In my next book, The Lies I Tell, I explore the world of con artist Meg Williams. However, I also dive deep into the mind and professional desires of investigative journalist Kat Roberts, a woman whose career was derailed by Meg, and who now wants revenge of her own. I spent a lot of time…
For decades, patrons of the New Orleans landmark restaurant Commander’s Palace were greeted by the beaming smile of proprietor Ella Brennan. Prompted by her leadership, the quaint Victorian eatery perched on a picturesque corner of the Garden District across the street from a centuries-old cemetery became an award-winning purveyor of Creole haute cuisine. Ella was…
Writers use many things to subtly establish a character’s personality in a story. The type of clothing a character chooses to wear can paint a vivid picture of the character’s persona, as does the way they style their hair, the type of car they drive, where they live, and how they decorate their home. Their…
All the titles in my Kinship Mystery Series, inspired by Ohio’s true first female sheriff in 1925, have co-narrators. In each novel, Sheriff Lily Ross shares her investigations from her point of view. She’s joined by a co-narrator in each novel who might just have a different perspective on Lily and on Lily’s case and,…
Curfew was a strange book to write. When I told people what I was working on—that I was writing a novel about a near-future Britain in which all men are electronically tagged and not allowed out after 7 P.M.—women would laugh, and men would turn pale and ask me if I was serious. Like so…
A locked-room mystery is the ultimate puzzle. Not only is the mystery plot fairly clued, so the reader can match wits with the detective, but the crime itself appears to be truly impossible. This style of mystery had its heyday in what’s known as the Golden Age of detective fiction, a period loosely defined as…
I’ve always been fascinated by cold cases. I’ve often thought about why—is it because I love mysteries? Is it about human nature and the need for answers? Is it a bit darker than that…a fascination with the unknown or the unknowable, or an interest in the murder of strangers? Whatever the reason, I’m not the…
We teamed up with six mystery writers to create a short story in real-time. The end result was “All Too Well” which you can read in full below! A special thank you goes out to the participating authors (in order of appearance): Gigi Pandian, Samantha Jayne Allen, Anna Downes, Camilla Sten, Alex Finlay, and Stacy…
When I first started reading, I thought of fiction and non-fiction as two sides of the same coin, one nation perhaps, but cut in half. They were East and West Berlin, always divided, and with a heavily guarded border running down the middle, an impenetrable wall that could never come down. Then I read James…
Two billion books and counting. Agatha Christie is not only the best-selling fiction author of all time, she’s a cultural icon, almost synonymous with mystery itself. Whether you’re a seasoned Christie fan who’s read every single one of her sixty-six detective novels, or just setting out on the great treat of discovering her work, these…
