How to write a Holiday Mystery

*Editor's note: We have a special treat today. Maggie Sefton, author of Berkley Prime Crime's Knitting Mystery series is celebrating the paperback edition of her bestselling 'Fleece Navidad' and is here today to give us a little insight into writing the holiday-themed mystery. Please welcome her kindly and enjoy!!

HOLIDAY MYSTERIES—WARM AND FUZZY OR CHILLY?
by Maggie Sefton - Author of Fleece Navidad

When my publisher asked me to write a Holiday-themed mystery for my Knitting Mystery series, I knew I had a problem. The series, featuring 30-something corporate refugee, Kelly Flynn, is set in a college town in northern Colorado and has many scenes in Kelly’s favorite knitting shop where her friends gather around the knitting table to socialize, hash out problems, and work on their fiber projects. In the previous five books in the series, I deliberately used those “warm and fuzzy” scenes to allow Kelly to sort through all the information and clues she uncovers when she’s investigating a murder. “Sleuthing,” as her friends call it.

It should be pointed out that Kelly is not a cop, nor a private eye, nor a lawyer. She’s a CPA and has absolutely no business messing in murder. But---she can’t help herself. She can’t resist a puzzle. And solving a murder is an irresistible challenge. Kelly’s analytical mind goes on automatic. Having been a CPA myself, it really is almost automatic. We simply have to analyze a problem, weigh and measure, and—here’s the key—look for things that don’t belong.

Whether it’s on a balance sheet or in searching for clues, Kelly naturally picks up details that others do not, even police officers. That makes for a confrontational relationship between Kelly and the Fort Connor Chief of Detectives. Kelly’s convinced he’s never forgiven her for finding her aunt’s killer—the real killer—the one who strangled her aunt in her cozy cottage across from the knitting shop. Kelly proved the cops had the wrong guy in jail.

So, what’s the problem?

Well, I knew that many of the readers would be expecting more than the usual warm and fuzzies in this book simply because it’s set during the entire month of December. They would want “holiday” warm and fuzzies—scenes of hectic preparations, shopping, characters knitting mittens, and holiday parties. I even found the perfect holiday title for the book: FLEECE NAVIDAD.

The problem is I just can’t have the characters sitting around wrapping presents and drinking wassail. I have to kill someone. After all, that’s what I do. I kill people on paper for a living. So a body has to hit the floor. And my problem was how to insert that in the midst of all the holiday cheer.

I finally decided that I would “play off” the crime scene talk and Kelly’s sleuthing against the holiday cheer, deliberately putting them together in the same scenes. Warm and chilly. And with the help of some fascinating new characters who walked to center stage for this book, it was easy.

To me, it’s all about the characters, and these two people exhibited charming and attractive sides of their personalities as well as darker sides. And since both these women had opposing goals, they clashed. Accusations began to fly and scandals from the past came out. And I deliberately chose to have it all happen right there at the knitting table, crowded with shop regulars knitting charity hats, mittens for disadvantaged children, as well as holiday gifts. The normally congenial atmosphere disappears. People choose sides and argue. Loudly. In fact, it gets so acrimonious one afternoon that the normally-cheerful shop owner, Mimi, throws everyone out into the cold.

Add to that, the victim is a librarian. Gasp! How could I do that? Librarians are my favorite people. And to make it worse, Juliette, had found love for the first time. To think someone could run into her one night then drive away and leave Juliette to bleed and die alone in the dark. . . how heartless.

We novelists are a cruel lot. We kill all sorts of people—nice sweet people and nasty mean brutes. We do not discriminate. And Juliette was the perfect victim. Of course, the plot definitely thickens when police discover that her death was not accidental, but deliberate. Someone lay in wait for Juliette to appear that night in her beautiful Christmas cape.

Kelly has her hands full trying to unravel this puzzle. On top of that, Kelly tries to keep the peace between two spinster sisters who’re at odds with one another. The fractious arguments around the knitting table are taking their toll on relationships.

Before I knew it, there was plenty of contrast for the holiday warm and fuzzies. And just to make sure the temperature didn’t get too chilly, I allowed Kelly and Jennifer to get in touch with the holidays—up close and personal. They’re recruited to oversee the Saint Mark’s Catholic Church’s Christmas Eve Nativity Pageant, complete with a cast of surly thirteen-year olds. The original leader was poor Juliette, our librarian victim. So Kelly and Jennifer—the two lapsed Catholics in the group—take over the job.

They soon discover this project will require more than their usual organizational skills. Let’s put it this way--Joseph is wired into his iPod, the shepherds are texting, and Mary has a nose ring.
However you choose to celebrate the holidays, enjoy!


Maggie Sefton is the New York Times Bestselling author of the Knitting Mystery Series, published by Berkley Prime Crime and set in Colorado. The paperback edition of last year’s hardcover Barnes & Noble Bestseller, FLEECE NAVIDAD, was released November 3rd. It’s available in bookstores, specialty shops, and online. Visit her at her website: http://www.maggiesefton.com. Visit Maggie’s blogsite at http://www.cozychicksblog.com.

(Article previously published in Mystery Readers Journal).

Santa Clawed by Rita Mae Brown - Review

*Editor's Note: Welcome Ariel Heart once again and her review of a fun holiday-themed mystery. I have to say, I have read many of the Mrs. Murphy/Sneaky Pie Brown mysteries, and though I started reading them with some enthusiasm, I have not been able to finish the last couple I've tried, even one I received as a gift from someone who knows I love mysteries and cats! Ariel's review has made me reconsider, and I may try this one as, in addition to loving mysteries and cats, I love holiday themed books! Enjoy!!

Santa Clawed

Author: Rita Mae Brown

Copyright: Nov 2008 (Bantam); 288 pgs.

Series: #17 in Mrs. Murphy mysteries

Sensuality: N/A but adult themes

Mystery sub-genre: Cozy

Main Character: Harry Haristeen, former postmistress now farmer with her tiger-stripped cat Mrs. Murphy, gray cat Pewter and Corgi dog Tucker

Setting: Crozet, Virginia – Holiday season

Obtained book through: Library Find

If you love animal cozy mysteries, then the NY Times Best-selling Mrs. Murphy mysteries are a must. The series is dubbed after Mrs. Murphy, Harry’s tiger-stripped cat who runs the house. The books are even touted as being co-written by Sneaky Pie, Rita Mae’s cat so you get the full animal viewpoint during the stories.

Harry has recently married the local equine vet, Fair and is now a full time farmer. This installment is set during the holidays so eloquently portrayed by Miss Brown. Harry and her new hubby go tree shopping at The Brother’s of Love Tree Farm, only to find their perfect tree is already decorated with a dead body of a brother. Harry had gone to High School with the dead monk, Christopher Hewitt. She felt he was really turning his life around after being released from jail, and then his throat was slit and a Greek coin, an obol, placed in his mouth. Harry is rather shaken by the murder and begins investigating, again aided by her three pets. Soon, Brother Christopher is not the only murder victim – all with their throats slit and an obol in their mouths - and the usually bright holidays have a fearful pall fall over the town.

This story is a wonderful read, the characterization is finely done and the town richly brought to life with its myriad delightful characters. Rita Mae’s characteristic animal viewpoints are spot on and often laugh-out-loud funny. You actually start to wonder if Rita Mae doesn’t actually hear her animals for real to be able to write them so convincingly. The story is character driven and yet sports a solid mystery plot with a few surprises along the way. There is not one area I could think of that could be done better. Don’t let the multiple deaths deceive you, this book will still put you in a bright holiday mood. This is one of the best cozy mysteries around and I highly recommend it.

