
Book 6: Someone Rotten Riding the Rails
Kate’s ready to blow the whistle on these crime families . . .
Former war correspondent Kate Tessler has solved multiple murders since returning to her childhood home in Arizona to heal after a bombing injury. Now Detective Padilla approaches Kate with a proposal: Two Russian mob families have arranged the marriage of their children and hired a scenic railroad for the wedding. The FBI wants eyes and ears on that train, but anyone who infiltrates the wedding must be above suspicion.
An Arizona newspaper will send Kate on assignment to cover the wedding, with Kate’s sister Jen posing as her photographer. Meanwhile, tech genius Mackenzie will oversee the dining car, while the seniors who make up the “Coffee Shop Irregulars” will pose as the passenger services agents who work each car.
Kate and her eccentric sidekicks are only supposed to observe and record anything suspicious, but that plan is quickly derailed. The groom disappears – from the moving train – and a search turns up a dead body but not the missing groom. The mob families aren’t about to call in the police, so it’s up to Kate and friends to uncover the truth before their whole mission goes off the tracks.
This story has roots decades in the past. When I was in my twenties, my parents moved to Saudi Arabia, where my father worked as an economist for an oil company. My brother and I joined my parents in various places for the winter holidays. One year that was Egypt as part of a tour group of Americans living in Saudi Arabia. We took a boat down the Nile for several days, stopping at various places to tour archaeology sites. Many people in the group already knew each other, and we quickly got to know them.
Which of course turned my mind to murder. Okay, that group was a lot of fun, but writers generally have a muse – or maybe it’s a little devil – whispering in their ear, “What if…?”
What if someone was murdered on about traveling down the Nile? No, what if someone disappeared from a boat in the river? How would that happen and why and who would be the suspects?
I never wrote a book set on a Nile river boat, but I did come across my notes while pondering my next Accidental Detective story. Arizona doesn’t have a lot of large bodies of water, of course. The only riverboat tour I know of, the Dolly Steamboat, has lake tours of about three hours, but I wasn’t sure how I’d make that work.
Arizona does have the Grand Canyon Scenic Railway, and wouldn’t that be a fun setting for a mystery?
My editor commented, “What a cool idea paying homage to Murder on the Orient Express and yet in Arizona.” But honestly, that hadn’t occurred to me! And I haven’t ever read Death on the Nile either, so while this might seem like an Agatha Christie homage, it wasn’t intended that way.
In any case, I had a ton of fun researching this story. My husband and I took the train from Williams, Arizona as a daytrip with three hours at the Grand Canyon rim. I grabbed our car’s passenger services agent, Craig, and asked questions such as “What would you do if a group claimed one of their party was missing?” and “Where could someone hide a body on the train?” He was a big help and didn’t even report me to any authorities!
Writing the novel was fun too, and I hope readers will enjoy it just as much.
Learn more or purchase The Accidental Detective humorous mystery series.
About the Author.
Kris Bock writes novels of romance, mystery, and suspense. In the Accidental Detective series, a witty journalist solves mysteries in Arizona and tackles the challenges of turning fifty. This humorous series starts with Something Shady at Sunshine Haven. Find The Accidental Detective Series in ebook or print on Amazon US, Amazon UK, or at Tule Publishing with links to all retailers.
Kris’s Accidental Billionaire Cowboys series follows a Texas ranching family that wins a billion-dollar lottery. Who wouldn’t want to be a billionaire? Turns out winning the lottery causes as many problems as it solves. The Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series features the employees and customers at a cat café. Watch as they fall in love with each other and shelter cats. Learn more at www.krisbock.com. Sign up for the Kris Bock newsletter to get a free Accidental Detective mystery story, a free cat café novella, and more.
Kris also writes a series with her brother, scriptwriter Douglas J Eboch, who wrote the original screenplay for the movie Sweet Home Alabama. The Felony Melanie series follows the crazy antics of Melanie, Jake, and their friends a decade before the events of the movie. Sign up for the romantic comedy newsletter to get a short story preview, or find the books at Amazon US or All E-book retailers.
