I looked over at the white cat, who had finally opened his eyes, and mulled over possible names. His coat was so poofy, it made him shapeless, like a giant marshmallow. Hmm, that wasn’t too bad of a name. I cocked my head at Marshmallow, and he stared back at me with piercing sapphire eyes. We maintained eye contact for so long, it felt like a staring contest. I would show him who was boss. Okay, I blinked first. In the midst of the surreal times we're going through, it was beyond wonderful to sit down and chat with Jennifer J. Chow. I was already a fan of her Winston Wong cozy mysteries and I'd had the pleasure of meeting her at the California Crime Writers Conference last year. Her latest book, Mimi Lee Gets A Clue, is the first in a new cozy series and is out this month -- just in time for the comfort read we all need. A deserving victim. An adorable heroine. A talking cat. What more could you ask for? Whatever it is, Jennifer hits it with the Sassy Cat Mysteries. Mimi Lee is a terrific heroine with strong family ties and a growing relationship with her telepathic cat -- as well as with the cute attorney she met doing laundry. For warmth and humor, this new series hits it out of the park. Jennifer is also the author of the Winston Wong cozy series, starting with Seniors Sleuth, and featuring a male detective steeped in video games, as well as award-winning books for Young Adults and a host of short stories. I particularly want to mention her short story "Moon Girl," which is in the anthology, Brave New Girls: Tales of Heroines Who Hack. Proceeds from this book are donated to a scholarship fund through the Society of Women Engineers, so definitely worth checking out. Jennifer gives a shout out to a thriller she's currently loving, Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel, as well as to mystery writers Dale Furutani and Naomi Hirahara. And to learn more about Jennifer herself, check out her website. And if you have already devoured Mimi Lee Gets A Clue, you can pre-order Book Two in the Sassy Cat mysteries, Mimi Lee Reads Between the Lines, right here. Enjoy our conversation. As always, there is a transcript below if you prefer to read rather than listen. I also want to wish you all well. During these crazy times, I hope you and yours are staying safe and finding comfort in each other and a good book. Take care! Laura Transcript of Interview with Jennifer J. Chow Laura Brennan: Jennifer J. Chow writes multicultural mysteries and fantastical YA. Her Asian American novels include Dragonfly Dreams (a Teen Vogue pick), The 228 Legacy, the Winston Wong cozy mystery series, and a brand-new series called The Sassy Cat Mysteries. The brand-new first book in that series, Mimi Lee Gets A Clue, is just out now. Jennifer, thank you for joining me. Jennifer J. Chow: Thanks for having me, Laura. LB: So how did you get started writing? JC: I think I always liked writing, even as a kid I would make up stories in my head. When I got older and started reading a lot of books, I also thought it was really cool that anyone could be a writer. I remember borrowing my dad's typewriter and typing out my actual first story and then he took it to work with him and showed all his colleagues. So, that's really sweet. LB: Was it a mystery? JC: It wasn't a mystery, but it was one of those "twins switching identities," right? So I guess sort of a mystery in the way that they tried to pretend to be one another. But it was kind of one of those fun romps of mistaken identity. LB: So then when did you decide to turn your eye to mysteries? JC: I guess there are two points. One actually was when I was in elementary school. We had a teacher, I think it was in sixth grade, and she was really into all sorts of creative writing, poetry and short stories. And I do remember that she assigned us a short story. In that short story, I decided to make it a mystery and she really had some positive comments about it.

