An Interview with Author Molly MacRae by E. B. Davis

 

When she’s not selling seashells by the North Carolina seashore from her shell shop, Maureen Nash is a crime-solving sleuth with a ghost pirate for a supernatural sidekick . . .

Maureen is still getting used to life on Ocracoke Island, learning how to play the “shell game” of her business—and ghost whispering with the spirit of Emrys Lloyd, the eighteenth-century Welsh pirate who haunts her shop, The Moon Shell. The spectral buccaneer has unburied a treasure hidden in the shop’s attic that turns out to be antique shell art stolen from Maureen’s late husband’s family years ago.

Victor “Shelly” Sullivan and his wife Lenrose visit the shop and specifically inquire about these rare items. Not only is it suspicious that this shell collector should arrive around the time Maureen found the art, but Emrys insists that Sullivan’s wife is an imposter because Lenrose is dead. A woman’s corpse the police have been unable to identify was discovered by the Fig Ladies, a group who formed an online fig appreciation society. They’re meeting on Ocracoke for the first time in person and count Lenrose among their number, so the woman can’t possibly be dead.

But Lenrose’s behavior doesn’t quite match the person the Fig Ladies interacted with online. Now, Maureen and Emrys—with assistance from the Fig Ladies—must prove the real Lenrose is dead and unmask her mysterious pretender before a desperate murderer strikes again . . .

Amazon.com

 

There’ll Be Shell To Pay is the second book in Molly MacRae’s Haunted Shell Shop mystery series. My interview with Molly on her first in this series, Come Shell Or High Water can be read here. Molly continues the adventures of main character, Maureen Nash, who became part of an amateur crime-solving team in the first book. They continue the investigation of another murder, but unbeknownst to the two other members of the team, there is another member who only Maureen (and it seems her children) can perceive—the ghost of an accidental pirate who haunts the shell shop.

 

The story takes place on Ocracoke Island, specifically in Ocracoke Village at its most southern tip. Because I live in nearby Hatteras Island, I not only can relate, but I also can verify many of the nuances Molly so effectively and accurately portrays.

 

Please welcome Molly, today’s WWK subject, as I interview her about the second book. We invite you to ask her questions in our comments section.

When Maureen gets off the ferry going from Hatteras to Ocracoke Island, (yes, there really is a ferry named Croatan) she experiences what her late husband described as the “Brigadoon” hypothesis. I can attest to this experience. In the Outer Banks, the National Park Service owns most of the beaches, and they are unreachable unless 4 Wheel driving. To get on the beach, most often, you must drive on a ramp (provided by NPS) up and over the dunes. When you crest the dune, you glimpse the ocean spread out before you—at its sight comes the “Brigadoon” moment. Molly, what is the “Brigadoon” hypothesis and what moments have you had?

 

The hypothesis (a made-up thing) is based on the classic musical, Brigadoon. In that story, an idyllic Scottish village appears out of the mists for only one day every 100 years. Maureen Nash’s late husband liked to think there are wonderful places like that in the real world, that they only appear as you approach them. Ocracoke Island has been like that for the Nash family who were only able to visit once a year at most. Ocracoke is like that for my family, too. So is Washington Island in Lake Michigan.

 

I never heard of a superstition about traveling on Mondays. What’s with that?

 

Dr. Irving Allred probably twisted a few superstitions together or read something in a book or online and forgot to note exactly where. He tells people that if you start a journey or vacation on a Monday you’ll drag all your bad luck along with you. There are Irish superstitions that caution against going into new situations on Mondays. Allred might have extrapolated from that.

 

Are there valuable shells?

 

Oh sure, though not in the same league as gems and jewels. The value depends on a number of things – size, scarcity, condition, etc. Glory of the Sea cone shells (Conus gloriamaris), were once thought to be the rarest shells in the world. In past centuries they sold for thousands of dollars. They have beautiful markings, like hieroglyphs, and grow to be just over 6 inches long. Only since diving technology improved, with scuba gear, has their habitat been discovered. They only live in deep water off the Philippines. They aren’t as rare as once thought, but they’re still valuable. They might sell for as much as $600, though they can also be found for less.

 

Why is it that I only like the other two members of her sleuth group, elderly brother and sister, Glady and Burt Weaver, sometimes? They don’t really seem like friends of Maureen because half the time they include her on the suspect list. Don’t friends believe in one another?

