An Interview with Sherry Harris

Stolen during a town-wide yard sale organized by main character, Sarah Winston, a cherished and valuable painting and its copy become the focus of criminal activity in The Longest Yard Sale by Sherry Harris—until the body of a local businessman is found in the shop of Sarah’s friend Carol. To keep Carol out of jail, Sarah must piece together the facts to find the killer. 

Although Sherry Harris’s garage-sale mysteries focus on Sarah’s knack for finding valuables at garage and yard sales, I found myself getting hungry while reading this book due to the great food described within its pages, the second in her series, which will be released by Kensington on June 30th. From fluffernutters and roast beef sandwiches to pizza, wine, and chocolate mousse cannoli or tiramisu, the food will have you gaining weight without eating—not fair, Sherry! Sarah probably won’t be gaining weight, though, since her infatuation with two men will burn through enough calories. 

Please welcome Sherry Harris back to WWK.                                                                 E. B. Davis

First some terminology. Please define what the military calls a—

Call sign: It’s a nickname -- think of Tom Cruise being called Maverick in the movie Top Gun. Call signs originated with aviators but have spread beyond them.

Missileer: This is the short name for a missile launch officer. The men and women who go under ground behind steel blast doors, hoping they never have to do their job and turn the keys.

Fast burner: A fast burner is someone who is promoted early.

Blowback: When something goes wrong, whether it’s your fault or not, but you ultimately have to take responsibility for the mistake.

Goat-rope: A situation that goes horribly wrong.

As well as—

Fluffernutter: It’s the Massachusetts state sandwich and is made with Marshmallow Fluff (invented and made in Massachusetts) and peanut butter on white bread.

Sarah Winston is hired by the town manager of her adopted town, Ellington, Massachusetts, to organize and run New England’s Largest Yard Sale, a town-wide event. How did she get the job, and what else does newly divorced Sarah do to earn a living?

Sarah had the idea for New England’s Largest Yard Sale and started a business helping people with their yard sales so she was the natural choice. When Sarah runs a yard sale for someone she takes a percentage of their sales as pay.

The town owns a Patrick West painting, Battled, which is on display at the library. During the largest yard sale, an all-day event, the painting is stolen.  Is the painting real or fictitious?

The painting is fictitious. Ellington is a fictional town but based on the real town of Bedford, Massachusetts. The Bedford Free Library proudly displays the Bedford Flag which is the oldest complete flag known to exist in the United States. It got me to thinking about what would happen if something a town loved was stolen. I came up with a painting for a variety of reasons.

Why didn’t her ex, police-chief CJ Hooker want the town to hold this event?

Any time a small town is going to have an huge influx of people, it’s left to the police department to make sure everyone is safe. CJ worried that his small force might not have the manpower to deal with problems -- from traffic to crimes -- that might occur.

Sarah’s friend Carol Carson, who owns Paint and Wine, was in the process of painting a reproduction of Battled, but it, too, is stolen. Why was she painting a copy of it? 

An anonymous person hired Carol to make a copy of the painting. They represented themselves as being a big fan of Revolutionary War history and thought the painting would complement their collection. Carol was will to make a copy but planned to sign her own name on the painting.

Sarah runs into an old friend, Davis “Bubbles” Jackson, who is dating Sarah’s landlady, Stella Wild. Sarah finds out that David, along with business partner Terry McQueen, owns a financial planning business. Do military officers often have civilian careers/businesses?

It isn’t unheard of but also isn’t the norm. When people like Bubbles know they are going to retire they could start setting up their own business so when they retire everything is in place. You couldn’t sell your product back to the military or pressure people that work for you to do anything for your business. The two jobs could not be mixed in any way.

The DiNapoli family, friends and confidants to Sarah, own a local restaurant. Describe the restaurant and its menu to our readers, please.

DiNapoli’s Roast Beef and Pizza is a family owned business, nothing fancy, great food, good prices. I’d never heard of Roast Beef and Pizza places until we moved to New England. Most of them are mom and pop shops where lots of sandwiches, salads, and of course pizza are served. DiNapoli’s isn’t large -- one side is the kitchen and the counter where you order and the other is a line of tables and chairs. No cloth tablecloths or napkins to be seen although Angelo is certain he can out cook the most famous chefs.

How does the restaurant management get around the liquor laws? How did Carol’s new business get a liquor license before DiNaopli Roast Beef and Pizza? Is this why the family doesn’t like Carol? And yet they do help her.

The DiNapoli’s only have “cooking” wine because they don’t have a liquor license but they give their close friends wine in kiddie cups with lids. Angelo wants to know the same thing -- how did Carol get a permit? And even though Angelo isn’t happy about the situation, he helps Carol by making sure she has a good lawyer -- his cousin Vincenzo.

Your red herrings are delicious snack for mystery fans. How do you concoct plausible red herrings?

Oh, thank you, Elaine! The important thing is to make sure several characters have motive and opportunity to commit the crime.

After CJ implored Sarah to get back together, Sarah decides he’s right. By then CJ tells her he’s dating someone else. Spite?

Why are romantic relationships fraught with irony? I don’t think it was spite -- it was more about bad timing. It’s no fun if things go too smoothly!

What’s next for Sarah, and how will she make a living over the cold winter?

Sarah is pretty concerned about what she will do. In All Murders Final, Sarah starts a virtual garage sale site and is running a February Blues community garage sale for Fitch Air Force Base. Hopefully, she’ll be able to make enough money to last through the winter.

Do you really eat Fluffernutter sandwiches?

For the sake of research I bought a jar of Marshmallow Fluff (no substitutes!), peanut butter, and white bread. I made a sandwich and then another -- just to make sure I had the proportions right! It’s hard to beat that sweet/salty combination. My husband is a big fan but keeping all that in the house is risky!

EBD: Readers—Do you have any really terrible comfort food you secretly eat?  I’ll tell you mine, if you tell us yours, and mine includes peanut butter and Marshmallow Fluff, too!