As Harry Haristeen walked across the large quad to the great hall, her two cats and corgi behind her, she wondered if people today could build as securely as our forefathers did. Seemed like things were built to fall apart. Grateful that she lived in an old farmhouse built about the same time as the church, she paused on her way to the work party long enough to make a snowball and throw it up in the air.

Tucker, the corgi, jumped up to catch it. As she did, the snowball chilled her teeth, so she dropped it.

“Dumb!” Pewter, the portly gray cat, laughed.

"I knew it would do that, but if she throws a ball, I have to catch it. That’s my job,” Tucker defended herself.

Harry decided to sprint the last two hundred yards to warm up.

The tiger cat, Mrs. Murphy, shot past her. The shoveled walkway was covered with inches of fresh snow but easily negotiable.

Pewter, hating to be outdone, couldn’t get around Harry so she leapt onto the snow, where she promptly sank.

Tucker, trotting on the path, called out, “Dumb.”…

Upon entering the great hall, Harry inhaled the fragrance of oak burning in the two fireplaces, one at either end. The aroma of a well-tended fire added to winter’s allure. Harry loved all the seasons. Winter’s purity appealed to her. She loved being able to see the spine of the land, loved popping into a friend’s house for hot chocolate or serving the same. Born and raised here, she was buoyed up by close friendships. People might feel alienated in big cities, but she couldn’t imagine that emotion. Tied to the land, the people and animals that inhabited it, Harry knew she was a lucky soul.

I highly recommend this book. It has a good balance and is well written providing suspense, tens

ion, humor and even the holiday spirit in one package. By the end of the book, you will feel as though you have actually spent time in the small town of Crozet and have gotten to know some wonderful people.

Five out of Five Cozy Armchairs!

Ariel
About the reviewer:

A.F. Heart

http://www.mysterysuspence.blogspot.com/

Ms. Heart is a Colorado gal who does not like snow but loves the low bug population. She has been told she was an odd child for playing Cleopatra with her Barbies and dressing up her poodle. She is taking that active imagination and writing her first novel. She shares her writing progress (and much more) on her blog “Mysteries and My Musings.”

It's That Time of Year

If you actually sang the title of this entry, then you are in full-blown holiday mode, and so am I! Oh, I still have work to do... lots and lots of work. But I'm in the spirit.

And whatever you celebrate, whether it be:

Hanukkah - Begins sundown, Friday, December 11th thru the next 8 days.

Islamic New Year - December 18th

First Day of Winter - December 21st.

Christmas - December 25th

Kwanzaa - December 26th, thru January 1st

New Year's Eve - December 31st

I hope you enjoy the season, whatever it means to you.

And in that spirit, tomorrow I have a review of a Christmas-themed mystery - Santa Clawed by Rita Mae Brown, and Friday, a special treat, an article on writing the holiday-themed mystery by Maggie Sefton, author of the New York times bestselling Knitting Mysteries!

Enjoy all, and don't drink too much eggnog!

Death of a Turkey - Review

*Editor's Note: I don't know about anyone else, but I love holiday themed books, both romances and mysteries. Christmas isn't Christmas without a stack of Christmas Regency anthologies and Christmas cozy murder mysteries by my side. Getting to read them during the busiest time of years is sometimes another thing. Thanksgiving presents a dilemma, though, as Canadian Thanksgiving is a good month-and-a-half earlier than the American one. But it's a festive time of year, and I'll celebrate twice! Here, for all to enjoy, is a review of Death of a Turkey... enjoy!

Death of a Turkey

Author: Kate Borden

Copyright: 2005 (Berkley); 224 pgs.

Series: #3 in Peggy Jean Turner Mystery Series

Sensuality: N/A

Main Character: Peggy Jean (PJ) Turner, Mayor of Cobb’s Landing and proprietor of Tom’s Tools.

Setting: Cobb's Landing, a small New England town.