 

Glady and Burt are eccentric. And, to be fair, Maureen had suspicions about them in Come Shell or High Water. The three of them have only known each other for a few weeks. Considering all they’ve been through, in that short amount of time, they’re getting along pretty well.

 

The building housing The Moon Shell is actually owned by Glady and Burt. Maureen half suspects that they might sell the building out from under her. Why won’t they give her a long-term lease? I feel badly for Maureen inheriting a business without the building.

 

Maureen probably only one-quarter suspects they’ll sell the building out from under her. The shop has been there since at least the early seventies, though, and apparently there’s never been a lease. Plus, Maureen is trying out this new life. She might decide it isn’t for her and move back to Tennessee.

 

While Maureen was back in Tennessee packing up her possessions to move, Glady mounted a stuffed seagull from the ceiling in the shop where it peers at everyone. Why did she do that? What’s the gull’s name and why?

Glady thinks the seagull is perfect décor for an island shell shop. It’s also appropriate because it belonged to her mother, and the shell shop is in the house where Glady and Burt grew up. Their mother named the seagull Mrs. Bundy, after the ornithologist in the movie The Birds.

 

I know all of the shells you name except for an oyster drill. What’s that? Do you have a picture? It sounds like a bird, not a shell.

 

Oyster Drills, also known as American Whelk-tingles, are predatory sea snails found from Nova Scotia, in Canada, to Nassau Sound in Florida. They drill through the shells of oysters and eat them. Large numbers of them can wreck oyster and clam beds. Here’s a nice photo of an Atlantic Oyster Drill at WORMS, the World Register of Marine Species.

 

I was surprised that the shop carried shells that weren’t native to Ocracoke. Why have a Philippine Nautilus shell?

 

Dottie Withrow, the woman who started the shell shop, traveled the world with her diplomat husband. She collected shells wherever she went and stocked her shop with them. Her son, Allen, from whom Maureen inherited the shop, carried on the tradition of selling shells from around the world. He didn’t necessarily come by his stock honestly.

 

What is susurrus? I guess you really can’t hear the ocean if you listen for it inside a shell. But then, who would believe a word like susurrus?

 

A susurrus is a whispering or rustling sound. It’s an onomatopoeia—it sounds like what it is. It can be the whispering of leaves, or the sound of the sea’s gentle waves, or of ghosts gossiping in your attic.

 

Maureen’s cat, who came with the shop, is named Bonny after pirate Anne Bonny. Who was she?

 

Anne Bonny, an Irishwoman born in 1697, was one of the few known female pirates during the Golden Age of Piracy. She sailed with Jack Rackham, also known as Calico Jack.

 

I thought bear paws were a pastry made with almond paste. What are bear paws candies?

 

Bear paws are like turtle candies—a mounded patty of caramel and nuts covered in chocolate. Bear paws are bigger, though, and have some of the nuts stuck along one edge to look like a bear’s claws. Cashews are especially effective.

 

Glady and Burt tell Maureen about a woman’s body being found near the inlet. They also tell her of a couple who came into the shop looking for the former owner, who was murdered. Glady broke the news to them. They introduced themselves as Shelly and Lenrose Sullivan. When Maureen meets them a few days later, they seem very interested in shell art, which was the property of Maureen’s husband’s family. Why does this make Maureen suspicious of them?

 

Very few people know about the shell art. Allen Withrow, the previous owner of the shell shop, stole the art along with a valuable shell collection. Now here comes Shelly Sullivan telling Maureen he and Allen did business together and asking somewhat vague questions that might be about the art and the collection. Maureen is being careful as much as she’s being suspicious.

 

The history you present on William Howard, Blackbeard’s quartermaster is true. He was able to live when the other pirates were hanged, and came back to live on Ocracoke. (Some say his spirit is alive and pillaging tourists due to the prices charged at Howard’s Pub.) Have you gone through the graveyards on Howard St., which date all the way back to William?

 

I have. They’re wonderful. The oldest grave on Howard Street is that of William’s grandson, William III, who died in 1823.

 

Maybe because Maureen is the mother of two twenty-something young men, she gets along well with Deputy Matt Kincaid, and he seems to trust her. Tell our readers about him.