Find Kris: Website
Blog | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Facebook | Pinterest | GoodReads Author Page | BookBub | Amazon US page or Amazon UK page
Photo one: The Grand Canyon Scenic Railway at the depot.
Photo two: View from the train window.
Photo three: Kris Bock on the train with her husband.
Photo four: Passenger Services agent Craig and a singing cowboy entertainer.
Photo five: The “Sheriff” after the train is “robbed by bandits.”
Killer Close to Home is the third book in my Cluttered Crime mystery series about Chicago professional organizer, Crystal Ward. Her latest client is her backyard neighbor, Roscoe Tremaine, who’s recovering from a broken hip and preparing to move into assisted living. A widower and something of a curmudgeon, Roscoe’s been a friend to Crys and her husband, Rick, especially when a shooting left Rick paralyzed. Roscoe’s only family—his brother, two nieces, and one great-niece—don’t see him often…by choice. When he summons them to his house, he asks Crys to stay to meet them. To her surprise, he announces he’s changing his will to disinherit his nieces and giving ten thousand dollars each to Crys and his caregiver, Wink Keller.
That night, Roscoe’s house explodes. Although the cause is soon confirmed to be a gas leak, Crys begins to suspect that it may not have been an accident. Wink is fortunate to have survived the blast, but now he’s out of a job. The explosion also has another casualty. Trying to get out of bed to help, Rick falls and dislocates his shoulder, which requires surgery. Crys hires Wink to help her husband during his recovery.
Soon mysterious “gifts” begin appearing on the Wards’ front porch. What at first seem like childish pranks turn into vandalism and worse. Crys must learn more about the dysfunctional Tremaine family, a new neighbor overly anxious to be her friend, and Wink to stop a killer close to home before she becomes the next victim.
I’m often asked where I find my ideas, and the answer is everywhere! News stories are particularly helpful. Years ago I read about a woman who started a business delivering dead flowers and bouquets of black roses. Her clients included soon-to-be divorced spouses, victims of unhappy breakups, or others wanting to express their angry feelings in flowers. That feature story stuck in my memory and gave me an idea for one of the items found on the Wards’ front porch.
Another news story about a house that blew up provided inspiration for a cause of death that could look like an unfortunate accident. One of the worst gas explosions in recent U.S. history was in my former hometown, Indianapolis, in 2012. Much larger in scope than the one in my story, the Richmond Hill explosion killed two people, injured seven, and left twenty-seven homes uninhabitable. The owner of the house where the explosion originated and four others were convicted on multiple charges, including felony murder and deliberately causing the blast to collect insurance money. I couldn’t bear to destroy Crys’s house, not with so much else going on in her life in this book, so I scaled down the blast. Fortunately, my research led me to an article about an explosion similar in size to Roscoe’s that (oddly enough) had also occurred in Indianapolis. Maybe it’s good that I moved to Florida, where we only have to deal with hurricanes, sink holes, alligators, pythons, black bears, and heat stroke. Then again, maybe not!
I hope you’ll enjoy Killer Close to Home. Characters you’ve met in the first two books, Room for Suspicion and Deadlier Than Fiction, return to offer Crys support and comic relief, including Maggie, Mitch, and Connie, although you don’t have to read the previous books in the series to enjoy this one. If you prefer to listen to books, I’m excited to announce that all three Cluttered Crime mysteries will be released in audiobook format in February and March 2024. The fourth book, No Room to Hide, will be published June 6, 2024 and will also be available as an audiobook.
Wishing you all a happy new year and hours of reading pleasure in the coming year!
About the Author.
Carol Light is an avid reader and writer of mysteries. She loves creating amateur sleuths and complicating their normal lives with a crime that they must use their talents and wits to solve. She’s traveled worldwide and lived in Australia for eight years, teaching high school English and learning to speak “Strine.” Florida is now her home. If she’s not at the beach or writing, you can find her tackling quilting in much the same way that she figures out her mysteries—piece by piece, clue by clue.
Read more about our new releases for January!
GIVEAWAY: We will pick ONE winner to receive a digital book of their choice from the January releases. Comment down below saying which book you’re looking most forward to reading! Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY. The winner will be randomly selected at the end of the month.
