Dr. Georgia
Thackery is back at home with her parents after finding a new adjunct position
at Bostock College. Everyone is excited for their first family Christmas with
nothing to hide. Why? Because Georgia’s daughter Madison is now in the know
about Sid, their walking, talking family skeleton.
But their Christmas cheer is interrupted when the Thackerys' dog Byron goes missing on a cold December night. When he’s finally found, he has a femur clutched between his jaws, and Georgia and Madison race to apologize to Sid for letting the dog gnaw on him yet again.
Except that all of Sid’s bones are present and accounted for.
This bone is from somebody else, and when they trace Byron’s trail to an overgrown lot nearby, they find the rest of the skeleton. It’s the normal kind, not moving or telling jokes, and when the police come to take charge, they’re sure it was murder.
And one of Georgia’s adjunct friends could be implicated.
With tensions stirring at the college and everyone hiding a secret or two, Sid and Georgia must uncover the truth before the ghost of a Christmas past strikes again.
But their Christmas cheer is interrupted when the Thackerys' dog Byron goes missing on a cold December night. When he’s finally found, he has a femur clutched between his jaws, and Georgia and Madison race to apologize to Sid for letting the dog gnaw on him yet again.
Except that all of Sid’s bones are present and accounted for.
This bone is from somebody else, and when they trace Byron’s trail to an overgrown lot nearby, they find the rest of the skeleton. It’s the normal kind, not moving or telling jokes, and when the police come to take charge, they’re sure it was murder.
And one of Georgia’s adjunct friends could be implicated.
With tensions stirring at the college and everyone hiding a secret or two, Sid and Georgia must uncover the truth before the ghost of a Christmas past strikes again.
Leigh Perry is a pseudonym for Toni L. P. Kelner, who wrote
the “Where Are They Now” and Laura Fleming Southern mystery series. She’s won
many awards and co-authored numerous anthologies with Charlaine Harris. No
wonder she’s now writing a cozy paranormal series, The Family Skeleton mysteries.
I’m a big fan of this subgenre.
Georgia Thackery is an adjunct
college professor whose best friend is a living skeleton, Sid. The mysteries
Georgia and Sid solve often occur at the colleges where Georgia teaches. Because
she’s an adjunct professor, she often moves each new semester to a different
college, and with a few exceptions, her colleagues change. The recurring
secondary characters are Georgia’s family—her high-school-age daughter,
Madison, Madison’s dog, Byron, Georgia’s sister, Deborah, and their parents,
tenured college professors.
The series is well-crafted, fun to
read, and gives insight into the Thackery’s lives in academia. The Skeleton Stuffs a Stocking is the
sixth book in this series and ends with what I consider a Christmas gift to
readers. I’ll say no more.
Please welcome, Toni/Leigh to WWK. ____ _________ E. B. Davis
Did you start your career as a college professor? On the
tenure track or adjunct? I’m so flattered that you asked this, but no, I’ve never
been a college professor of any description. I know a lot of academics, and the
background in these books comes from a combination of speaking to those friends
and online research.
I didn’t know that college
professors had unions, like public school teachers do. I’ve never heard of
strikes on college campuses. Is this more common than I know? Are the unions
only at public colleges? It varies a lot. Some schools have them, some don’t.
There was a recent strike to allow a union of grad students, and there are
adjunct unions in some places, but not all. In other words, it’s a perfect
situation for a mystery writer because I can make the internal reality match my
plot.
Sid’s vitality and life itself
hinges on how others need him, his interests, and if he fulfills a function,
especially in Georgia’s life. Is this unique to living skeletons or are regular
people dependent on the same things? I think so. I’m reminded of all those people
who retire, and don’t feel they have reason to get up in the morning. Or, in my
case, an empty-nester whose day is suddenly much emptier. (Don’t worry—I’m managing
to fill in the gaps.)
Even though Georgia considers Sid her best friend, what
sacrifices has she made to keep Sid in her life? It was probably harder when she was a young
girl, when she had to keep Sid’s existence a secret. Secrecy is wearing on a
person, and she probably hated that she couldn’t take her bestie out shopping
or to parties with her. (She had other more typical friends, but they haven’t
been mentioned in the books yet.) As an adult, she has to be a little more
careful about people she lets into her life, but I don’t think she considers it
a sacrifice. The way I think of it is this. I’m hard of hearing, and because of
that, my husband has to make adaptations when speaking, and he’s used to
repeating things I might not have heard. It can be annoying, but it’s worth it
for the benefits of the relationship. (Since we’ve been married 31 years, I
think I’m safe in saying that he doesn’t mind too much.)