PJ is anticipating her favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. The house across the street from PJ is rented out to an angry woman named Prunella Post who seems to be PJ’s nemesis from the moment she arrived in town. Max, the wealthy financier who turned the economically failing Cobb’s Landing into a colonial-themed tourist town, has decided to turn Thanksgiving into a tourist day with a reenactment. To top it off, Chief of Police Stu McIntyre is coming back to town from time off, but first he needs PJ to tell his impossible mother that he is engaged and bringing his fiancée. The fiancée is hiding a dark past and somehow the obnoxious Prunella knows about it. Prunella Post is then found dead in the town square with a Turkey skewer sticking out of her – just like the kind PJ sells in her store.

PJ is a stronger female main character than many I have read and I liked that. She is an easy to like amateur sleuth who remains very close to her best friend from the age of two, Lavinia, who lives behind her and has a son who is PJ’s son’s best friend. The cozy factor is high in this series and that may appeal to some more than others, so beware. The very small town of Cobb’s Landing nicely comes to life to with details and its own past. The murderer and means were not difficult to deduce after enough information is revealed; it is the journey that is the story.

“The temperature had warmed to slightly above freezing, reducing the once glorious snow to crusty patches on lawns. The air was still, laced with a hint of bone-chilling fog. Peggy felt the damp of the wet concrete sidewalk seep through the soles of her boots and wished she’d worn her thick-soled running shoes. Too late to go back and change. She picked up the pace to keep the blood circulating in her slowly numbing toes. Buster trotted happily alongside, stopping occasionally to sniff a tree or leave his own mark – the canine equivalent of writing his name in the snow.”

The writing style is easy going and highlights PJ’s personality and outlook. All the subplots wrap up nicely for an overall enjoyable story and it seems to move along well without dragging. The deep friendship between PJ and Lavinia is well developed and a strong point of the book. If you enjoy your cozy mysteries for the entire cadre of characters becoming your family, as much if not more than the mystery itself, then this series is for you. If you want to delve into the Thanksgiving season before rushing headlong into Christmas, this book will put you into the turkey-day frame of mind.

Three-and-a-half armchairs out of five.

Ariel
About the reviewer:

A.F. Heart

http://www.mysterysuspence.blogspot.com/

Ms. Heart is a Colorado gal who does not like snow but loves the low bug population. She has been told she was an odd child for playing Cleopatra with her Barbies and dressing up her poodle. She is taking that active imagination and writing her first novel. She shares her writing progress (and much more) on her blog “Mysteries and My Musings.”

Questions and Answers with Cleo Coyle - Part 1

*Editor's Note: Welcome today and Friday to Cleo Coyle, whose Coffeehouse Mysteries are an enormous hit with lovers of Cozy Murder Mysteries. Cleo Coyle, by the way, is Alice Alfonsi who collaborates with her husband, Marc Cerasini. So, read and enjoy these answers from a respected veteran in the murder mystery field.

~::~

Now for the Q&A - Part 1:

Question: You write Cleo Coyle’s Coffeehouse Mysteries and Alice Kimberly’s Haunted Bookshop Mysteries series. Can you tell us a little about both?

CLEO/ALICE: Cleo Coyle is my writing ID for the Coffeehouse Mysteries, a series of light amateur sleuth novels that I began writing in collaboration with my husband in 2002. The first book, On What Grounds, was published by Penguin's Berkley Prime Crime in 2003 and (so far, anyway) the titles have been national bestsellers.

Cleo’s mysteries focus on the misadventures of single-mom, barista, and coffeehouse manager Clare Cosi, a woman who routinely finds herself mixed up in murder. One fan called it Murder She Wrote meets Starbucks—that’s a fair description and a nice one, actually, since I happen to love Murder She Wrote!