Destination Mystery

Episode 78: Jennifer J. Chow: Cozy Mysteries and a Talking Cat

In June, 2019, a nice young man in a blue suit asked me “when was the last time you smoked marijuana, ma’am?” I told him the truth – semester break during my sophomore year at Tulane – because you don’t lie to the FBI. I have no objection to the truth, but I don’t let it push me around. -- False Flag in Autumn, Michael Bowen I love a good locked room mystery almost as much as I love the Nick and Nora Charles dynamic. Author Michael Bowen combines both of these in several of his nifty, "plucky couples" series, starting with his first mystery, Badger Game. But he is also the author of thrillers, and his latest book, False Flag in Autumn, pits a savvy political operative against evil -- and her own conscience. Complex characters and high stakes ignite this story, the second in the Josie Kendall series. We also chat about the books that shaped his writing, and his life (turns out Perry Mason had an influence on Michael's choice of career). We're both fans of Agatha Christie (Alert! Spoilers for Murder on The Orient Express), Raymond Chandler, and Erle Stanley Gardner, among others. You can learn more about Michael's books on his author page. As always, if you'd rather read than listen, the transcript is below. Enjoy! -- Laura ****************************************************** Laura Brennan: Michael Bowen started writing while working as a trial attorney. While not playing Perry Mason in court, he was writing mysteries across genres including locked rooms, puzzle mysteries, and thrillers. Now that he's retired, we can look forward to many more books from Michael. Michael, thank you so much for joining me today. Michael Bowen: Well, thank you for having me. I'm really looking forward to this. LB: Tell me a little bit about your career pre-writing. How did you decide to get into law? MB: Well, as I was growing up, I had basically two possible career paths. One was to become a journalist and the other was to become President of the United States. And I knew I couldn't start at President, so I had to do something to earn a living. So I settled on practicing law because that's the way Abraham Lincoln did it. He practiced law and then he became President. And I had a very healthy sense of self-esteem back then. So, basically, I turned to law because I decided I wanted to be one of the people doing things that people write about instead of one of the people doing the writing. In the first series that I began, it's a "plucky couple," and the male half of the plucky couple had to surrender his license to practice law because of some shenanigans that he engaged in. And the female half was what back in the sexist, early 1960s was called a Girl Friday for a law firm. So she wasn't a lawyer, but she did stuff that people found helpful. My next plucky couple series involved a foreign service officer who was not a lawyer and the female half of that was a bookstore owner, and so that was a lot of fun. And in the next plucky couple series, I had a lawyer married to a woman who was a university professor and they solved mysteries together. LB: I love the whole plucky couple concept. I'm a big fan of The Thin Man series and I just love the idea of two people working together on their marriage and also on solving crimes. What was your inspiration for plucky couples? MB: I was absolutely enthralled by plucky couples, by Nick and Nora, by Jerry and Susan North, and I noticed that no one was doing that anymore so I wanted to bring that concept back to mysteries. But in a way, my real inspiration was my wife, Sara, before she was my wife. We met at a law school mixer for first-year law students and one of the fellow students, our classmate, was basically putting a move on her. He said, "I think that you should not believe anything that cannot be empirically demonstrated." And she said, "Do you really believe that?" And it took him three beats to figure out he'd been had.

