ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING: EMBRACING THE MESS AT ANY AGE

By Korina Moss

I am very late to the party, but I’ve finally started watching Only Murders in the Building, a murder mystery series on Hulu starring Steve Martin (Charles), Martin Short (Oliver), and Selena Gomez (Mabel). I binged season 1 in two days and have started season 2. I adore the show. It’s exactly my vibe—quirky characters with a dash of humor who solve a murder mystery in a close-knit setting. It’s as close to a cozy mystery (with cursing) as you can get outside of the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel.

I especially appreciate watching the intergenerational friendships formed between Mabel, who is in her late twenties, and the two older men, Charles and Oliver, who are in their seventies. The difference in age provides plenty of humor—whether it be the slang they use or signing their name to a text—but they also learn some deeper things from each other. Developing these types of friendships onscreen provides a way to highlight how similar people of disparate ages can be.

In my Cheese Shop Mystery series, there are age gaps among my 33-year-old cheesemonger protagonist, Willa, and the supporting characters who work in her cheese shop and also help her solve the mysteries. There’s Archie, who started the series as a nineteen-year-old still living with his mom, and Mrs. Schultz, who is “smack dab” in her sixties, as she likes to say. Although each character is at a different stage in their lives, they’re all starting anew in some way and have things to teach each other. 

Archie’s new chapter is typical of young adults who graduate high school without a sense of what they want to do with the rest of their lives. It’s not until he starts working at Willa’s cheese shop, Curds & Whey, that he begins to consider becoming a cheesemonger like Willa. As she shares her passion for cheese with him, he inadvertently teaches her about trust.

Hoping to avoid the heartaches of her past, Willa hadn’t set down roots before moving to Yarrow Glen to open Curds & Whey. When a murder occurs right outside her shop and she’s the number one suspect, she’s forced to trust the people who offer to help her—two of them being Archie and Mrs. Schultz. Willa realizes she’s been denying herself close friendships for too long. Through solving the mysteries and running her shop, she learns not only to trust others, but to trust herself, gaining a new level of confidence. 

Confidence was never something Mrs. Schultz lacked until she unexpectedly became widowed shortly after retiring from her job as a high school drama teacher. Without her husband of almost forty years by her side, retirement looked very different than she’d envisioned it. She found herself approaching life timidly for the first time. Working at Curds & Whey was a way to test herself. The new job and becoming a part of their mystery-solving team brought back her bright personality and gave her the confidence to try other things… like possibly dating? (You’ll have to read book 3, Curds of Prey, to find out.)

Through my cozy mystery series, I have the opportunity to show that it’s not just the people Archie’s age or even Willa’s age who find themselves navigating uncharted waters. I began middle age newly single with my first novel published—certainly a new chapter for me. I think Steve Martin’s character, Charles, described it best when he said he was ready to “embrace the mess.” Yes, life can be confounding—and beautiful—at any age. No matter how old we are, we still have new things to do and to learn, even from younger folks. It’s high time we see that represented more often in our books and on our screens. 

Would you like to see more intergenerational friendships portrayed in books and tv shows/movies? Which books or shows have these types of characters?

I will be zooming in LIVE in the Cozy Mystery Crew Book Club Zoom Room today, July 9th, at 4PM eastern time. Join the Cozy Mystery Crew private FB group to access the zoom link under “Featured.” I’ll be there LIVE to talk about Cheddar Off Dead and my series, and take your questions. And those attending will be entered to win one of my Cheese Shop Mystery books of their choice. Hope to see you! 

2022: The Return of Reading Mojo?

By Shari Randall, writing from snowy (finally!) New England

Like many, I lost my reading mojo in 2021. I don’t keep an annual total of books read, but I do know that there are too many books on my TBR that I didn’t open once. They glare from the bookshelf with such resentment that I avoid walking past them. I still read books for my virtual book club -- well, enough chapters of the chosen books to fake having read them. One of my book clubs has surrendered and renamed itself the Two Minute Book Club, because that’s all the time we’ve been spending talking about the books.

What explained this lack of focus for a formerly beloved activity, this lack of reading mojo? Many blamed pandemic malaise, a kind of low level swirling background anxiety that, like an ear worm of an infernally catchy 80s song, blotted out the concentration necessary for sustained reading.

In my case, I think whatever concentration and mojo I had was transferred to watching TV. Pre-pandemic I’d never watched a ton of television, and my use of streaming services had been one and done. My girls gifted me Acorn so I could watch Agatha Raisin and I’m embarrassed to say that Aggie is the only show I streamed on it for a year.

Then came Tiger King, a plus sized dose of streaming mojo, and I turned more to the screen than the bookshelf. I discovered and devoured Broadchurch and Hinterland and Shetland but my streaming diet wasn’t all gloomy British policing. My hubby and I watched every bit of hilarious Brooklyn 99, quirky New Tricks (11 seasons!), and the sprightly detective show from Down Under, Brokenwood Mysteries (Jean!). I warmed to the fresh McDonald and Dodds (set in glorious Bath) on Britbox. We loved Netflix’s Only Murders In the Building. Thank goodness for Only Murders in the Building – it helped me get my reading mojo back.

While watching Only Murders in the Building, I became fascinated by the magnificent Renaissance revival building that was the home of the characters. Some said the “Arconia” was based on the Apthorp, an elegant condominium apartment building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan which was once home to luminaries like Douglas Fairbanks Jr., George Balanchine, Jennifer Hudson, and Nora Ephron. You can admire it here.

My Two Minute Book Club was casting around for a book to read and I suggested Ephron’s I Feel Bad About My Neck mainly because, as a woman of a certain age, the title speaks to me. (Don’t worry, that’s an essay for another day.) Ephron’s memoir is written in short, chatty chapters; each is like a lunch date with your wittiest friend. I looked forward to my time with Nora, as she dished and gossiped about everything, including her love affair with her sprawling rent-controlled apartment in the Apthorp. My streaming and reading worlds collided, and I looked forward to my reading time in a way I hadn’t in months.

So, thank you Only Murders In The Building and Nora. I feel my reading mojo return!

Did you lose some reading mojo in the past year or two?

Has your reading mojo returned?

Shari Randall is the author of the Lobster Shack Mystery series, and as Meri Allen, writes the new Ice Cream Shop Mystery series. The Rocky Road to Ruin debuted in 2021, and Mint Chocolate Murder is available for pre-order now. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram.