An Interview With Ashley-Ruth Bernier

by Grace Topping

 

The Bush Tea Murder

Food journalist Naomi Sinclair doesn’t expect a side of murder with her passion fruit juice. But when her return to Saint Thomas heralds a series of troubling cases, ranging from petty theft to cold-blooded murder, that threaten her tight-knit community, that is exactly the kind of unsavory treat she must sink her teeth into.

Luckily for her neighbors, Naomi is as adept at solving puzzles as rolling johnnycake dough—a good thing, since her island community, though small, keeps serving up plenty of trouble. With the help of her friends and her crush, Mateo, Naomi must navigate the tumultuous turquoise waters of life in the Caribbean, all as her beloved father battles an illness that keeps tugging her back to her island amid her rising career stateside.   www.amazon.com

 

 

Ashley-Ruth Bernier enjoys writing mysteries, but she especially loves introducing readers to the vibrant culture of her home in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Her first novel, The Bush Tea Murder, was published this spring, and the setting was so well done that it could be considered another character in her book. It was a pleasure talking to Ashley-Ruth about her novel and short stories. The Bush Tea Murder is a delight to read, both for the mystery and her clever and humorous analogies.

 

 

Welcome to Writers Who Kill, Ashley-Ruth.

 

Your short story, “Six-Armed Robbery” won the Agatha Award recently for Best Short Story. What inspired you to write crime fiction?

I’ve ALWAYS wanted to write mysteries. I've been fascinated by the genre ever since I was a kid, watching Murder, She Wrote on the big TV in my grandmother’s living room or reading Encyclopedia Brown. I loved the fair play of a good whodunit because I got to look for clues as the story unfolded. It’s a genre that feels participatory like none other. 

I tried writing mysteries for years, but I could never get them quite right. There was something eluding me, and I couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. Then I wrote “Rise,” my first mystery short featuring Naomi Sinclair, and I realized what I’d been missing before. I’d been trying to write stories set in old manor houses or in big, flashy cities, because I thought that’s where such stories had to take place in order to be taken seriously. It wasn’t until I embraced the setting I knew most intimately—my home island, where I grew up and where my family had lived for generations—and put personalities and dynamics I understood on the page that my stories found success. I’m truly grateful that my stories have been embraced by readers and other authors.

 

Here’s another big part of my inspiration: I’ve spoken about this often, but I rarely saw sleuths who looked like me in books, TV shows, or other media when I was growing up. It’s important to me that readers see Black women having adventures, too—solving mysteries, analyzing clues, being the main character in stories, and saving the day.

 

You have published short stories in some prestigious magazines like Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Weekly, and Caribbean Writer. You also have stories in Malice Domestic’s Mystery Most Devious and Mystery Most Humorous anthologies. What motivated you to branch out and write a novel?

 

Well, I kind of took the middle road. The Bush Tea Murder is a hybrid—it’s what is referred to as a “novel-in-stories,” a large overarching mystery with six shorter mysteries embedded within, all of which lead toward the solution of the big puzzle. It started when I wrote “Rise”, a short story about a stolen johnnycake recipe, and before I finished the last lines of that story, I had ideas for several other short stories featuring Naomi, wild crimes, and Virgin Islands cuisine. I wrote eleven of them over the course of two years. My goal? To sell the work as a short story collection, one in which the stories were linked by a loose arc.

   

When my agent sold the collection, my editor at Crooked Lane asked me if I could take the linked stories a step further by writing a narrative that pulled them all together. It felt daunting at the time, but the more I wrote, the more I realized that I knew these characters and Naomi’s story well enough that the big story—the actual “bush tea murder”—wound up being very easy to write!

    

…that being said, I’ve also written traditionally plotted novels featuring Naomi and her adventures. Fingers crossed I’ll be able to share those with readers eventually.

   

What do you find more challenging to write—short stories or novels?

 

Novels, for sure. It’s tough to sustain a narrative over 90K words—and this is from someone who enjoys “writing long.” I think the hardest part of a novel is pacing. I’m very wordy, and it’s easy to think that there’s space to spread out and include details and extras because there’s a larger word economy. However, there are beats that readers expect, and the story still has to move along while including all of those beats, so there shouldn’t be as much “spreading out” as I’d like. Short stories are easier for me. I’ve written enough of them now that I understand exactly what I can do in the word budget I have—if I can include a subplot, an extra red herring, or a fun connection. 

Are all of your short stories set in the U.S. Virgin Islands? 

 

I would say about 90 percent of them are, and the ones that aren’t will always mention it somewhere or include a character from there. Some writers are fluent in several different languages. Writing about St. Thomas is like that for me. I feel “fluent” in including characters, settings, and dynamics from home. I’ve lived in North Carolina for over ten years now, and occasionally I’ll include settings that are familiar to me, like a story taking place in a school or classroom. But in terms of culture, I’ll always write about the one I know best.

   

Two years ago, I was invited to write a story for Michael Bracken’s Chop Shop series, which takes place in Dallas. Writing about a city I didn’t know very well was a fun challenge, and I learned a lot about the area through research and talking to other writers from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. My character in that story was originally from St. Thomas, though–I had to pull the VI in somehow. Hopefully, that story will be out in the world soon. 