A Little Highland Magic
by Gerri Russell (Muse)
Release Date: January 9, 2024
Guardians of the Isles, Book 5
To have a future, she must face her past…
Half human, half fairy, Aria traveled to the human realm seeking safety with her family, the powerful MacLeods, where she is welcomed and accepted as a warrior. But her happiness will be short-lived if they discover her inadvertent role in their beloved mother’s death and the kidnapping of their infant brother, Kieran, by the cruel fairy king. Still, Aria plans to right the wrong by rescuing Kieren, but traveling to the fairy realm is dangerous and potentially a betrayal, for she must use the legendary Fairy Flag and its one last miracle to barter Kieran’s release.
Graeme Duff and his ancestors have served as flag bearer and protectors of Clan MacLeod for centuries. It’s his duty to guard the Fairy Flag, and when the beautiful, fierce, and intriguing Aria proposes using the flag to negotiate Kieran’s freedom, Graeme suspects treachery. He determines to accompany her, vowing to ignore the passion she evokes.
Can two independent warriors learn to trust? Or are they risking the destruction of everything they know and love?
Killer Close to Home
by Carol Light (Tule Mystery)
Release Date: January 11, 2024
Cluttered Crime Mysteries, Book 3
Not all clutter is visible to the human eye…
Professional organizer Crystal Ward’s latest client, her neighbor Roscoe Tremaine, is changing his will, an announcement that sets off an explosive reaction within his family. That same night, a gas leak ignites, destroying his house, killing him, and rocking the Ward family at its foundation.
Her husband, Rick, is injured in the blast, so Crys hires Roscoe’s former caregiver, Wink Keller, to help him recover after surgery. But trouble is just beginning. Both Crys and Wink are beneficiaries in Roscoe’s will, and their alliance sends accusations flying from the Tremaines’ side of the fence.
Crys has her hands full dealing with her client’s not-so-grieving relatives, a teenaged girl stalking Wink, and a suspicious fire inspector. But when threatening “gifts” left on the Wards’ doorstep escalate, Crys is forced to sort through a tangled web of relationships, including her own, to keep her family safe.
Was Roscoe’s death just an accident, or is there a killer close to home?
When the Viscount Wanted Me
by Lydia Lloyd (Muse)
Release Date: January 16, 2024
The Rake Chronicles, Book 2
Her reputation is at risk. He vows to help…but soon finds resisting her the greatest challenge of all.
When Lord Hugh Aldershot, the Viscount of Tremberley, overhears the drunken Earl of Hartley claiming to have bedded Lady Henrietta Breminster, his best friend’s little sister, he is livid. He drags the passed-out earl to Breminster House to face punishment for his blathering, only to find himself face-to-face with Lady Henrietta in a sexy night dress and little else.
When Lady Henrietta Breminster sees the Viscount of Tremberley dragging the unconscious Earl of Hartley to her doorstep, she panics. Not only was she indiscreet with the earl, but she has long nursed a flaming tendre for her brother’s best friend. Now she must ask Tremberley to help her keep her biggest mistake from the gossips of the ton.
Drawn closer by their efforts to subdue the jealous earl, Trem and Henrietta soon discover their own forbidden attraction. But even as Henrietta discovers true passion with Trem, she knows she could never marry for anything less than love.
Lucky Strike
by Janine Amesta (American Heart)
Release Date: January 23, 2024
Love in El Dorado, Book 3
Is finding an unexpected gem a lucky strike?
After getting a late jumpstart in life, Luna Lanza isn’t afraid to get what she wants, including the place of her dreams. When she loses out on the perfect duplex and settles for a standard apartment, she’s disappointed. But Luna remains determined to make it work, even if it sparks a contentious relationship with her new landlord– the same guy she accidentally kissed in an impromptu photo shoot.
Still grieving the sudden death of his brother, reformed bad boy Sam Sunderland feels trapped managing his father’s rundown apartment building. When the spunky beauty, who unexpectedly kissed him, moves in full of ideas, he can’t help being intrigued– that is until she starts changing things behind his back, endangering his position and the relationship with his father.