Episode 77: Michael Bowen – Locked Rooms and Courtrooms

"What about this one?" I asked, passing several oil paintings and pointing to another large needlework. "It looks like a coat of arms." "It does. Although about a third of the stitching is gone. I wonder if it was done here, or in England? Stitching coats of arms was more common there. Americans didn't have family crests or coats of arms." The coat of arms was in poor condition. The glass protecting it was cracked, and dirt had sifted onto the embroidery. Threads were broken or missing in several places, so only part of the crest was clear, and the linen backing was torn in several places. Still, it fascinated me... -- Lea Wait, Thread Herrings Such a delight today to talk to the extraordinary Lea Wait. Life-long advocate for single-parent adoption and the adoption of older children, writer of historical books for young people and cozy mysteries for adults, Lea is as fascinating as her novels. Start by checking out her website, which includes discussion guides for her Antique Print Mystery Series and teacher guides for her books for children. Like Maggie Summer, the heroine of her first series, Lea has worked as an antique dealer. She credits her grandmother -- also a dealer, in dolls and toys -- with sparking her love for antiques and auctions. The warmth in her novels is clearly echoed in our conversation when she talks about her family and the community of antique dealers -- which didn't stop her from plotting to kill some of them off! On the page only, of course. Lea has so many books, I'm going to fail in any attempt at getting them all in order. However, her own website does a terrific job of parsing them so I'll link you back to that, and of course to her author page on Amazon. Although they're not mysteries, if you have children in your life, do check out her historical novels. As you'll see from our conversation, they give a very nuanced look at life in the 1800s. In addition to her website, you can keep up with Lea on Facebook and Goodreads.  As always, if you'd rather read than listen, the transcript is below. Enjoy! -- Laura ************************************************************************************ Transcript of Interview with Lea Wait Laura Brennan: Author Lea Wait has written historicals, children's books, nonfiction, and not one, not two, but three cozy series set in her home state of Maine. Lea, thank you for joining me. Lea Wait: It's wonderful to be here. Thank you for inviting me. LB: You are so interesting and accomplished that I almost don't know where to start. But since I'm a theater person, let us start with college because you majored in drama and English. LW: I did indeed. It's been actually an immense help. I'm not sure my family was enthused at the moment, but I always wanted to be a writer and by working the theater, I learned a lot about dialogue. LB: Well, you are writing professionally pretty much from the get-go. You are writing speeches and films. How did you get started? LW: Well, actually, I did think I was probably just going to go on to graduate school -- writers, they teach, so -- but I ended up with a job interview and I ended up talking to someone who had graduated from the Yale School of Drama, and he said, "You write plays." And I said, yes. He said, "Have you got any with you?" Of course I was young, I graduated from college early, so I was 20, long blonde hair, protest marches on weekends -- dates me a little bit. LB: Not at all, no. [Laughter] LW: But I pulled out, I think it was a play -- children's theater, so was like a chipmunk and a rabbit or something, definitely simplistic stuff. And he actually sat at his big mahogany desk and read several pages and looked at me and said, "You can write dialogue." And I said, "Yes, I can." And he said, "Then you can write executive speeches." The first executive speech I wrote was for the president of what was then part of AT&T, the Western Electric Company. I became fascinated.

Episode 76: Lea Wait

Sunday morning, the quiet kind that I don’t get enough of. Until a minute ago I’d been on my second cup of coffee, reading Dreamland and starting to think about breakfast. Hopalong, dozing at my feet, stirred briefly as my phone went off. I saw from caller ID it was Burke Cunningham. I almost didn’t answer, and not just because I liked listening to my new ringtone. A call from Cunningham on a Sunday morning was like the cluck of a dentist as she works on your teeth. The news can’t be good. On the other hand, because he’s one of the most sought-after defense attorneys in Columbus, Ohio, the news would probably involve a job, which I could use right at the moment. But it also meant an end to a quiet Sunday morning of the kind I don’t get enough of. I answered anyway. Unlike my conscience, my bank balance always gets the better of me.      “What’d the cops say?”      “They said it was a good thing I didn’t get my ass shot.”      “They did not.”      “Perhaps I’m paraphrasing.”      “Any leads?”      “Not at the moment. They took the info. Put out a news release.”      “I saw the coverage. You’re a hero, again.”      “Slow news day. A zoo baby would have bumped me off the lineup in a heartbeat.” -- Andrew Welsh-Huggins, The Third Brother Andrew Welsh-Huggins is a crime reporter and author of the Andy Hayes private eye mystery series. You can sign up for his newsletter on his website and keep up with him on Twitter and Facebook. And you can follow his recommendations for some of his own favorite PI reads, including Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone series (and whenever the wonderful Sue Grafton is mentioned, I like to give a plug for the work of her father, C.W. Grafton, The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope and The Rope Began to Hang the Butcher, two of my all-time favorite mysteries). Andrew also gives a shout out to Robert B. Parker's Spenser and Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series, and authors Dashiell Hammett, Ross Macdonald, and John D. MacDonald as masters of the PI genre. Here are Andrew's own Andy Hayes books, in order: 1 - Fourth Down and Out 2 - Slow Burn 3 - Capitol Punishment 4 - The Hunt 5 - The Third Brother We talk about his nonfiction book on the death penalty, but neglect to mention the title. Let me correct that oversight: it is No Winners Here Tonight, and you can learn more through this link to the write up on Andrew's website. As always, if you'd rather read than listen, the transcript is below.  Enjoy! -- Laura ************************************************** Transcript of interview with Andrew Welsh-Huggins Laura Brennan: Andrew Welsh-Huggins is a reporter for the Associated Press whose beat includes crime, the death penalty, and politics -- an explosive combination. He has translated that experience into two non-fiction books and five crime novels featuring Andy Hayes, an ex-Ohio State and Cleveland Browns quarterback and current private eye. Andy has a wisecracking attitude and an affinity for trouble. Andrew, thank you for joining me. Andrew Welsh-Huggins: Thank you for having me. Great to be with you. LB: So you are a career reporter. What was the draw of journalism? AWH: Well, I'd always wanted to be a writer. Early in my career after college, I think it was a natural transition to get into writing professionally. I'd worked for both my high school newspaper and my college paper, and grew up reading -- there was actually a time and we got two newspapers a day in my house growing up and the New York Times every Sunday. It just sort of made sense for me to follow journalism. And I also saw that as a path into fiction writing as well. It just took me a while to get there. LB: Were you always writing fiction on the side? AWH: Yes. I'm one of those kids who was writing stories at a very young age, usually mystery short stories as a young man. But just was always trying my hand at fiction, and particularly I was always attracted to the private eye ge...

