Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz: A Review by Shari Randall

Book-editor-with-a-flair-for-solving-mysteries Susan Ryeland is back in a fresh and witty new installment of Anthony Horowitz’s Atticus Pund book-within-a-book mystery series.

 

Returning to London from sunny Greece, Susan is tasked with editing a work of fiction that leads her into danger in real life. Pund’s Last Case is a continuation of the successful Atticus Pund series, which if you’ve read the other books in this series, led Susan into not only danger, but personal and professional disaster.

 

Her financial situation and innate curiosity, however, overcome her reluctance. Pund’s Last Case is an Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery set in the south of France in 1955. In it, Pund’s friend, Lady Margaret Chalfont, begs Pund to visit her at her magnificent villa, Chateau Belmar. But before Pund can arrive, she dies after drinking her afternoon tea. Pund’s curiosity is piqued. Why was she so eager to consult with him? When it is revealed that Lady Chalfont had been poisoned, Pund wonders why the murderer killed a woman who had only weeks to live.

 

Susan’s curiosity is piqued also. Why was young, unstable Eliot Crace, author of an unsuccessful series of his own, hired to write Pund’s Last Case? When Susan visits Eliot’s family home, Marble Hall, she’s shocked by the parallels between the death of fictional Lady Margaret Chalfont and Eliot’s grandmother, Miriam Crace, author of the world’s best-selling children’s books. As Eliot’s behavior becomes more and more erratic, Susan tries to help the young author, but another murder ensues and she becomes the number one suspect.

 

Readers will delight in Horowitz’s deftly plotted dual narratives. The anagrams, puzzles, and dishy commentary on the current publishing scene pull you in like a cozy chat. 

Yes, Marble Hall has spoilers from the first two books in the series (Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders), but book three stands on its own and the book ends with the door open for more adventures for … oops not going to spoil that for you!

 

If you’re looking for an entertaining traditional mystery by an author at the top of his game, look no further than Marble Hall Murders.

Shari Randall loves a good traditional mystery. She won an Agatha Award for her first book, Curses, Boiled Again!, and as Meri Allen, she pens the Ice Cream Shop Mystery series.

 

Rethinking Your 'Back of the Book' Blurb by Judy L Murray

Ever wonder how different authors tackle writing their back of the book blurbs? I consider the book blurb a critical component to my overall marketing effort, and I like nailing down my descriptions long before I begin writing the manuscript. They serve as a neat synopsis for me. Then I tweak the blurb right down to the final edit stage.

This time I handled my blurb for my fourth in the Chesapeake Bay Mystery Series differently. I couldn’t get the words out, so I set it aside until the manuscript was complete. I also did some research on how other authors handle blurbs. It led me to a book entitled Fiction Blurbs – The Step-by Step Guide by Phoebe J. Ravencraft and Bryan Cohen.

Let me say upfront that my bookshelves hold plenty of writing guides collected over the years. I’m sure you have them too. More often than not, I’m disappointed. They frequently ramble, focus on the author, or are far too basic.

Fiction Blurbs gets five stars from me. My copy of the book is riddled with highlighted phrases and caused me to reconsider my approach. It also served as a resource for evaluating my overall storyline. I think many book blurbs, even written for/by extremely well-known authors, could use a few of these pointers.

Here are brief recaps of some of Fiction Blurbs’ lessons:
• Book blurbs have one job – to get the reader involved.
• A book description is not a summary. I’ve fallen into this trap as have many authors.
• Evoke images.
• Ramp up the story’s tension with each sentence or phrase.
• Your main character is the focus of your blurb. Don’t use names of any other character to distract. Big mistake on my part.
• The plot doesn’t matter. It only provides the protagonist’s challenge. Readers care most about characters. Show them why they should root for your main character.
• Use active, powerful verbs.
• Show, don’t tell. The Golden Rule when we’re writing our manuscripts. Do we forget this when we write book blurbs?

Below is my blurb ‘headline’ for Villian in the Vineyard scheduled for spring release and the second paragraph using much of Fiction Blurb’s advice.

Chesapeake Bay’s favorite sleuth unearths a vineyard’s poisonous secrets
Her phone rings. Her heart sinks. A local business leader and friend is dead. Last to see him alive, Helen convinces police her friend’s death is no accident. It’s murder. Days later, she discovers an eccentric vineyard owner slashed with a bottle of his prized wine. Two distinctly different backgrounds. How can these two crimes be related? Or are they?

Best of luck with your descriptions! Who else has advice or books you might suggest?

Judy L Murray
Learn more at https://www.judymurraymysteries.com

Karen Pullen Interview By E. B. Davis

I had the pleasure of meeting Karen Pullen at the Malice Domestic Conference when we promoted Carolina Crimes: 19 Tales Of Lust, Love, and Longing, in which I had a short story published. Although I’m a member of North Carolina’s Triangle Chapter of SinC, it would take me over four hours travel time to get to the meetings, which I never attend and for which I apologize.

I also had interviewed Karen about the first Stella Lavender series book, Cold Feet. When the second book in the series wasn’t forthcoming, I wondered if Karen was trying to find a new publisher because I’d heard Five Star Cengage was pulling out of the mystery market. But they released her second book Cold Heart (finally) in January.

The series is traditional. There are police-procedural, romantic, and cozy elements, but there is also action-adventure with touches of violence. Poor Stella keeps getting in the line of fire. Karen portrays strong women leading their lives with courage. And her characters’ pets have the best names!

I liked Cold Feet, but I loved Cold Heart. Karen seems to be hitting her stride with this book. Her metaphors are wonderful, for example: “Never far from my mind was the sensation a bullet causes as it flies by, that firm push of air, as fresh a memory as the taste of strawberries.” (Loc. 1992) As I get to know Stella Lavender more, I realize Karen has barely touched on her backstory, compelling me to prompt Karen to write faster. Her books are the type I enjoy reading.

Please welcome Karen Pullen back to WWK.                                                                         E. B. Davis

Here’s the jacket blurb:

Cold Heart, a traditional mystery.  Motivated by her mother’s long-ago

unsolved abduction, Stella Lavender has joined the North Carolina State

Bureau of Investigation only to be severely challenged by her first assignment:

undercover drug agent. Stella works nights, buying drugs from paranoid drug

dealers, gathering evidence to send them to prison or turn them into informants.

She’s great at the job because, as her boss says, “you don’t look like a cop.”

But the physical danger and the necessary betrayals are getting to her.

When she sees a chance to work homicide, she’ll always take it.

One afternoon Stella gives a hitchhiking teenager a ride to her babysitting

job in a wealthy neighborhood. Horror awaits them—the father lies dead in a

pool of blood, and his toddler is missing. Stella joins the murder investigation

as the puzzle quickly grows. Most importantly, where is the toddler? A dizzying

array of plausible suspects provides more questions than answers.

At the same time, Stella’s personal life offers plenty of distractions.

Her grandmother Fern, a free-spirited artist with male admirers wrapped

around every one of her paint-stained fingers, needs Stella’s help with

expensive house repairs. And Stella’s attraction to three very different men

means her romantic life is, well, complicated.

Cold Heart draws the reader into a darkly

delightful page-turner as Stella rummages  through every strata of

society in her relentless and sometimes unconventional pursuit of a

cold-hearted murderer who won’t stop at just one victim.

http://www.karenpullen.com/

Tell readers about your North Carolina setting?

Small town in a rural county, near Chapel Hill and Raleigh. Wait… that describes Pittsboro, my hometown! In these books, the town is called Verwood, in Essex County. Law enforcement departments are small and will call on the SBI to assist with murder cases.

As a State Bureau of Investigation Special Agent, Stella doesn’t have room in her life for babies, but you revealed her maternal instinct in this book. Why do the Lavender ladies favor babies over husbands?

Fern has always proselytized against marriage, feeling it’s a bad deal for women. She arrived at this belief watching her mother nurse an ill husband for many years. Grace, Fern’s daughter, disappeared when she was 25, so who knows, she might have married eventually!

Stella cons the victim’s stepbrother, Bryce, without misgivings. Why does she feel that doing undercover drug buys is betrayal? In both circumstances she does good.

Stella’s undercover work is by definition deceptive. It requires lying about her identity, her history, her involvement with the police. Stella is a moral person. Sometimes it’s difficult to reconcile the deception with the fact that’s it’s difficult to catch narcotics dealers any other way.

There are a lot of guns and rifles in Cold Heart. As an author, what determines your choice of weapons—popularity, function? Do you get advice?

Google is my friend. And gun-owner blogs. I run my choices past a real friend who knows a lot about guns.

Young adults, Bryce and Nikki, have much in common and show a lot of resentment. Are they acting out? In one instance, the reason isn’t teenage angst but real. In the other, you’ve left the reader wondering. Is that an intentional loose end or does Stella look the other way?

Stella gives them a break, I think, because they are young. Bryce’s mother spoiled him; she died, leaving him adrift and unloved. Nikki’s had a hard time; her parents divorced and her mother’s second husband was emotionally cruel to the child.

Richard, Stella’s boss, irks me. She’s more sympathetic to him than I would be, even after constantly reminding her about her ex, Hogan. Why?

Haha! Richard is modeled on a boss I had once, insensitive and clueless, who tried to connect on a personal level but always missed the mark. I felt sorry for him. Very well-dressed, though.

One of your characters is the town’s beloved and retired Pro football star, Lincoln Teller. He’s a decent man, but lousy at business. Is he also lousy at picking employees? Does he think his success on the field will enable him to be successful in any field? Is he loyal to a fault?

You’re right! Lincoln’s manager is ripping him off. Lincoln is too trusting, I think. Let’s hope he uses a recruiter to find his next manager, who will be ethical.

Temple, the victim’s wife, has more pluck than I gave her credit for. But then, you weren’t very nice to her. She suffers the loss of her husband, her first child is kidnapped, and shortly after her husband’s murder—births her second child. Is she normal, or does she have post-partum depression or PTSD? Has she just had enough or is her upbringing by her father, an ex military man, Wesley, the source of her strength?  

As you say, poor Temple is put through an emotional wringer until she collapses with post-partum depression. I always saw her as a tough mama, though, capable of acting decisively and bravely. And she does.

I wanted to slap June Devon. Is she passive-aggressive or what?

She is bitter at her lot of life, and not particularly interested in helping the police, especially since she’s far from innocent.

What’s going on with mysteries and Five Star Cengage?

Five Star will not publish any more mysteries. Instead, they’ll focus on westerns. Maybe Stella should meet a cowboy and move to Montana?

Why so long between books? Chapter anthologies? Business?

A busy life:  my B&B and family responsibilities. I edited a Sisters in Crime chapter anthology in 2014, Carolina Crimes: 19 Tales of Lust, Love and Longing, which was nominated for an Anthony award in 2015. There’s great stories in there, right, Elaine?

What’s next for Stella Lavender?

I’m working on Cold Fury, in which Stella investigates murders that happened at three different points in time.

At the end of the book, the following exchange takes place between Stella and Fern, Stella’s grandmother (Loc. 3919):

“You can think ‘what if’ all you want. Things happen for a reason.” [Fern says]

“What’s the reason for murder?”

Over her coffee cup, she blinked at me with true-blue eyes. “To teach us a lesson.”

“And…the lesson is?”

“You have to figure it out. That’s your purpose in life, to learn your lessons.”

Do you agree with Fern?

Fern says the reason for murder is to “teach us a lesson” but she leaves it up to Stella to figure out what that lesson is. I think Fern is saying, cryptically, that we each walk our own path. Some paths are smooth; others have ruts and snakes; a few, sinkholes and quicksand. She and Stella have had to walk strong.

             

                                                                

Elizabeth J. Duncan Interview

Elizabeth Duncan’s new Shakespeare in the Catskills mystery series debuted yesterday with the release of Untimely Death, the first book of this series. Those of you who read her books know that Elizabeth writes the award-winning Penny Brannigan mystery series set in North Wales. Her seventh book in this series, Murder on the Hour, will be released in April 2016.

Since I’m a fan, I wanted to read Untimely Death. I’d categorize this series as traditional with a few cozy features, such as Rupert (a Corgi), a Catskills town, which caters to tourists, and the bungalow quarters where some of the crew lives.

Main character England-born Charlotte Fairfax designs wardrobes and costumes for the theater. The action is set at the ageing and financially unstable Jacobs Grand Hotel, which stages Shakespearian plays during the summer months. Murder’s afoot on the stage and on the grounds of the hotel.

Please welcome Elizabeth J. Duncan to WWK.                                                     E. B. Davis

Would you give our readers a jacket copy synopsis of Untimely Death?

A Catskills resort’s production of Romeo and Juliet takes a wickedly ironic turn when the leading lady is first poisoned and then stabbed. Who would extinguish the life of such a beautiful young thespian? Who wouldn’t? Seems like everyone had a motive to pull the ropes on her final curtain call.

And when suspicion falls on her youthful assistant, costume designer Charlotte Fairfax is drawn into the investigation, against the wishes of her boyfriend, the small town’s chief of police.

Charlotte Fairfax has excellent credentials as a theater wardrobe and costume designer because she worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon before coming to the U. S. Why would she cloister herself away from mainstream theater?