 

He’s a happy, eager guy. The kind of young man who jumps right in to help in any situation. After Hurricane Electra he got up on his grandparents’ roof to repair it, fell off, and broke his femur. He’s somewhat clumsy with his crutches—the way a bouncy young golden retriever might be.

 

What is sea shell folklore? What is shell art?

 

Shells have held significance in cultures at least since the stone age. Shell folktales are found all over the world. Here’s The Carabao and the Shell, a Philippine folktale.

 

Shellwork was a popular craft as far back as the 17^th century when European traders started bringing exotic shells home from faraway places. Crafters stuck shells on sewing boxes, jewelry boxes, picture frames, miniature sets of drawers, etc. They created miniature grottos out of shells and put creatures in them made of shells. Shells lend themselves to floral designs and artists created floral pictures out of them or floral bouquets they displayed in glass jars. As early as 1703 advertisements offering classes in shellwork appeared in newspapers. As you can imagine, antique shellwork can be quite valuable. Here are some pictures of 19^th century shellwork.

 

Did Edgar Allan Poe really write text books? One on shell species?

 

He only wrote one, as far as I know. He wrote The Conchologist’s First Book: A System of Testaceous Malacology, Arranged Expressly for the Use of Schools, in Which the Animals, According to Cuvier, Are Given with the Shells, A Great Number of New Species Added, and the Whole Brought Up, as Accurately as Possible, to the Present Condition of the Science. His work is a revised and updated edition of an earlier work. It’s the only book of his to go into a second printing in his lifetime. Some people accused him of plagiarizing the first book. He didn’t. He had a contract to revise and update the original. He did it because he needed the money. You can see the book here and download a digitized copy. It has nice illustrations.

 

Maureen finds out where the body was located, but when she does, she finds Emrys stuck in a loop at the site. How does Maureen get Emrys out of the loop so he can come back home to the shop?

 

She carefully wraps the moon shell—the large shell Emrys carved for his wife—and takes it to him, hoping he’ll see it and snap out of the loop. A loop is a pattern of repetition that some ghosts get stuck in.

 

I never heard that the inlet waters were tannin-stained. Where did that come from and why would they be?

 

The tannins come from rotting organic matter in the water—leaves, reeds, etc. The waters aren’t darkly stained. They look like weak tea rather than coffee.

 

Shelly Sullivan doesn’t value women. He wants to buy high-end shells from the shop’s owner, who he assumes is a man and Maureen just the shop girl. How did Maureen keep her cool?

 

She draws on her library training. Librarians rarely smack people.

 

I loved when Emrys quotes Shakespeare, Arthur Ashe, and Walt Whitman. They’re so good! Where do you find applicable quotes?

 

Emrys has me keep an eye out for quotes he might like.

 

Is the caveman mask experiment real?

 

Yes! Isn’t that cool? Here’s an article about in Science Advisor.

 

There so much backstory to tie up. There’s Maureen’s quest to find shell suppliers and delve into the boxes hidden by the former owner, Emry’s future, and whatever Maureen will do with the Sound front lot she inherited. What’s next for Maureen and Emrys?

 

I’ve just finished writing book 3, All Shell Breaks Loose. Tourist Martha Lee Wyatt-Beckington and her dog find an antique sword in the marsh. She picks it up and puts it in her car trunk. Later that morning she stops in the Moon Shell where Glady and Burt are telling Maureen what Irving Allred is crowing about—he’s buying a haunted pirate sword. Martha Lee mentions the sword she found and brings it in to show them. They, and Emrys, the ghost who haunts the shop, look at the sword and see what appears to be a bloodstain. Emrys also sees a ghost. Is this the sword Allred is buying? Is this new ghost a real bloody pirate? When Maureen and Martha Lee find a dead man not far from where she and her dog found the sword, all shell breaks loose.

 

 

An Interview with Heather Weidner By E. B. Davis

 

Love is in the air when Hollywood arrives in Mermaid Bay, and the town may never be the same. Fans will do almost anything to get a glimpse of the actors or a chance to be an extra in the Love Channel’s “My Coastal Valentine.” Crowds flock to the cozy beach town from all over and business is booming for Christmas shop owner, Jade Hicks, until the body of a testy reporter is found in one of the actors’ rooms. And if murder isn’t bad enough, someone tries to kill the show’s star, hunky Raphael Allard. The cozy little beach town feels cursed, as the Love Channel threatens to pull out of the project. Jade and the gang, Lorelei, Peppermint Patti, Bernie, Chloe, and Neville the Devil Cat, have to solve the crimes before it ruins the town’s reputation and breaks the hearts of fans across the country.

Amazon.com

 

Twinkle Twinkle Au Revoir by WWK’s Heather Weidner is the second book in the Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe mystery series. It was released on January 16^th. This is the first book I’ve read in the series, but you can catch up by reading the first book, Sticks and Stones and A Bag of Bones.

 

Welcome to the flip-side of WWK, Heather.                                                             E. B. Davis

Is Mermaid Bay based on a real place? Mermaid Bay is made up. I needed a quaint little beach community near the historic triangle of Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown. But it is based on a real place. I grew up in Virginia Beach, and there is a neighborhood that my parents lived in when they first got married. It’s Chick’s (or sometimes Chix) Beach near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. We used to go there all the time. It was the perfect beach away from all the tourist areas.

 

‘Tis the Season is the shop of main character Jade Hicks. Is her merchandise just devoted to Christmas? The focus is a Christmas store, but in her showrooms, she features themed ornaments for other holidays. In honor of the filming of “My Coastal Valentine,” she decorates the trees with hearts and cupids. (I’m working on Book 4 now, and a CreatureCon comes to town in that mystery. Jade and Patti had a ball decorating some of the trees with Big Foot, Nessie, Yeti, and Mothman ornaments.)

 

The Love Channel is filming in Mermaid Bay. What type of show is “My Costal Valentine?” This is loosely based on the television channels that air holiday romances and small-town mysteries. They are filming the Valentine-themed show in town, and everyone wants to get in on the act.

 

Jade has a French bulldog named Chloe. Her aunt Lorelei has a cat named Neville the Devil. They both bring their pets to work at the shop. How did Neville get his name? Do Chloe and Neville get along well? Chloe and Neville are frenemies who don’t want to admit that they really like the other. Chloe is a butterball of a dog who loves snacks, cuddles, and naps. She considers herself the queen of the store, but Neville the Devil Cat has other ideas. The tuxedo cat was a stray, who made himself at home. He’s a great mouser, and he loves to taunt and tease Chloe. Jade’s single Aunt Lorelei fell in love with Neville, and she takes him home on evenings and weekends. He’s living his best life.

 

The Hollywood people think that any publicity is good, but the town’s business owners beg to differ. What is their contention? Mermaid Bay, especially the old guard, strives to maintain the quaintness of the beach town, and they work had to ensure that it doesn’t become a beach mecca filled with McMansions, big box stores, and loud beach entertainment. The town folk like the idea of the good publicity from the Love Channel’s filming, but they are horrified at the cavalier and diva-like attitudes of the actors. They also don’t want the stain of a murder to tarnish the town’s reputation.

 

Does Ruby have personality problems? Every time she has a problem, she freaks out and calls Jade, like five times, whether it’s a PR issue or murder. What does she think Jade can do about any of it? Why does Jade run to her whenever she calls? Ruby is a tad high strung. She was friends with Jade’s grandmother, so there’s a connection that Jade feels obligated to help even when some of Ruby’s demands are a little over the top. Thankfully, after the Love Channel folks leave town, Ruby finally gets a much-needed vacation.

 

I was surprised that when the body of the reporter was found Nick, the sheriff and also Jade’s beau, wasn’t in attendance. Why were the state police called in? Aren’t the local investigators enough? Mermaid Bay is a tiny town with a limited police force. The smaller towns in Virginia often call upon other localities or the state police to help with large cases and detailed forensic work.

 

I admit to being confused. There were so many Valentine’s Day references, from ornaments, decorations, and cookies, I thought it was February when the action is set near Thanksgiving. Why were these items featured in the shop? Jade and Patti decorated the two large trees in the lobby for the filming of “My Coastal Valentine.” They pulled out all their decorations and special treats for the cast and crew because the store’s going to be featured in the show.

 

Jade is friends with Amy, who is the bookstore owner. Is Amy new to Mermaid Bay?  In Sticks and Stones and Bag of Bones, the local bookstore owner is brutally murdered, and Jade has to help solve the crime. Amy Pemberton arrives in town from Boston to take over her aunt’s store, and she and Jade become fast friends. She also has a store cat, Mr. Darcy, who is a long-haired Persian.