Episode 75: Andrew Welsh-Huggins

I repeated my thirty seconds of speeding up and thirty seconds of rest method, sprinting around the park's track. I was panting hard when I rounded the bend coming back to where I'd started. I veered off the track, my sneakers crunching on the gravel, and I slowed to a walk heading towards the playground area to hit the drinking fountain over by the swings. The swings were moving from the tiniest breeze, but otherwise all was quiet. The water in the fountain was warm, and I let it cascade over the side of the bowl for a minute. I tested it with my hand, then leaned down and slurped some of the metallic-tasting, still-warm water. I closed my eyes and let the water splash into my face, shaking it off like a dog and wiping my eyes with my shirt. "Over here, please help me!" A woman's voice yelped through sobs. -- Elizabeth McCourt, Sin in the Big Easy I am delighted to chat with debut mystery author, Elizabeth McCourt. An executive coach and former trial attorney, she brings a realism to the story, and not just the courtroom scenes. Elizabeth brings nuance to all her characters, but especially her protagonist, Abby Callahan, in the first of a projected series, Sin in the Big Easy. Check out Elizabeth's website here (she's also on Twitter and Instagram), but also don't miss her TEDx talk, which appropriately enough is on the burden of carrying secrets. She also gives a shout-out to one of my favorite reads, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Woot!  Sin in the Big Easy also deals with human trafficking, which is a terrifying and important issue. I can't help but mention Peg Brantley's book, Trafficked. Since I interviewed Peg, it has won several awards and continues to add to the national discussion. Also, if you have teenagers in the house, a good way to open up the discussion would be to check out author Pamela Samuels Young's YA version of her own novel, #Anybody's Daughter, which deals with domestic trafficking and teen safety. If you want to learn more or if you know someone who might need help, CNN recently published a list of organizations around the world who are fighting human trafficking. The nonprofit Elizabeth mentions in New Orleans that helps women who have survived trafficking is Eden House. Their mission is "Heal, Empower, Dream," and they offer prevention education as well as resources and recovery services. As always, if you'd rather read than listen, a transcript is below. Enjoy! -- Laura ********************************************************************* Transcript of Interview with Elizabeth McCourt Laura Brennan: Elizabeth McCourt is a certified executive coach, top-ranked financial recruiter, professional speaker -- and now, mystery author. Her debut thriller, Sin in the Big Easy, introduces attorney Abby Callahan, a woman whose personal life is even more complicated than her most recent case. Elizabeth, thank you for joining me. Elizabeth McCourt: Hey, Laura. Thank you so much for having me on your podcast. LB: So you have a fascinating background. EM: Oh, thank you. Thank you. Yes, everyone said to me, really? Mystery writer? Where did that come from? LB: Well, now, how did you start out? Did you start out in the financial market? EM: I started out right after college at Morgan Stanley, as an analyst. But then I went to law school. I didn't like that so much, and so I went to law school in New Orleans and fell in love with the city. Although I didn't stay there; moved out west and then, sort of full-circle, became a headhunter and then a coach. But this love of New Orleans and writing was with me throughout my life I would say. And so it just seemed, as this book evolved, to have it in New Orleans and use my legal background in some way just made sense and worked for the book. LB: Yes, one of those lesser-known uses of law school is getting to write legal thrillers. EM: Exactly! Yes, I feel like I have to use my legal background somewhere and writing i...

