An Interview With the Authors of To Fetch a Killer

by Grace Topping

People love their pets and enjoy talking about them. Mystery writers go a step further and include them in their writing. It was a pleasure talking to the authors of To Fetch a Killer, the latest in the Mutt Mysteries Series, and hearing about their dogs and their short stories in the collection. 

 

To Fetch a Killer

Book 4 in the Mutt Mysteries Series

 

Four Fun “Tails” of Chaos and Murder

Contributing authors:

Maria Hudgins

Teresa Inge

Heather Weidner

Jayne Ormerod

It’s a dog-meet-dog world as a pack of canines team up with their humans to solve mysteries and track down killers. Four mutt-loving authors join their talents in creating this collection of canine-themed novellas which will transport you into the chaotic world of hero dogs who have a nose for murder. Grab a leash and hang on tight…the mutts are on the loose again!

                                                                                              http://muttmysteries.blogspot.com

 

Welcome, Maria, Teresa, Heather, and Jayne, to Writers Who Kill.

 

Maria Hudgins – “Sandy Paws” 

The Sand Fiddler’s Writers Group has rented a beach house for its annual retreat, but the writers and their canine friends can’t get much done after murder rears its ugly head.

Your main character, Jessica Chastain, who is deaf, has a service dog, Trey. How does Trey help her?

 

Trey has a cold, wet nose and he uses it to get Jessica’s attention when she’s lost in her work. Her home is rigged with flashing lights to let her know when the doorbell is ringing or a timer is going off. But Jessica, like most writers, can zone out and ignore everything but her story. Trey’s nose on her bare skin jolts her back into the real world.

 

They take walks together and Trey is always alert for traffic noises or anything that Jessica might not be aware of. He’s also a good judge of character and has, on occasion, “told” Jessica to be wary of a new acquaintance.

 

In “Sandy Paws,” a group of writers go on a writers’ retreat at the beach. Have you ever participated in a writers’ retreat? If so, have you found it beneficial?

 

Yes. Last summer our Mystery by the Sea writers rented a house in beautiful Cape Charles, on what we call the Eastern Shore. I got the most help from our talks during breaks. I live alone so I don’t have a lot of noise and distractions to get away from, but I do like the Write, Talk, Write, routine we used. A year before we stayed at a vintage hotel in Manteo, NC, and followed the same schedule. I think a new setting, particularly if it’s serene and quiet, is good for stimulating new ideas.

 

In one of your short stories in this series, you wrote about puppy mills and conditions in kennels run by unethical breeders. It was obvious from your story that this is something that is important to you. Were you hoping to raise awareness of these things? What can others do to help?

 

Thank you for asking! I wish I could put these people out of business. There are more unwanted dogs and cats in the world than we know what to do with. More lovable pets is not the problem. We need more loving owners. Trey and Kim, the two bichons in my stories, are based on my dogs, Holly and Hamilton. They were rescues. My daughter has a new dog they are showering with love to help her get over a horrible start in life. These early traumas don’t go away easily.

 

 

Teresa Inge – “A New Leash on Death”

Catt Ramsey, owner of the Woof-Pack Dog Walkers, has a knack for finding dead bodies, but when she and her pups are on the case, there’s no way the killer will get away with murder.

Each of the books in your series feature short stories that include dogs. What is the appeal of dogs in stories, and in particular, mysteries?

 

It’s a combination that has become very popular. It’s also one of the reasons we created the Mutt Mysteries series to give our readers the two things they love the most! But don’t ever harm a dog or animal in a mystery. Our readers do not like that and frankly it’s not something I would write since I am an animal lover with dogs of my own. I keep my stories on the cozy, lighthearted side when featuring animals. They are characters in each story.  

Your characters in "A New Leash on Death" have appeared in the previous book. Do all of you continue to feature the same main characters?

 

I am the only author who writes recurring characters in each book. I like featuring my protagonist Catt Ramsey, owner of the Woof-Pack Dog Walkers, and her trusted sidekicks, Cagney and Lacey, two Yorkshire Terriers, in each book. Together they solve crimes and murder, and it’s fun for readers to connect and watch them grow. 

 

How do you manage what goes into each book? Does someone come up with a theme and everyone writes to it? Or does each writer simply submit what they want?

 

We create the title and theme for each book and then write our individual novellas. Each author submits a 15,000-word story based on the theme. It keeps the overall book consistent and is easier for the authors. It’s a well-oiled machine now with all the books and the authors working great together. I just love writing the series! 

 

 

Heather Weidner – “Wags to Riches”

When a prickly guest ends up dead in his booth at the rummage sale, race track owner Cassidy Green and her Rottweiler Oliver have to sniff out clues and find the killer before another murder is forever linked to her business. 

In “Wags to Riches,” Oliver, your main character’s dog, is a Rottweiler. A lot of people hear Rottweiler and immediately become uneasy. Oliver sounds like a friendly dog and one that comes to Cassidy’s rescue. What accounts for a Rottweiler’s reputation? 