 

Is local reporter, Nell Jones, bad at her job or is she a good neighbor? Nell is always looking for her big break. She wants to do hard core news stories, but she works for a small- town weekly that specializes in puff pieces and town gossip (and coupons for the tourists). She likes being a writer, but she is always looking for that big story that will get her a byline.

 

Todd, another friend of Jade’s and new boyfriend of Amy, owns a hot dog joint on the beach. I was concerned about Jade when she ate there four times in one week, eating a Coney Island dog, a chili dog, a turkey dog, and a plain dog, but with tater tots. Does she really love hot dogs? How does Jade stay in shape? Jade has a junk food habit. She exercises, takes long walks with Chloe, and works incredibly long hours. She’s working on better eating habits in later books.

 

I can understand that Mermaid Bay might not have its own medical examiner or coroner, but having autopsies done in Richmond seems far away. Jade mentioned that Mermaid Bay is near to Yorktown, Williamsburg, and Jamestown. Doesn’t Yorktown have autopsy capabilities? In Virginia, the districts are Central (Richmond), Tidewater (Norfolk), Northern (Northern Virginia), and Western (Roanoke). The historic triangle (where Mermaid Bay is located) is pretty much halfway between Norfolk and Richmond.

 

Britt, a TV crew member says, “Nobody observes boundaries anymore.” (Page 63) Do you agree with her? The old guard in Mermaid Bay honors traditions and expects certain behaviors. They work hard to preserve the town’s traditions. I think culture and times are changing. We’ve relaxed a lot of expectations, and how we interact with technology has changed our culture tremendously. I think social media has changed how we react and interact with one another. People share and make comments online that I’m not sure they would if they were having a personal interaction.

 

I wondered, when Raphael seeks Jade out to help him figure out who is targeting him, did Ruby tell him to go to Jade? Raphael is gregarious, and he talks to everyone. From talking to some of the locals, he picked up that Jade had solved a murder in town and that she had a knack (or a passion) for sleuthing.

 

Why would Aunt Lorelei accuse Jade of avoiding her boyfriend, Nick? Jade and Nick have a good relationship, and they’re able to talk about some of the cases, but he does not want her involved in the investigations. And he certainly doesn’t want her poking around asking questions and putting herself in danger. Jade feels a little guilty that she’s been sleuthing and sticking her nose into Nick’s investigation.

 

Who is Lakeisha? She’s a friend of Todd’s. She helps him with some computer research.

 

What’s next for Jade and her gang? Book Three comes out next January. It’s called A Tisket a Tasket Not Another Casket. It’s the holiday season, and the town is sponsoring a fireworks contest. The winners will get the contract for the Memorial Day and Fourth of July firework shows for the summer season. Everyone is excited about the spectacular performances each team is planning until something goes terribly wrong, and an attempt to sabotage one of the competitors leads to murder. I’m also excited to announce that Level Best Books has extended the contract for Jade and the gang, so there will be three more books after this.

 

 

An Interview with Rhys Bowen By E. B. Davis

Londoner Madeleine Grant is studying at the Sorbonne in Paris when she marries charismatic French journalist Giles Martin. As they raise their son, Olivier, they hold on to a tenuous promise for the future. Until the thunder of war sets off alarms in France.

 

Staying behind to join the resistance, Giles sends Madeleine and Olivier to the relative safety of England, where Madeleine secures a job teaching French at a secondary school. Yet nowhere is safe. After a devastating twist of fate resulting in the loss of her son, Madeleine accepts a request from the ministry to aid in the war effort. Seizing the smallest glimmer of hope of finding Giles alive, she returns to France. If Madeleine can stop just one Nazi, it will be the start of a valiant path of revenge.

 

Though her perseverance, defiance, and heart will be tested beyond imagining, no risk is too great for a brave wife and mother determined to fight and survive against inconceivable odds.

Amazon.com

 

This is one of Rhys Bowen’s stand-alone novels that I look forward to reading. For those of you who subscribe, it is available through Kindle Unlimited. The Paris Assignment is set in France, England, and Australia during the years of 1931—1946. There are many crimes in this novel only some of which are war related. Others are personal vendettas, and some are crimes through neglect, laziness, or insensitivity—in other words—bureaucracy gone amuck during war.