Sam and Luna wrangle over rules and misunderstandings while fighting against the undeniable attraction between them. It’s a hard lesson to learn that ‘perfect’ can take many different forms. But will the renovations they do together lay a foundation to something more?
A Stolen Shadow
by H L Marsay (Tule Mystery)
Release Date: January 25, 2024
Chief Inspector Shadow, Book 7
This winter, the York pantomime opens as a farce but closes as a murder scene…
Chief Inspector John Shadow returns from a rare holiday to Italy but before he can unpack, he’s investigating the theft of an antique sabre. Everyone involved assumes it’s a prank, however later that evening, a reluctant Shadow attends the local pantomime—his least favorite form of entertainment—with his star struck sergeant. They watch stunned as Prince Charming dies on stage. Shadow suspects poison and launches an investigation. When he discovers the missing sabre backstage, Shadow realises the theft was no joke and the entire cast and crew are murder suspects. Then another body is found….
John Shadow is a man of contradictions. A solitary figure who shuns company but is a keen observer of all he meets. A lover of good food, but whose fridge is almost always empty. He prefers to work alone but is assisted by the eager Sergeant Jimmy Chang. Together, the two men must work through an ever increasing list of jealous husbands, angry fathers and spurned lovers to discover the identity of the killer.
Someone Rotten Riding the Rails
by Kris Bock (Tule Mystery)
Release Date: January 30, 2024
The Accidental Detective, Book 6
Kate Tessler and her crew of misfits set out to blow the whistle on two feuding crime families . . .
Former war correspondent Kate Tessler has solved multiple murders since returning to her Arizona hometown, to the grudging appreciation of the local police. Now Detective Padilla and the FBI approach Kate with a proposal. Two Russian crime families have rented a private historic train to the Grand Canyon for their children’s wedding. The route is scenic and remote. No cell phones. The FBI needs to surveil, but anyone infiltrating the train must be above suspicion.
Kate poses as herself, sent by the newspaper to cover the society wedding, while her sister Jen is the photographer. Their multi-generational and eccentric crew pose as train staff. The goal is to observe, but that quickly derails when the groom disappears, and a search for him turns up a dead body. Everyone’s a suspect and trapped on the train.
The mob families won’t contact the police, so it’s up to Kate and friends to uncover the truth before their whole mission goes off the tracks.
When Kate Tessler left her celebrated career as an international war correspondent after an injury, she didn’t expect to dabble in detective work in her Arizona hometown alongside her sister, Jen. The duo is all in, but earning their PI license proves tricky. They need all the practice they can get, so when Jen’s college friend asks them to investigate suspicious activity at a motel he inherited, they take the job.
It sounds easy enough, with Kate and Jen planning to relax while they surveil the motel. But when Kate’s hot flashes wake her in the middle of the night, she wanders outside to cool off and stumbles over a dead body. Soon they’re caught up in their toughest—and most dangerous—case yet. Kate and Jen have no clue who they’re dealing with, and can’t trust anyone at the motel or the local police force they suspect of corruption.
Good thing they have their eclectic senior sidekicks to share the undercover work. But when they finally break the case, Kate needs to ensure she and Jen can survive the damage.
“I LOVE this series. It’s so funny but…murderous & the mystery is not messing around.” – author Sinclair Jayne
Learn more about the Accidental Detective humorous mystery series and get the links to all retailers or buy directly from Tule.
I started writing this series when I was 48. Kate is “facing fifty” (actually by this book she is fifty) which means dealing with midlife challenges. Like me, Kate has aging parents and worries about saving for retirement. Our bodies don’t heal as well as they once did. In fact, they may develop sudden pains from basic activities like opening a jar or getting out of bed.
And then there’s perimenopause. I was awake at 4 AM one night, wandering the house, trying to cool my body and quiet my mind. And then I started thinking …
What if you were at an English country house party and got up in the night to wander after a hot flash and found something wrong? (Can you guess the kind of books I’d been reading?) Or for a more modern version, maybe a resort with common areas or a hotel with an internal courtyard. Say you had to explain that you stumbled on the scene of a crime because of insomnia due to hot flashes. That would be unpleasant in real life – but a great mystery premise.
So I sent Kate and her sister Jen to a hotel on a case that seemed simple and quickly raised the stakes as Kate stepped into the courtyard to cool down and discovered … Well, no spoilers here. Let’s just say I originally suggested the tagline “No one warned her hot flashes could lead to death… “
I hope you’ll join Kate and Jen on their adventures and maybe find some laughter along the way. Because we are never too old to find humor in life’s challenges.
About the Author.
Kris Bock writes novels of romance, mystery, and suspense. In the Accidental Detective series, a witty journalist solves mysteries in Arizona and tackles the challenges of turning fifty. This humorous series starts with Something Shady at Sunshine Haven. Find The Accidental Detective Series in ebook or print. You can buy the books directly from Tule Publishing and also find links to other retailers.
Kris’s Accidental Billionaire Cowboys series follows a Texas ranching family that wins a billion-dollar lottery. Who wouldn’t want to be a billionaire? Turns out winning the lottery causes as many problems as it solves. The Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series features the employees and customers at a cat café. Watch as they fall in love with each other and shelter cats. Learn more at Kris’s website. Sign up for the Kris Bock newsletter to get a free Accidental Detective mystery story, a free cat café novella, and more.
Find Kris: Website | Blog | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Facebook | GoodReads Author Page | BookBub
You probably won’t like Don Shirley when you meet him in the opening scene of my latest mystery, Deadlier Than Fiction. I don’t blame you. Don is LOSING IT, and the target of his ire is the protagonist of my Cluttered Crime mysteries, Crystal Ward, a professional organizer who is helping her client, Barb Shirley, convert her grandchildren’s playroom into an adult space that both Barb and Don can enjoy. Crys’s session is going well until Barb’s husband appears, red-faced and screaming at Crys about the old, dusty novels she’s donated to a charity.
No, Don’s not at his best in this scene, but when you understand what’s at stake for him, I hope you’ll have a little compassion for the man.
When I create characters, I picture their physical appearance, sometimes finding a picture on the internet that matches the image I have of them. Next, I decide what their key personality traits and values are. However, characters really start to have more dimension when I consider their relationships, both past and present. Who were their parents? Do they have any siblings? Who most influenced them to become the people they are today? Are they married and what is that relationship like? Who are their friends and who are their enemies? Many of the background stories I create are never shared with readers, but they help me to understand what drives my characters and whether they play well with others—or not.
Back to Don Shirley, the red-faced husband having a major meltdown and yelling at poor Crys. Don’s relationships are really to blame for that moment, not that I’m excusing his behavior. Don and Barb, who are long married and busy with careers, don’t communicate much about household matters. It would have helped Crys if they’d consulted about the book collection before Barb okayed the donation. But why should they? The bestsellers from the seventies had sat undisturbed in a bookcase for years. Then there’s Don’s relationship with his older brother, Bob, whom he both idolizes and fears. The strong bond between the two brothers has ensured that a deadly secret is kept for decades. Those dusty books? They’re hiding more than bestselling plots. Add into the relationship mix Bob’s greedy wife, some old elusive buddies of his, ex-cons that Barb is employing to do yard work… Like entwined cords, these relationships start to unravel even faster than Crys can untangle them, leaving more mayhem behind than an Arthur Hailey disaster novel.
Meanwhile, Crys has her own relationship issues, especially with her husband, Rick. A detective with the Chicago Police Department, Rick was paralyzed five years ago when he was struck by a bullet that damaged his spine. He struggles with the idea of his wife going into strangers’ homes and makes her promise to keep him informed and not protect him by keeping her problems to herself. Crys is agreeable, but she is also ready to take her business, Organizing Chicago, to a wider client base by advertising on the internet and social media. Unfortunately, Rick isn’t yet onboard for that step. The more Crys finds out about the Shirley’s, the more concerned—and curious—Rick becomes. Unless Crys can convince him to become a more active partner in both her business and sorting out this mystery, their relationship will continue to be a battle of wills.