When she started working for the Catskills Shakespeare Theater Company she was going through an

emotional bad patch and it was the first and only job offered to her. Having grown up in an English village, she was happy to settle in an upstate New York town and she liked that she could continue working with Tudor and Jacobean costumes. However, she does do freelance work for New York productions and when Broadway calls, the big city is just a Trailways bus ride away.

Like Queen Elizabeth, Charlotte likes Corgis. Unlike many pets in cozies, Charlotte’s Rupert helps her find clues. Are Corgis trained for service like other breeds?

Corgis belong to the herding group and were originally used to herd cattle. Charlotte’s Rupert is modeled on a friend’s beloved Corgi of the same name.  

Aside from walking Rupert, Charlotte swims for exercise. Do you?

I do! I use the time going up and down the pool to think about what will happen next in the story I’m writing. And I try to fit in at least one aqua fit class a week.

Although Charlotte uses Skype to talk with her mother, in other ways she seems like a technophobe. Is she?

Not really. She uses her laptop and cell phone. However, she does prefer to sketch with pencil and drawing pad rather than on a tablet because it’s more tactile and you can pin fabric swatches to the drawing to help you envision the look, the colours are true and it’s easier to explain your concept to the director.

You impart, through Charlotte, tasty theater-insider tidbits. What research did you conduct in writing this book?

I interviewed a Canadian costume designer who has worked with many fine companies, including the Canadian Opera Company and the Shaw Festival. I’ve attended outdoor productions in Wales of Shakespearean plays performed by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men and I’m currently taking a refresher online Shakespeare course. And I really enjoyed my visit to Mood’s and the jewelry district in Manhattan and spending several days in Woodstock, New York, admiring the Catskills.

What drew you to set your book in the Catskills? Is Walkers Ridge, the town closest to the hotel, real?

When I proposed the series to the publisher, I set it in Stratford, Ontario, home of the Stratford Festival. However, the publisher asked that it be set in the Catskills. The town of Walkers Ridge is loosely based on Woodstock, New York.

Your victim is quite despicable. Do cozy readers feel better about murder victims of little character?

In a traditional mystery, the victim is generally unlikeable, so the murder somehow seems more justifiable.

Charlotte seems traditional, but she also has her quirks. Is it the artist in Charlotte that every so often compels her to act out of character?

Most of us think we know how we would act in a certain situation, but until we are tested, we don’t really know. For reasons that sometimes surprise us, in the right circumstances and in the heat of the moment, we might behave in a way that makes us later ask ourselves, “What the hell was I thinking?” Charlotte does behave somewhat impulsively on occasion, as do we all. Sometimes it works out well, and sometimes it doesn’t.

I was surprised Walkers Ridge Chief of Police and Charlotte’s boyfriend, Ray Nicholson, so readily gave up the murder investigation to the State. Doesn’t he have an ego about his work?

It’s not about his ego … it’s what he is required to do. In New York state, misdemeanor crimes may be investigated by local police but felony crimes, which include serious crimes like murder, kidnapping, money laundering, extortion and animal abuse, are always investigated by state authorities who have the facilities and training to conduct a proper investigation that will stand up in court.

The Jacobs Grand Hotel is run by Harvey Jacobs, the third generation owner. Is Harvey penny-wise and dollar stupid?

Harvey inherited a struggling business in difficult economic times and has done his best to keep it going. Every summer he thinks this will be the season when things turn around, and this year, they just might!

My favorite secondary character is Harvey’s nephew Aaron. As a twenty-something design student he assists Charlotte and director, Simon Dyer. Aaron is a real-life mix of youthful impertinence mixed with inexperience, but he possesses fresh ideas. Is he based on anyone real? Will Aaron go back to school or will he continue in the series?

Until quite recently I was a college professor, so I I’m quite familiar with people Aaron’s age. I love their energy and enthusiasm. Aaron will continue in the series, and the school will come to him as Charlotte and director Simon Dyer create a theater school.

Are Americans more gobsmacked by royalty than Brits?

I think so. In Britain, royalty is just there, although there is a deep affection for the Queen and quite a bit of interest in the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. British royalty holds a lot of fascination for Americans.

When did you start writing fiction, Elizabeth?

I started writing fiction in 2005 with the work that became The Cold Light of Mourning, published in 2008.

Do you have any advice for unpublished writers?

When your work is as good as you can make it, enter it in writing competitions for unpublished authors.

Are you a beach or a mountain person?