There are now nine books in Cleo Coyle’s Coffeehouse series: On What Grounds, Through the Grinder, Latte Trouble, Murder Most Frothy, Decaffeinated Corpse, French Pressed, Espresso Shot, Holiday Grind, and coming next year, the brand new Coffeehouse Mystery: Roast Mortem. (If the titles make you smile, that’s good; they should. The titles represent the humorous tone of the tales inside. BTW: Did you know the pun was once considered the highest form of humor? William Shakespeare loved them. Not bad company, frankly.)

If you start with book one (On What Grounds) and read the series in order, you’ll see that Clare Cosi moves along on a sort of amateur sleuth learning curve. Your average barista, after all, isn’t going to be ready for a starring role on CSI right out of the starting gate, you know? So during the first novel, an NYPD detective named Mike Quinn becomes one of Clare’s regular coffeehouse customers—not too big a stretch given that cops often down coffee by the gallon during their tours. The more Clare learns from Mike Quinn about detection and crime solving, the better she gets at practicing it.

My second alias is Alice Kimberly. Alice writes the Haunted Bookshop Mysteries (also for Berkley Prime Crime). The amateur sleuth in her series is Penelope Thornton-McClure or “Pen” for short. Pen owns the Rhode Island bookshop of the series title and in the first novel she discovers that her bookshop is haunted by the spirit of a big city private detective named Jack Shepard, who was gunned down on the premises while investigating a murder.

Jack’s ghost is now stuck within the fieldstone walls of Pen’s shop—and, brother, is he bored with his small town afterlife. But then bodies start dropping around Penelope, and Jack livens up. (After all, murder was his business in life.) Jack’s hard-boiled attitude often tries Pen’s patience, but the ghost has a lot more experience with solving homicides than she does. And Pen soon finds the ghost to be an invaluable crime-solving partner, even though he and his license did expire back in 1949.

The Alice Kimberly Haunted Bookshop series was launched in 2004 and there are five titles published thus far: The Ghost and Mrs. McClure; The Ghost and the Dead Deb; The Ghost and the Dead Man’s Library; The Ghost and the Femme Fatale; The Ghost and the Haunted Mansion; and a brand new one coming next year (2010), with more signed up beyond it.

Question: The Coffeehouse Mysteries have a very New York vibe; I find that a very attractive part of the novels. You’re not a native New Yorker; is that a help or hindrance to writing the series?

CLEO/ALICE: Good question. Yes, not being a native New Yorker is a help in writing the series because I can see New York the way Clare Cosi does—with a newcomer’s eyes. This city changes people. It has certain changed me over the years. I have paid attention to those changes and layered these ideas into the series. If you want to know “how” New York changes a person, just pay attention as you read. It's in there.

Question: You live in New York now… does the city help come up with plots?

CLEO/ALICE: Another good question. Yes, it absolutely does. And not just plots. Many of the settings, ideas, and elements in the Coffeehouse Mysteries were triggered by real events that occurred here in the Big Apple. Subway and rooftop suicides; a dancer stalked and murdered; a businessman plotting to kill his partner while making it look like a random crime; a detective charming a confession out of a suspect over a cup of diner coffee; the phenomenon of (illegal) underground restaurants; a killer wielding a chef’s knife taken from a restaurant’s kitchen; a drunken businessman unknowingly racking up tens of thousands of dollars in gentleman's club charges...all of these incidents occurred in New York City in recent years and have inspired fictional counterparts in my Coffeehouse Mysteries. Next year’s title, Roast Mortem, was also developed out of true New York City criminal incidents. More to come soon about that one!

That's all for the moment, but join us back here Friday, November 6th for Part 2 of our Q&A with Cleo Coyle/Alice Kimberley

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!

Pardon me, my American friends, while we Canadians celebrate our Thanksgiving a little (ahem, right on time, really) early.











Here are some Thanksgiving themed mysteries that sound interesting to me:

Death of a Turkey: a Peggy Jean Turner mystery (2005) - Kate Borden
Product Description
It's Thanksgiving--and it's not just the turkey who's in danger.

As tourists arrive at Cobb's Landing to enjoy an authentic Colonial-style Thanksgiving, mayor Peggy Turner would be thankful for nothing more than a clue as to who killed her neighbor--a clue that didn't point to her.


Turkey Day Murder: a Lucy Stone mystery (2001) - Leslie Meier
From Library Journal
Although much of her time is spent on family, fund-raising, and helping her best friend with day-care kids, Lucy Stone (Valentine Murder)Athe sleuthing reporter of Tinker's Corner, MEApromises an elderly friend that she will find out who murdered a confrontational local Native American. Recent selectmen board meetings regarding the Metinnicut Indians have been getting out of hand. Most of the townsfolk believe that the Natives want federal recognition only so that they can open a casino, but the dead man thought otherwise. Lightweight, approachable prose; cozy, small-town ambiance; and a down-to-earth sleuth make this a good choice for most collections.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


Fowl Prey: a Bed and Breakfast mystery (2001) - Mary Daheim
Product Description

Leaving the Hillside manor in capable hands, bed-and-breakfast hostess Judith McMonigle heads north to Vancouver's Hotel Clovia with her irrepressibly voracious cousin Renie for a pre-Thanksgiving getaway.But when an addled and impoverished popcorn vendor is murdered-along with his foul-mouthed pet parakeet-a local copper's suspicious gaze settles on the two visiting Americans. The cousins, in turn, suspect one of the "Sacred Eight" -- an odd-duck assortment of glamorous showbiz glitterati currently gathered at the historic hotel. And unless Judith and Renie can pluck a killer from the secretive, star-studded group, their geese will be thoroughly cooked in short order!

So, to all my Canadian friends, Happy Thanksgiving!

And to everyone else... Happy Monday!

Cleo Coyle - Coffeehouse Mysteries

Cleo Coyle's wonderful 'Coffeehouse' Mysteries have a fabulous New York feel to them; they're kind of like the coffee Clare Cosi sells at the Village Blend, authentic and tasty, but never gritty or bitter!

Here is a list of the books so far:

On What Grounds, September 2003

Through The Grinder, October 2004

Latte Trouble, August 2005

Murder Most Frothy, August 2006

Decaffeinated Corpse, July 2007

French Pressed, April 2008

Espresso Shot, October 2008

So far I have read French Pressed and I enjoyed it so much, I'm looking forward to catching up with the rest of the series!

~::~

November 3rd will see the release of a brand new Village Blend mystery, Holiday Grind, and Cleo Coyle will be here with a wonderful Question and Answer interview exclusive to Cozy Murder Mysteries.

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Product Description:
There's nothing cozier than a winter evening in Greenwich Village. Streetlights shimmer through icy flakes, cafés glow with welcoming warmth, and a layer of snow dusts historic townhouses like powdered sugar on holiday confections. Murder has no place in such a pretty picture, until now...

Coffeehouse manager Clare Cosi has grown very fond of Alfred Glockner, the part-time comic and genuinely jolly charity Santa who's been using her Village Blend as a place to warm his mittens. When she finds him brutally gunned down in a nearby alley, a few subtle clues convince her that Alfred's death was something more than the tragic result of a random mugging--the conclusion of the police. With Clare's boyfriend, NYPD Detective Mike Quinn, distracted by a cold case of his own, and ex-husband Matt investigating this year's holiday lingerie catalogs (an annual event), Clare charges ahead solo to solve her beloved Santa's slaying. Then someone tries to ice Clare, and she really gets steamed. But she'd better watch out, because if she fails to stop this stone cold killer, she may just get the biggest chill of her life.

This very special holiday entry in Cleo Coyle's nationally bestselling mystery series includes a bonus section of delicious holiday recipes as well as a glossary of coffeehouse terms, instructions on making espressos and lattes without an expensive machine, and tips for creating tasty coffeehouse syrups at home.

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Looking forward to it!!