Relationships. We can’t live without them, and in mystery novels, they can be deadly. I hope you’ll enjoy reading Deadlier Than Fiction and will continue to follow Crys and Rick in the Cluttered Crime mystery series.
Even if you never do like Don Shirley.
About the author.
Carol Light is an avid reader and writer of mysteries. She loves creating amateur sleuths and complicating their normal lives with a crime that they must use their talents and wits to solve. She’s traveled worldwide and lived in Australia for eight years, teaching high school English and learning to speak “Strine.” Florida is now her home. If she’s not at the beach or writing, you can find her tackling quilting in much the same way that she figures out her mysteries—piece by piece, clue by clue.
A belated Happy 4th to all my U.S. friends and readers! There’s a reason for mentioning that a month too late – you see, my latest Rosie Hart adventure was set with July 4th as a background. And as I created a fun celebration, I once more so envied that little town of Airlie Falls and their close-knit community. How much fun would it be to live there… Sigh…
So, about this story: I was quite young when I first saw Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder – maybe too young – because it terrified me. Few would argue over Hitchcock’s ability to provide suspense – certainly not me, the proof being the fact that the story has stayed with me for all those years. I can still see Grace Kelly in that low-lit bedroom…
Suspense and terror aside, as I grew older, I came to appreciate the story-line, and it was basically from that idea my own story was born. My series, the Hart of Texas Murder Mysteries, is way more light-hearted than anything Hitch would present, yet right from the start I had a title in my head, my spoof of the original – Dial M for Mud Cake – hoping I could find the story it represented.
It took six books, but in this last, the 6th, I found it – and was enormous fun to create. And every day I opened that manuscript it made me smile. Of course, in the way things should go, my story bears little resemblance to Hitchcock’s story other than a telephone call and an order for murder. Basically, that’s where Hitch and I parted ways. However, it was those two things that led to the creation of a scene I had so much fun with – and will share in a moment.
Despite the fun, it wasn’t all straightforward. I knew I wanted my poor heroine Rosie, to be confused by the strange order for the mud cake. After all, as a baker, that would usually be a straightforward event for her. But that’s also when my usual modus operandi went off script. You see, normally, Rosie would be hunting down a murderer, often trying to clear the name of someone close to her.
This time there was no body, just someone who mistakenly thought Rosie to be a professional assassin who required the words Mud Cake as code for the hit. So, for Rosie – and myself – everything was upside down. Rosie wasn’t, at first, searching for a murderer, but a potential victim. A stranger. Not seeking justice for a dead person but trying to keep someone alive! To make it worse, I added a ticking clock. The deed had to be completed by the 4th of July, or matters would be taken into other hands. Rosie couldn’t let that happen. While ever that customer thought she was the assassin, the victim had a chance of survival.
And all this while helping to plan and execute the town’s extravagant plans for the Independence Day celebrations, try to curb the wild and ridiculous spending of the Fab Four who have discovered the home shopping channels (because surely nonagenarians wouldn’t really need a three-man tent and a bucking bronco – and that was just for starters!), as well as – you guessed it, also trying to prove her suspicion that the murder of an elderly heiress is connected to her own misguided cake order.
But let’s go back to that first phone call. Keep in mind that Rosie thinks this is a regular—if slightly odd—order for a mud cake.
Waving away Miz Lipskie’s warning whisper, I strode into the airy study just off the foyer. The voice on the other end wasn’t what I’d expected. It was low and muffled, and I’d barely said hello before the order came through—just as Miz Lipskie had said.
“I want to order a mud cake.”
“Yes sir, we’d be delighted to help you.” Actually, I was taking Miz Lipskie’s word for it that it was a male because the voice was so stifled it was hard for me to tell the exact gender. Still, she’d spoken to him several times and apparently been barked at, so obviously she knew.
There was a long pause before he replied. “We? I thought you worked alone?”
“Well, I do, but I have an assistant who helps me in the day-to-day running of the business.”