Mountain, definitely. I never know what I’m supposed to do at the beach and I hate when all that sand gets in my clothes. And I look so much better in mountain gear.

 

                                           

Memories of Malices Past

Banner Logo from http://www.malicedomestic.org/

This coming weekend, more than 600 will gather to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Malice Domestic, a mystery readers and writers conference held each spring near Washington, D. C. The participants in Malice Domestic favor what is known as the “traditional” mystery, like those written by Agatha Christie, where the murder usually occurs off stage and the focus is on the investigation or detection.

Some people associate Malice Domestic with the cozy mystery, taking place in a small town, resolved by an amateur sleuth, and often featuring a cat; however, the authors attending Malice represent a wide variety of mystery genres, including police procedurals, private investigators, thrillers, women in jeopardy, paranormal, and historical. Because Malice usually follows the Mystery Writers of America’s annual celebration, Malice attendees get to hear all about the Edgar news first hand.

Malice awards are given to recognize best novel, best first novel, best short story, best young adult novel, and best nonfiction. They are called the Agathas, in honor of Christie, and the award itself is a porcelain tea pot.

Last year, two new awards were initiated, one to acknowledge the best historical novel (first awarded to Rhys Bowen, who was not at the banquet to accept because of injuries she suffered from a fall at the conference) and the other in recognition of Elizabeth Peters’ heroine, the Amelia, which honors lifetime achievement. Last year’s Amelia recipient was Elizabeth Peters. This year, Carolyn Hart will be recognized.

The great wonder of Malice is its family atmosphere. People greet each other annually and pick up conversations from the year before. Audience members bring knitting to occupy their hands while they listen to the speakers. You don’t ever have to worry about being alone because someone is always there to invite you to have a drink or go to lunch or dinner and talk books and authors.

Vendors have the participating authors’ latest as well as some of their inventory. There are also tables offering used books, clothing, and jewelry. You don’t need to leave the hotel to go on a shopping extravaganza.

I discovered and attended my first Malice in 2003, when Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark were guests. I was very excited to be among the many authors whom I had come to admire. I had my picture taken with the Clarks and made copies for myself and my aunts, who were great fans. Later, my aunts told me another aunt had visited and asked them who was in that picture. It made me feel like a real author to think I had blended in so well with the writers that I went unrecognized by family.

When my mother was able to attend Malice with me, I would drive from South Carolina, traveling through North Carolina.  Once I had the opportunity to tell Margaret Maron the trip to Malice made me feel like I was driving through Deborah Knott’s territory. She told me to let her know if I was coming and to stop and visit.

Cathy Pickens had been one of my students in law school, and I reconnected with her at my first Malice. I met Joanna Campbell Slan at a panel; rode on the elevator with Louise Penny after she won her third Agatha; and had a great conversation with Sandra Brannan at a reception which led to our continuing friendship. My good friend Dorothy St. James was introduced at the New Authors’ Breakfast last year.

The delightful Cindy Silberblatt, who makes the new author introductions, has helped me to find so many emerging writers to enjoy. It’s a thrill to see that she is being recognized as Fan Guest of Honor this year.

When Sue Grafton attended several years ago, I had the good fortune to sit beside her in the audience and the audacity to tell her I had worn my all purpose black dress in Kinsey Millhone’s honor. I have a feeling she hears that line a lot. She told me she had seen my dress material before.

I met Dana Cameron standing in line to get a book signed by Elizabeth Peters. I took Dana’s picture with Ms. Peters. The next year, Dana had my picture taken with her and posted it on her website. Last year, I was very honored to join Dana at her banquet table, to cheer as she served as Toastmaster, and to watch her win best short story for “Disarming.” I got to meet Charlaine Harris, Dean James, Janet Hutchings, and Frankie Bailey, and see Toni Kelner, who I had met previously.

The next morning, at the Sisters in Crime Breakfast, I saw Ms. Harris had an empty seat beside her. She put her hand up as I approached, and I thought that meant someone else was seated there. I passed by and suddenly heard Ms. Harris call out my name and ask me to come back and sit down. She had been motioning for me to join her, not to move on. She remembered my name! That’s the kind of special moment you can experience at Malice.

I have to sing the praises of those who plan the conference and execute it so flawlessly. They prepare a complex and well organized program, coordinate hotel services, mobilize volunteers, and, at the end of an exhausting weekend, are somehow ready to start again.

Thanks to so many who have made my memories of Malice Domestic so very special. Have you been to Malice and are you going this year? What memories do you have of Malices past?