 

Rhys writes two historical series. She knows the ins and outs of WWI and WWII in detail, which always provides for interesting reading. Please welcome Rhys Bowen back to WWK.    E. B. Davis

 

Madeleine’s mother was French and died a few years after her birth. Her father was English. They lived in England, where Madeleine grew up. Was she always bilingual? Did she want to teach French?

RHYS: Her mother had spoken to her in French but died when Madeleine was ten, so I’d say her French was a little rusty at the beginning of the book. I don’t think her aim was to teach. Just to enjoy life in Paris.

 

Why didn’t Madeleine keep up with her mother’s aunt, Tante Janine?

RHYS: After her mother died and her father married again she was shipped off to boarding school and probably had no way of keeping in touch.

 

When Madeleine became pregnant to Giles, I was surprised how supportive Tante Janine was—so unlike Giles’s mom. Did WWI open the eyes of her generation?

RHYS: I suspect she was very fond of Madeleine’s mother, thus has a soft spot for her daughter. Also, she realizes that she is alone and will need all the help she can get.

 

Giles says to Madeleine, “But one should never be safe and protected….To live with danger is to know that you are fully alive.” Madeleine believes Giles is right. Are they both rash and young? Does she still think so by the end of the book?

RHYS: This statement sums up Giles, doesn’t it? Part of the reason that Madeleine is so attracted to him. She has led a completely safe and boring life and he is showing her what’s possible. Would she have taken the same chances when she looked back over her life? I think she’d have done anything to help her husband and revenge her child.

 

There is a Parisian restaurant with the name Les Deux Magots. I’m hoping that magots in French doesn’t mean the same as maggots in English, does it?

RHYS: It’s a real café, still there. Magot doesn’t mean anything repulsive. It means something like a pile of money or a nest egg! 

 

Giles says that he was promised by his family to another woman, as in an arranged marriage. I knew that during Victorian times that happened, but it still happened then?

RHYS: Among aristocrats, especially in France, marriages were still arranged between families, to make sure the wealth and property were kept in the hands of the family.

Don’t forget Prince Charles’s marriage to Diana was arranged by the family not so long ago.

 

Giles is half Jewish. What was the Kristallnacht?

RHYS:November 1938 the Nazis attacked the Jewish population in various German cities, smashing windows of Jewish businesses, beating up and killing.

 

What was the Maginot Line?

RHYS: It was a supposedly impenetrable line of defense running along the French border with Germany—lots of concrete bunkers, hidden guns etc. They were sure the Germans could never cross. Instead, the German army came from the North through the Belgian forest.

 

Was an Anderson shelter a bomb shelter? Why the name Anderson?

RHYS: I presume Anderson designed it. At the start of the war every family was given corrugated iron and plans to make a shelter in their back garden. You had to dig down several feet, cover the top of the hole with corrugated iron then put the sods of grass on top so that it couldn’t be seen from the air.

 

Madeleine trains as a spy for the British. She goes through extensive training including, Morse Code, radio building and breakdown, sending and receiving signals, physical fitness training, self-defense training, mountain climbing, and skydiving. How long did spy training usually last? Were they really given cyanide capsules to eat if captured?

RHYS: The training was rushed through when the government realized they needed female operatives in France. It would have taken at least a couple of months, maybe longer. The important part was the psychological aspect—making sure you were training someone who would not crack. And yes, the most common cyanide pill container was in the button of a coat. Preferable to betraying colleagues under torture.

 

What is a Meccano set?

RHYS: An early building toy—metal rods that could be joined with nuts to make cranes and cars and buildings. They also came with a motor so that the cars would go.                                                                            

The women who trained for spying with Madeleine were very different from Madeleine, who is an academic. They range from a Moulin Rouge dancer to a debutante. The only thing they shared was a command of the French language. Was this the first time women didn’t experience the segregation of class?

RHYS: I’d say the first world war was the time women did not experience class distinction. Women worked together in the fields, in factories in WWI.

 

What is Printemps?

RHYS: It means springtime in French. It is also a famous department store in Paris: Au Printemps. It’s still there.