“Sheesh! Everyone’s a corporation these days! Even you people!” I was about to let that pass when he threw in his next comment. “Your number was passed on. What? You got a club or something? What’s with two of you working the same area? I thought you guys were pretty hard to find!”
I accepted the guy’s reference as a gender inclusive description, but frowned over the comment. “Two of us? Two bakers?”
The response was a low chuckle. “Sure, if that’s what you want to call yourselves. No skin off my nose. I just want the job done.”
He had a funny way of expressing himself that I found confusing but I did understand he wanted cake and that was something I could deliver. “I can do that. Now if I could just have some details? I ne—”
“Just the basics, right? I was told you’d only require the basics.”
“Well, I guess if you consider name and address, and your requirements to be basics, then I guess that’s what we do.” What was with this man? “But how about we start with the cake. Like, do you want chocolate mud? Caramel mud? Strawberry mud? White chocolate mud?”
“I thought you’d just do the job! What’s with the twenty questions?” He sighed. “So what? What’s your most popular? Simplest? I want that.”
“Chocolate. Now sir, what about cream? Do you want fresh or—?”
“Fresh? Hey, hey, stop right there! I don’t want the details, right? That other broad told me you were the best, so I figured you’d just get on with it. Geez—I got a weak stomach.”
This was the craziest order I’d ever taken. He was upset by cream? “Lactose problem?”
The response was a roar of laughter. “Hey, you got a sense of humor! I like that!” The laughter turned into a coughing fit and I waited it through, wondering why I had the feeling it wasn’t genuine. “Just no mess, okay? I don’t like mess. Now, I was told you’d do it for ten. Is that right?”
“Um, I’d usually charge fifteen for a layered cake, there’s a—”
“Fifteen! Where am I supposed to get that kind of money?”
I didn’t actually hear a phone slam down, but I kind of sensed it. One moment he was there, and the next he wasn’t and I was left with a dead line. What in heavens…?
When I turned, Miz Lipskie stood in the doorway, arms folded and wearing an I-told-you-so expression. “Tell me I’m not the only one who thinks that man is a bit strange!”
“No, Miz Lipskie,” I began slowly, my mind whirling, “I don’t think you are.”
I had such fun with this and subsequent scenes with this mysterious caller. And imagine Rosie’s shock when she, later, finally understands that he’s not just quibbling over $5, he thinks it’s an extra $5000. $15,000 for a mud cake? Even she concedes she’s not that good. 😊
I so hope you grab a copy and have fun with this story. It’s a nice tangly mystery coupled with all the fun and color of a fun July 4th celebration.
Now, I began this chat talking about movies – and mystery. Do you have a favorite mystery movie – or even a favorite mystery television series? I’m a sucker for all those wonderful 80s series – Murder She Wrote (I still watch them!) Columbo, Diagnosis Murder, Matlock – and adore all the slightly more current UK series – Vera, Foyle’s War, Silent Witness, Midsomer Murders, Mrs Bradley Mysteries etc. Share with us your favorite – or if you’re not a mystery fan – your fave movie or TV show, and go in the draw for a randomly drawn $10 Amazon gift card and a free ebook from the Hart of Texas Murder Mystery Series.
About the author.
Award winning YA & children’s author, Kaz Delaney, and her alter ego, have currently sold 73 titles between them over a 26 year career.
Her books have won many awards, among them the prestigious Aurealis Award for best paranormal and ARRA (Australian Romance Readers Association) awards. Her novel ‘Dead, Actually’ (Allen & Unwin) was nominated for a Davitt Award, (Best crime novel, Sisters In Crime) in the YA section. Dividing her time between teaching and writing, Kaz formerly tutored Creative Writing for CSU’s Enrichment Program as well as teaching and creating courses for the Australian College of Journalism.
Having always had a love of cozy mysteries, Kaz is having so much fun writing her Hart of Texas Mystery Series for TULE Publishing, that she worries it’s not legal!
With their family grown and gone, Kaz lives with her wonderful husband at beautiful Lake Macquarie, Australia, a place she describes as a strip of land between the ocean and lake. Like Rosie, Kaz loves to bake and grow vegetables and unlike Rosie, manages to make a mess of every crochet task she undertakes.
Who doesn’t love a good mystery? As human beings we’re naturally curious and want to know what happened, when it happened, who did it, and why. In crime fiction, we refer to the three M’s: motive (why), means (how), and moment (opportunity, or when). Putting the pieces
together to reveal the whole picture and solve the crime can be very satisfying (especially if you guess whodunnit!). So is the sense of justice when the culprit is caught. Order is restored.
My main character in Room for Suspicion, the first of my Cluttered Crime Mysteries, loves creating order out of chaos. Crystal (Crys) Ward is a professional organizer, which means she helps people declutter their spaces, whether it’s a basement, garage, entire house, or office.
Clearing a drawer, closet, or room and then organizing it to meet her client’s current needs is more satisfying to Crys than a cheese Danish from Milow’s Bakery. As with a good mystery, order is restored when she’s finished, allowing her clients’ lives to move forward.
I’ve always been drawn to self-help books and love organizing hacks. When I was thinking of a career for Crys, I knew I had to choose a profession that would bring her into people’s homes and even allow her to uncover their secrets. Sometimes just seeing how people live tells a lot about them. In this novel, Crys’s client Farrah is a neat person with minimal clutter who just wants professional help reorganizing her home office for greater efficiency. She’s expecting a promotion and preparing to move forward in her career. That’s all great, but doesn’t the lack of
mementos, photos, and other personal items also say something about this character? Maybe she’s all business—a workaholic with no hobbies or social life. Then again, she might just be a minimalist who believes less is more. But what if she’s put her past behind her and doesn’t
want reminders of the not-so-good old days? Her office may also offer to clues to her personality (unsentimental, no nonsense) by what’s NOT there as well as what is. As a writer, I have to consider what message or mood my setting will communicate to the reader. It’s another piece of the puzzle.
Now you might assume that Crys would be super organized at home, with uncluttered rooms and drawers that look like Marie Kondo just paid a visit. Alas, that’s not the case. Did I mention that Crys has two children, ages twelve and fourteen? Or that she lives in an older bungalow in
Chicago that had to be modified five years ago to accommodate her husband’s wheelchair and special needs? Or that the parlor they converted into their new master bedroom doesn’t have a closet? Crys does the best she can. Her secret failure to practice what she preaches is an unexpected twist that makes her human and hopefully more relatable. She’s not perfect, but she is ambitious. As soon as she can afford more renovations, she’ll fix her home’s problems and restore order. Unfortunately, discovering a dead man at Farrah’s house may end her career, especially if her client is arrested for murder.
Writing a mystery is like putting a 5000-piece jigsaw together, or piecing a quilt, which I also enjoy doing. I have to make sure all of the clues, red herrings, and suspects appear when they need to but not too soon. I have to have multiple characters who could have committed the crime. The three M’s apply to suspects as well as the killer. Perhaps they were at or near the murder scene when it happened. Or maybe they had compelling reasons to harm the deceased. They could have had access to the cause of death—the smoking gun, a deadly poison, or the nylon stocking used to strangle the victim. Nothing can be too obvious, or a dead giveaway (no pun intended). Few people have nylon stockings these days, so it would be too obvious for the eighty-year-old former Rockette with a drawer full of nylons from the 1960s to have done it.
She had to have been framed! Yes, there are always twists in a good mystery, too. I won’t make it easy for you, but I promise the pieces (or clues) will finally fit together providing you with the full picture.
I hope you enjoy Room for Suspicion. The second book in the series, Deadlier Than Fiction, will be published by Tule on September 7. Meanwhile, I’d love to hear about your favorite organizing hacks. What tricks do you have for staying on top of clutter?
About the Author
Carol Light is an avid reader and writer of mysteries. She loves creating amateur sleuths and complicating their normal lives with a crime that they must use their talents and wits to solve. She’s traveled worldwide and lived in Australia for eight years, teaching high school English and learning to speak “Strine”. Florida is now her home. If she’s not at the beach or writing, you can find her tackling quilting in much the same way that she figures out her mysteries—piece by piece, clue by clue.