 

The Bush Tea Murder features culinary journalist Naomi Sinclair. What is a culinary journalist? How does a culinary journalist differ from a food critic? Do all of your stories feature food or recipes?

 

Naomi is someone who examines food rather than evaluates it. She writes about the process, the history, the preparation, and the origin of dishes. She also interviews the chefs who prepare them.  I needed her to be more than just a critic for a few reasons. First, I needed her to be skilled and savvy with her interviews, since as a sleuth, she’d need to get clues and information from the people she speaks to. But more importantly, I needed her to think deeply and analytically about food so that I could make a deeper connection between the food, the crime, and the theme in her short mysteries. 

   

Not all my stories feature food or recipes, but many of them do. My short story, “A Li’l Something Extra,” which was published by Rock and a Hard Place as the July 2024 Stone’s Throw pick, was about a new bride who uses her husband’s love of food as a way to his heart…literally.

 

What is bush tea? Is it something that can only be found in the islands?

 

There are many herbs that are traditionally chosen for a cup of bush tea—balsam and lemongrass are two favorites in the Virgin Islands. Balsam is what many people refer to as sweet basil. My grandmother would send me outside to pick some leaves from her plants to make a big pot of bush tea on Sunday mornings. Some people will add some mint leaves as well. 

   

Personally, I like my balsam tea with brown sugar and a splash of milk from the can, like Naomi does. Other people can’t imagine adding milk to theirs. I think we can all agree it’s the perfect way to start your day, especially if you have some dumbread or a traditional VI breakfast to go along with it.

 

The Bush Tea Murder has been very well received, gaining acknowledgement for being so authentic. What do you think accounts for it being viewed as authentic?

  

It really means so much to me that it’s been so well received. It feels authentic because it is. I tried my best to use real settings, landmarks, and history where I could…and if I needed to make something up, I made it as familiar as possible. For example, Pereira’s Fruits and Produce isn’t a real produce store on-island, but readers from St. Thomas would likely think of Fruit Bowl, a real establishment, when reading “Strain,” the fifth short mystery in the book.     

When I first began to write the short stories that make up the bulk of the book, one early beta reader suggested I spend more time writing about the more spectacular parts of the island—beaches and vistas. I didn’t want to do that, though. While those are definitely lovely parts of the island to share, my goal was to invite readers into some of the real spaces in Naomi’s island life—porches, restaurants, and kitchens.

 

Does your large and vibrant family in the islands provide fodder for your stories? Have family members ever accused you of including them and their adventures in your works?

   

Ha ha. Nobody’s accused me of including them in my work yet, although I have a lot more stories to tell, and they have a LOT more reading to do. I frequently get asked which senator inspired slimy Lucky Simons in “Ripen,” though. 

 

You include recipes in your book. Are these tried and true family recipes?

 

They are definitely tried and true. The johnnycake recipe is the one I use without fail, but mine are different from others in my family, like my grandmother and my mother-in-law. My grandmother’s johnnycakes were thicker and more dense. My mother-in-law uses shortening in hers, which gives them a fantastic texture and taste. Mine are light and fluffy. I hope my kids eventually use my recipe, but if they find another that makes them feel happy and connected to our culinary canon, that’s fine, too.

 

I also include an ice cream recipe. I make a lot of ice cream with my ice cream machine at home, and I love being able to add purees of fruits I love. We have made mango, soursop, and guava ice cream.

 

With a family and a full-time job as a first-grade teacher, when do you find time to write?

 

Well, it was a lot easier before our sweet little surprise Quinn arrived this February. Our other kids are teens and tweens, and when they were old enough to play independently, I found it easier to make time for writing however I could manage it. I could write while they played at the pool, or during a baseball practice, or while I chaperoned band camp, or while waiting in the carpool line to pick up kids after play rehearsal. My husband is also very helpful, and a huge supporter of my writing life. 

Being a first grade teacher means that I get summers off, so that means a nice wide-open schedule for writing. Baby Quinn is still figuring out what a schedule is, though, so I have not been as productive as I usually am this time around.

 

What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned since you started writing?

 

Besides making time for writing wherever and whenever I can, I think the most valuable thing I’ve learned is the generous and welcoming nature of the mystery and crime writing community. Within Sisters in Crime, the Guppies chapter, Crime Writers of Color, the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and especially my SinC critique group, I’ve made so many wonderful writer friends and have gotten to know some of the most talented authors around. I hope to be able to give back to the community that has given me so much.

 

What next for Naomi Sinclair?

 

I have so, so many more of her stories to share—some that I’ve already written, some that are currently being written, and some that are still waiting their turn in the queue in my head. I really hope to be able to share them all with readers over time. There’s no shortage of delicious Virgin Islands cuisine to write about, either. 

 

Thank you, Ashley-Ruth. You’ve made me yearn for a trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands.

 

 

Grace Topping is the author of the Laura Bishop Mystery Series.