 

At the end of the book, you challenge readers to understand what happened at some of the Australian orphan camps, where the children were treated like slaves. What possessed the nuns to act in such an inhumane manner?

RHYS: I have to add that there were also some very kind and loving nuns, I’m sure. But there were enough reports that have just come to light recently of awful abuses to realize it was quite widespread. If you go back far enough imagine all those families in Ireland who had 12 kids. If the girls didn’t marry then the convent was one of the only options for them—thus very unsuitable people became nuns!

 

Did your family immigrate to Australia after the war? Why?

RHYS: My family migration started with me. I was working for the BBC in London when I was lured down to Australia to work for Australian broadcasting. I loved it, sent glowing reports and my brother followed me down to Sydney. Then I met and married my husband and moved to America, but my brother stayed (is still there) and my parents moved to be with him. So my whole family was in Australia until my parents died, and I went to visit every year.

An Interview with Carol J. Perry by E. B. Davis

 

Christmas lights on palm trees and Santa hats on plastic pink flamingoes are far from the snowy landscape Maureen and her beloved golden retriever, Finn, are used to. But Maureen is determined to make this a holiday to remember—which means finding a way to promote Haven House on a shoestring. Fortunately, Haven’s vintage movie theater, the Paramount, has come up with a great “Twelve Days of Christmas” idea. They’ll feature an impressive list of the best classic Christmas movies ever made—shown by one-time movie actor-turned-projectionist Decklin Monroe . . .
 
But nobody bothered to tell Maureen that the Paramount is haunted by the ghost of a man who was murdered a few years back. Haven’s top cop Frank Hubbard doesn’t believe in ghosts but, believing that Decklin Monroe was somehow involved, he wants a reluctant Maureen’s help. 
 
That plan is derailed when, on the first day of the festival, a fresh murder victim is found at the theater. Now Maureen has to defend her staff and guests, while trying to keep her high-spirited resident ghosts out of the picture—before they have company for the holidays . . .

Amazon.com

 

High Spirits is Carol J. Perry’s second book in the Haunted Haven series. It is set in a Florida Gulf town, and Maureen, the main character, never believed in ghosts, but as she settles into her new home, a historic inn, she starts to see ghosts, and then communicates with them. Carol also writes the Witch City mysteries, set in Salem, MA, featuring a main character who is a scryer—someone who can divine knowledge or future events via crystal or glass reflections.

 

Amid living with ghosts, Maureen must use marketing skills from her past life as a department store buyer to bring in business and do so on a shoe string as the former owner allowed mismanagement to erode the inn’s capital base. Her creativity is aided by the horde of decorations the previous owner stockpiled. Christmas decorations and marketing lead her to murder.

 

Please welcome Carol J. Perry back to WWK.              E. B. Davis

What draws you to write books within the paranormal mystery genre?

This one was mainly because the publisher asked me if I could write a paranormal series!  I’ve been drawn to the spooky stuff all along I guess, and have a fondness for “ghost stories.” My Witch City series isn’t classified as “paranormal,” but some weird stuff happens in all of them too.

 

Is the Mediterranean Revival Hotel real, or is it the style that is real? The 1887 Casa Monica hotel in St. Augustine where ghosts Lorna and Reggie go dancing is a real place. People have reported hearing waltz music late at night, and seeing a roomful of ghosts dancing gracefully in the lobby!

 

Maureen is using the hotel’s old guest registers and the tales of ghosts to renovate the hotel suites, naming them after famous guests like Humphrey Bogart and Babe Ruth. The townspeople prefer to keep their ghosts secret. Isn’t it a temptation for Maureen to use the ghost angle to market the inn, especially when she knows the ghosts are real? Nope. The people in Haven don’t want the ghost hunter TV shows or the amateur ghost hunters showing up with their recorders and special cameras trying to get ghostly images and such. They’re afraid it would spoil the town so locals vehemently deny that the ghosts exist.

 

Can Maureen wear clothing simultaneously when her ghost roommate, Lorna, borrows an item? I think she probably could, but I haven’t let her try it yet. I know when Lorna borrows a dress from Macy’s window, the mannequin is still wearing it.

 

The old Paramount Theater is showing old two-reel movies during the holidays. But they also have newer films that are run on one-reel film or digital imaging. Why did the owners ask Decklin Monroe to oversee the holiday showings?  Decklin is one of the few projectionists who can still operate the old two-reel projectors—tricky things to time and operate.