 

Their size and ferocity have always made their reputation. My uncle has had quite a few of them through the years, and each one was a teddy bear. Oliver is friendly, but he is very protective of Cassidy. At the track, he is the Director of Security, and the staff always send the troublesome guests to see him at the office.

 

You write knowledgably about a race track and promoting various forms of money streams for the business, which all sound interesting. Do you have a background in business promotion? 

 

No, not really. I learned a lot about marketing and social media promotions when I became an author. It’s fun, and I love for my characters to have interesting careers. I love talking to people in those fields and gaining research. The racing comes from my dad and husband who love all kinds of cars and speed.  

 

You’ve written full-length books and short stories. Which do you find more challenging? 

 

I enjoy writing both, but I think short stories are harder to craft. You have a smaller container and few characters who could be the bad guy. I get to experiment more with short stories and novellas, so they are different from my series. I write the Delanie Fitzgerald series (set in Richmond, Virginia) and the Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries (set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia at a resort with vintage trailers and tiny houses). 

 

 

Jayne Ormerod – “Bone Appetit” 

 

A dead guest at private chef Molly Perkins’s dinner party draws her and house dog Tater in a chaotic search for the secret ingredient to murder.

 

Your story “Bone Appetit” features a huge Newfoundland dog. In a previous book in the series, you feature a Great Dane. Why such large dogs? What does featuring a large dog add to your stories? Do you own a large dog yourself?

I love big mutts, and I cannot lie. We have owned a few in our lifetime. Our first round of dogs we picked a tiny wriggling puppy out of a box at a flea market. He grew into a long-legged, big barrel-chested boy who topped the scales at 120 pounds. Most recently, we rehomed a little one who was said to have Carolina Dog in him, expecting to grow to about 40 pounds. Well, he’s definitely got some Great Dane in him (surprise!) and has become my 100+ pound “lap dog.” Big dogs have big hearts. Also, when it comes to trouble, they are very effective in knocking down bad guys!

To Fetch a Killer is the fourth book in the Mutt Mysteries series. What do you think accounts for the success of the series?

All credit goes to the dogs: their love; their loyalty; their intuitive desire to protect. The companionship and support they provide to their humans make for heart-warming, satisfying read. Okay, a little bit of credit goes to the talented authors who penned the stories. The two elements combined has turned out to be very popular with cozy mystery lovers.

Throughout the series, have any of your characters crossed paths?

A different heroine/BFF/mutt combination has appeared in each of my Mutt Mysteries stories. They have never crossed paths, but I have toyed with the idea of having all of them meet to solve a mystery. I suspect if I threw the four dogs (a tiny terrier named Cannoli, a black lab mix named Natti, a Great Dane named Mr. Belvedere, and Newfie Tater), the fur would really fly! But it’s a possibility, because I love all the dogs (and the sleuths) in my stories. I want to hang out with them some more.

What’s next? Will there be a fifth book in the Mutt Mysteries series?

There is talk of continuing the series and introducing a few new authors as we say goodbye to others who are moving on to bigger and better projects. That decision should be made early next year.

 

Thank you, Maria, Teresa, Heather, and Jayne.

 

To learn more about the Mutt Mysteries Series and the authors, go to http://muttmysteries.blogspot.com/

An Interview with Maria Hudgins

Death in an Ivory Tower

It's a scholarly conference at Oxford and the subject is "The Lingering Effects of the King Arthur Tales on Life in Elizabethan England," but two participants don't fit in. Dotsy Lamb, PhD candidate from Virginia, has inadvertently invited a couple of New Agers from Glastonbury. Their agenda is to prove to these arrogant academics that King Arthur and Guinevere were real people. As a big surprise, Bram Fitzwaring plans to produce their royal bones.

But Fitzwaring doesn’t show up for his mind-blowing speech to the conference because he’s in his room—dead. An insulin-dependent diabetic, Fitzwaring appears to have died from hypoglycemia. But Dotsy, also diabetic, says his symptoms prior to his demise do not spell hypoglycemia. They spell murder.

                        http://mariahudgins.com/books.html

If you are an armchair traveler, and even if you aren’t, you’ll love Maria Hudgins’ Dotsy Lamb Travel Mystery series and her Lacy Glass Archaeology Mystery series. In her books, Maria takes readers to far-flung locations such as Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Scotland, and Italy. I recently read Death in an Ivory Tower, which transported me to Oxford, England. It made me want to travel more with Dotsy and Lacy.                          

                         Grace Topping

Welcome, Maria, to Writers Who Kill.

In Death in an Ivory Tower, Dotsy Lamb found herself in the midst of heated arguments about whether King Arthur really existed and whether Shakespeare actually wrote the works attributed to him—issues so contentious they drove someone to murder. Where does Dotsy stand on these issues? Did anyone convince her that Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, wrote Macbeth and not Shakespeare?