Episode 74: Elizabeth McCourt

When Rory bent down to inspect the flowerbed, she caught sight of something twinkling in the dirt. She knelt down on the grass and plunged her hand into the cool earth, clearing away the soil from around the sparkling object.  An involuntary cry of alarm sprang from her lips. Her tennis shoes slid on the damp grass as Rory leapt to her feet and gaped at the finger sticking out of the dirt. She closed her eyes and said to herself over and over again: It's not real. It's all in your mind. Once she'd convinced herself the finger was a vision caused by too many hours at the computer, she opened her eyes and stared down at the ground again. The finger was still there.   -- Sybil Johnson, Fatal Brushstroke   Such fun to chat with Sybil Johnson about her cozy series, the Aurora Anderson mysteries. Her heroine combines the logic of a computer programmer with the ability to see -- and notice details -- with an artist's eye. The warmth of her circle of family and friends -- not to mention a good-looking detective and a steady supply of mysteries to solve -- makes this series a great find for cozy fans. Sybil gives a shout-out to one of my favorite cozy authors, Gigi Pandian, whom I interview here, and also Leigh Perry's Family Skeleton mysteries. Also, if you -- like me -- happen to be a sucker for holiday mysteries, let me send you over to Janet Rudolph's website, Mystery Fanfare, where she routinely publishes lists of mysteries involving holidays both major and obscure.  There are three books in the Aurora Anderson Mystery series so far, and three more to come. Book Four, Designed for Haunting, will be out for Halloween, but you can preorder it now.  Aurora Anderson books in order: 1 - Fatal Brushstroke 2 - Paint the Town Dead 3 - A Palette for Murder 4 - Designed for Haunting You can find Sybil online at her website (her questions for book groups are here), on Twitter, and on Facebook. And you can find her blogging at the fun group site, Type M for Murder. The group includes Vicki Delany and Frankie Y. Bailey, both of whom I've had the pleasure of interviewing. As always, if you'd rather read than listen, the transcript is below. Enjoy! -- Laura ********************************* Transcript of Interview with Sybil Johnson Laura Brennan: Author Sybil Johnson began her love affair with reading in kindergarten, with The Three Little Pigs. She then discovered Encyclopedia Brown, and the die was cast. Her Aurora Anderson mysteries are perfect cozies, combining art, friendship, a good-looking cop, and a hefty dose of murder. Sybil, thank you for joining me. Sybil Johnson: Thank you for having me. LB: So, like most of the mystery writers I chat with, you had another career in another field before you started writing novels. SJ: That's right. I was in software development, I was a computer programmer, I also managed computer programmers, which is a little bit like herding cats. And I did that kind of thing for 20 years. LB: What I found with mystery writers -- and I'm sure it's true of all writers, but I like mysteries, so with mystery writers -- writers write themselves and their world into their books. Which is fantastic, I think it's one of the reasons why every series is unique. So you were in computers and your heroine Rory is a computer programmer. How did you develop her character? SJ: Well, first off, I decided to do that, I decided to make her a freelance one. Anytime you have an amateur sleuth, you always have to have them have time during the day to go out and detect. And if she's a freelance computer programmer, she can work whenever she wants. She can work at 2 AM if she wants, and she can do her stuff during the day. So that was one of the reasons. And also, I thought it would be nice character because she's very analytical, which most computer programmers are, which I am. But she also has an artsy side, which is where the Tole painting comes in.