Sid lives in the same house with
Georgia’s professor parents and they’re aware of Sid, but they don’t seem to
have a relationship with him. Why not? Phil and Dab are busy academics, and have
grad students coming in and out of the house. While Georgia could sneak off to
spend time with Sid, her parents just didn’t have the time. Then Madison came
along, and Sid sequestered himself, and when Georgia moved out, he got used to
being alone in the attic. It was complicated by the fact that Deborah,
Georgia’s sister, didn’t want to interact with Sid for a long time. Families
fall into odd habits sometimes.
Do Sid and Georgia fight? Not often,
but sure they get cranky at one another in the books now and then. You spend
enough time with anybody, you’re going to snap sometimes.
I’m surprised that Georgia kept Sid
a secret from her daughter, Madison, until she was in high school. Georgia met
Sid when she was a child. Why and how did she hide Sid from Madison? That was
Sid’s decision, not Georgia’s. Part of the reason is a plot reveal in the first
book, so I won’t go into details, but part of it was the worry that a small child
wouldn’t be able to keep the secret of Sid’s existence. The how was easy.
Georgia and Madison moved out of the Thackery house when Madison was very
young, so Sid only had to make himself scarce during visits. Why would Madison
go into the Thackery attic?
I’m also surprised that Sid has no
recollections of his life as a person. Did he have a rebirth? Why isn’t he more
curious about who he was? His first memory is of waking up as a skeleton, and even
if he had been curious, he wouldn’t have known where to start looking for more
information. There’s also some denial going on. If he thinks about his past
existence, he’ll start thinking about how he went from living-breathing person
to semi-living-skeleton. That’s an uncomfortable thing to think about. It just
didn’t come up, and by the time the books start, Sid had been dead longer than
he was alive.
How does Sid contribute to cases
when he can’t be known by others? Sid is great at brain-storming, despite the
lack of a brain, and he usually handles the computer stuff and paperwork as
needed. Plus, he can make phone calls and send emails. Where he excels is
surveillance, because he only needs his skull and a hand to watch and report
suspicious activities. There have even been rare times when he’s supplied the
muscle. So to speak.
In The Skeleton Stuffs a Stocking, Sid doesn’t seem interested in the
case when a skeleton is found in the neighborhood even after Georgia finds out
it is a case of murder. Is he sandbagging Georgia or is he absorbed in Christmas? A little of
both. He doesn’t see a way for them to get into the case at first, and he is
excited about Christmas. But he’s also making the point that Georgia always
defers to him in getting involved—he wants to make sure she enjoys their
investigations as much as he does.
Charles, a fellow adjunct and
friend, confesses that he knows the identity of the victim. Wasn’t he aware of
the missing-person investigation into her disappearance? The
missing-person investigation took place in a different town, and for reasons
explained in the book, weren’t particularly vigorous. So no, he never knew.
Do you think there are as many
helicopter parents as there are those who neglect their kids? I think
helicopter parents are more obvious—they’re louder. Neglect can be silent and
harder to detect.
Georgia is an English professor. Her sister, Deborah, is a
locksmith. How can they be so different? I’m a former tech writer who writes
mysteries. One of my sisters is a fulltime home caregiver, and another is a
retired teacher’s aid. The third’s last job was a cashier at a package store.
I’m used to sisters being wildly different.
Why does Deborah only tolerate Sid?
Was she jealous? Deborah has always been more rooted in what she considered
the real world rather than her parent’s ivory tower or her little sister’s
imaginary adventures. Sid just didn’t fit into her worldview. Plus, as a child,
she probably was a little jealous. As she got older, she was worried Sid was
holding Georgia back in life.
Who is Art Taylor? Did the real Art
Taylor, the award-winning mystery writer, lend his name to the book? Yes, I
shamelessly borrowed Art’s name. It was late and I couldn’t come up with a name
when I needed one. I did ask him, and if he hadn’t approved, I’d have changed
it.
When a connection is found between
the victim and the Fenton’s circus where Georgia found Sid, it necessitates a
visit to the owners of the circus, who happen to be the parents of her old
flame, Brownie. Why did Georgia and Brownie stop dating? To be
technical, it’s a carnival, not a circus. (Many circuses have a few carnival
rides, and many carnivals include a performance or two, so it can be
confusing.) The reason Georgia and Brownie quit dating is a little bit of a
spoiler, but basically it came down to a miscommunication.
Do carnies have their own
vocabulary? Absolutely! I’ve read that modern carnies don’t use as
much of the slang as they did in years past, but it’s still fun stuff. So I
created a character who is a longtime carnie and who likes trolling on people
to give me a reason to use it.
What’s next for Georgia and Sid? I should
start thinking about that. A wedding? Another mystery from Sid’s past?
Something involving Deborah? A live-action role-playing camp with Madison
taking part? Plenty of ideas, but I’m just not sure yet. I can pretty much
guarantee there will be bone puns.