 

Annoying Officer Frank Hubbard questions Maureen about her spending time with Monroe in the movie theater. Why does he do so? Frank is investigating a cold case that involved Decklin many years ago. Maureen has also been in contact with a local business involving another person who was involved in that case. He wonders what Maureen’s connection is.

In the first book, Be My Ghost, Maureen receives a message from Zoltar, a fortune machine at the South of the Border Motor Inn. Where does she find the second message from Zoltar, who always seems to have messages from the dead? Is Maureen creeped out? Maureen is surely creeped out! Who wouldn’t be? But the previous message was so accurate, she feels that she must pay attention to it. She keeps both messages in her bureau drawer.

 

As much as Maureen’s dog Finn likes Lorna the ghost, the old owner’s cats, Bogie and Bacall, who Maureen inherited, don’t like Lorna. Why such a different response? Beats me.  But as Lorna says, “Cats are weird.” Bogie ignores her and Bacall seems to be amused by walking through her.

 

I had to laugh. Lorna embraces new technology. Has she mastered Alexa?  I’m not sure. I think she’d be suspicious about all that knowledge coming out of a machine. I don’t think she likes Siri either.

 

Ted, the inn’s chef, and Maureen decide on a “dinner and a movie” promotion using the Paramount’s Twelve Days of Holiday Films. What type of patron does the promotion attract?

Both Haven residents and the Inn’s patrons were targets of the advertising, which had to be done in a hurry. Ted produced a relatively inexpensive dinner followed by a popular wassail drink that everybody clearly enjoyed.

 

What was the relationship among the first victim, Buddy Putnam, who was murdered in the theater in 1975, Decklin Monroe, the second victim, and Harry Henshaw? Why were they in Haven? Harry and Decklin were involved in some crooked operations some fifty years ago. Buddy was a small-time hood who helped them out and was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

Maureen has a running list of all the renovations she’d like to make at the inn. What are the two biggest on her list? Why? The dining room takes priority. It is dingy and dated, yet it is an important part of the business. She has ideas for a gift shop too, and keeps thinking of other improvements she cannot afford yet.

 

I was surprised that Hubbard didn’t question the older staff members of the inn, who were around during the 70s when Putnam was killed. Wouldn’t they have more information than Maureen? Gert and George had information about Mrs. Henshaw, Molly was in Las Vegas at the time, and none of them traveled in the same circles as Decklin—who was in the movies, and Henshaw, who was wealthy.

 

Maureen yells at a ghost who is dating Lorna for smoking on the elevator. Wasn’t she afraid he might be angry? She runs a no-smoking establishment. She’d be angry with anyone who smoked there, especially a non-paying guest like Reggie!

 

What is the Greater Haven Improvement Fund and how did it relate to the inn? The town of Haven needed some places to attract visitors. The Greater Haven Improvement Fund was established to fund not only the inn, but the movie theater and the casino as well.

 

Why does Hubbard bug Maureen’s inn phone? Nosy, isn’t he? He’s looking for phone numbers called from the inn which might match up with some certain numbers he has.

 

What are Highwaymen paintings?  I love the story of the Highwaymen. When I was writing non-fiction articles for magazines before I became a fiction writer, I learned the story of these young black men (and one woman), who learned to paint fast, quite primitive paintings of Florida scenery, which they sold out of the backs of trucks along the highway for about $35 each. The inn, as well as many motels found them good for inexpensive décor. I’ve personally met quite a few of the Highwaymen and have written about them often. Now a Highwayman painting will cost many hundreds of dollars and one hangs in the governor’s office.

 

What is a “straw buyer?” A straw buyer is a person who will purchase something for another person who might not want his/her name attached to the transaction.

 

What’s next for Maureen, Ted, and Finn? I’m just now finishing up Book #13 in my Witch City series. I alternate between the two series. I’ll start Book #3 in the Haunted Haven books—working title is “Haunting License,” and since I’m a total “pantser”—I write by the seat of my pants—I don’t know what comes next. I love my characters. They help me a lot with the plots. Sometimes I feel as if I’m taking dictation from them! I think there’ll be some more improvements on the inn, and there may be some more ghosts. There’ll surely be a murder.