Maria Hudgins

Dotsy believes in keeping an open mind. On the subject of King Arthur, she recognizes that the evidence for his ever having existed is thin, but a part of her hopes the future will bring new evidence—that he did live and that he was, if not a king, a hero to his people. Of course, there’s no chance at all that he lived as the fables tell, because those stories are medieval and Arthur would have been ancient history to medieval Englishmen.

As for anyone other than William Shakespeare having written Macbeth, Dotsy gets angry at the suggestion, because it’s invariably based on the idea that the son of a common glove maker could not possibly be that intelligent. Dotsy has some choice words for those elite snobs.

I, personally, do not doubt that Dotsy is right.

The victim’s diabetes provides Dotsy with a vital clue in solving the murder. She recognizes the clue because she herself has diabetes. Is this new to the series, or has Dotsy’s condition and the challenges of traveling with diabetes been featured in the other books in this series?

Dotsy has been diabetic throughout the series. In Death of an Obnoxious Tourist, the first book in the series, she passes out on the roof of a hotel due to low blood sugar. In each of the succeeding books, her diabetes plays some role, but not always a big one. Since that first book came out, there have been several medical advances in the management of diabetes. These are making it easier for Dotsy to travel with little worry.

While at Oxford University, Dotsy does research in the Bodleian Library, where I understand they filmed some of the Harry Potter films. Did you gain admittance to the library and browse the collection? Was it like being in a scene from Harry Potter?

I did, indeed. The main ground floor room of the Divinity School (in the same complex) was used as the Hogwarts Hospital. Accessing the book collection is not allowed unless you are cleared for research and that is complicated. Harry Potter filming sites are all over Oxford. I love the grand staircase in Christ Church College that, I believe, twisted and reconnected in the movie. The Christ Church dining hall is used as well. Remember the flying candles?

In their travels around the world, Dotsy and her friend Lettie find themselves involved in a murder investigation wherever they go. What kind of challenges do you face making this plausible?

It is implausible but so far no one has complained. Readers don’t mind suspending their disbelief if it’s a good story. I sometimes make references to Dotsy’s previous exploits but not too often because the reader might decide that this woman is bad luck!

I understand that you visit the places you set your books to do research—a rather enviable task. Do you find yourself traveling to write or writing to travel?

I travel because I want to, but when I’m in a foreign spot, my eyes are open for good places to kill somebody. My ears and nose are open for the smells and sounds that make the place come alive. I take lots of notes in my trip journal.

Which location did you enjoy the most?

It’s hard to pick one, so I’ll pick two. I love Oxford, England so much I’ve visited 8 or 9 times. I’ve stayed in St. Hilda’s College and in Jesus College. Jesus is the prototype for St. Ormond’s College in Death in an Ivory Tower.

My other choice would have to be Egypt. I wrote an archaeology mystery called Scorpion House, available on Kindle, based on my first trip there and the historical thriller I’m working on now is set in Upper Egypt, near Aswan. I hear Egypt calling me so I may have to go back soon.

Does setting your mysteries in different locations present any difficulties in sustaining a series with the same characters?

I can’t exactly have a whole village full of characters the readers know, can I? My continuing characters—Dotsy Lamb and Lettie Osgood—are sometimes joined by Marco Quattrocchi, Ollie Osgood, Chet Lamb, or one of Dotsy’s or Lettie’s children. There’s no need to read the stories in order, because a brief introduction is all these characters need.

Both your series feature gutsy women: Dotsy Lamb, an educator, and Lacy Glass, a young archeologist (featured in The Man on the Istanbul Train). Which of the two do you identify with most, discounting age?

Both women are similar to me in some ways: Dotsy is tenacious and I am, too. She’s somewhat a product of her rural, mid-20th century upbringing, and I am, too. Lacy Glass is headstrong and accident-prone, like me. She loves science, especially the physics and chemistry of color. My master’s thesis was on a bluish plant pigment you’ve never heard of.

Where will Dotsy’s travels take her (and you) next?

She’s going to Istanbul. I’ve visited this exciting city twice. The book, At the Spoonmaker’s Hotel, is slated to come out in 2017 or 2018 because my publisher, Five Star/Cengage, is scheduling that far ahead. After that, she will return to Italy for some life-changing events. But I’m getting ahead of myself . . .

Was there anything in your background as an oceanographer and earth science teacher that helped prepare you to write about murder and mayhem?

There is always science in what I write. I can’t help it. If you don’t like science you can skip those parts. I do think that a bit of explanation about shellfish contamination or ocean currents make a story more real.

Do you have a favorite place to write?

I write in my den where my dogs keep me company and I can take my laptop from the desk to the sofa to the recliner to keep from sitting in one place too long. Sometimes I take my laptop (MacBook Air) to my new sunroom where I have a chaise to recline on. The dogs, birds, and squirrels entertain me.

Thank you, Maria.

In her bio, Maria said: "I’m the luckiest of all possible people. To be able to write what I want to write, spend time with my friends when I want, and with the friends in my stories when I want. All this without having to starve in a garret." Read more about Maria and her travel adventures at http://mariahudgins.com/bio.html