Episode 73: Sybil Johnson

Susie didn't mind playing the cops and hookers game, an unavoidable situation for a working girl. She would come out no worse for wear if she only played by the rules. She had learned to be friendly but respectful, even a little playful at times, and she knew to give the cops something they didn't have when they called her over. Nothing happens on the street without these girls seeing it, hearing about it, or being directly involved in it. They know who peddles the dope, who runs the guns, who whacked the last guy, and who is getting whacked next, and why. If a girl wanted to stay on the street making her money, she would need to provide information to the cops from time to time.  Susie glanced toward the white panel van as it slowed, pulled along the sidewalk, and followed her as she sauntered north on the sidewalk of Long Beach Boulevard. The driver leaned toward the open passenger's window and looked her over... -- Danny R. Smith, A Good Bunch of Men I am always extra-eager to talk to people with real-life experience in the worlds they write about, and so I am delighted to bring you an interview with former homicide detective Danny R. Smith. Danny brings the fellowship of the squad room to life -- as well as the banter and dark humor that take the edge off of the hard and often grisly job. And if you sign up for his newsletter (follow the link and scroll down), he will send you a free short story, so you should absolutely go check him out. No worries; I'll wait! Danny's first book, A Good Bunch of Men, introduces the characters and partnership that makes up the team known as Dickie Floyd. His second book, Door to a Dark Room, which was being finished as this interview was recorded, is available for pre-order as this goes live. I also want to mention Ellen Kirschman, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing here, and whose work I mention because both she and Danny write about cops and police psychologists, but from the opposite perspective. In their novels, they each approach that relationship with an understanding of how difficult it is for trust to form. I find it fascinating to glimpse this world from both sides, and from people with first-hand experience.  Plus I love both of their writing! Check out Danny's blog, particularly if you're a fan of true crime or are looking for the story behind the story. As always, if you'd rather read than listen, the transcript is below. Enjoy! -- Laura ***************************************************** Transcript of Interview with Danny R. Smith Laura Brennan: Danny Smith is a retired homicide detective, current private investigator, and author of the Dickie Floyd mystery series about a pair of veteran Los Angeles detectives who couldn’t be more different, or better-matched. Danny, thank you for joining me. Danny R. Smith: Good morning. Thank you for having me, Laura. LB: The two heroes of your series are Los Angeles homicide detectives, and that was your old beat, wasn't it? DS: Yes. LB: How did you end up going into police work? DS: Well, like many young men, I was kind of lost and not sure what to do. And I landed a job working security through a friend who said, hey, this is a great job while you're going to college, you can work the graveyard shift and do your homework while you're working, and it pays pretty good. I think it was like, $4.50/hour back then. The two heads of security were retired LAPD officers and I just fell in love with these guys. These were men's men, the stories they told, the way they walked, the way they talk, the way they looked at people, the way they joked with people. Everything about these guys, I just loved. These two guys were just great guys, and that actually is when I first started thinking, man, it'd be great to be a cop. LB: Well, that's really interesting because one of the things you capture so well in your novels is the sense of camaraderie. DS: Yeah. The debut novel,

Episode 72: Danny R. Smith

Mirabelle Bevan swept into the office of McGuigan & McGuigan Debt Recovery at nine on the dot. She removed her jacket and popped the gold aviator sunglasses she'd been wearing into her handbag, which she closed with a decisive click. The musky scent of expensive perfume spiced the air -- the kind that only a sleek, middle-aged woman could hope to carry off. Bill Turpin arrived in her wake. Like Mirabelle, Bill was always punctual. He was a sandy-haired, reliable kind of fellow. At his heel was the black spaniel the office had acquired the year before. Panther nuzzled Mirabelle's knees, his tail wagging.  "Nasty business on Oxford Street," Bill commented, picking up a list of the day's calls from his in-tray and casting an eye down the addresses. "That new barber's." "Tea, Bill?" Mirabelle offered without looking up. "Nah. Always puts me off, does a murder..." -- England Expects, Sara Sheridan What a delight to chat with author Sara Sheridan! I can't possibly keep up with all of her accomplishments, but I'll do my best. Here are a few ways you might connect with her work: -- Like historical mysteries? Her Mirabelle Bevan series features a woman who has suffered tremendous loss -- as has her country. Together, she and England are coming out of the despair of the Second World War. Oh, and Mirabelle is solving murders along the way. -- Prefer contemporary fiction? From Hong Kong call girls to a mysterious inheritance, road trips and revenge, Sara writes it all. -- Historical epics? From China to Antarctica, Brazil, England, and the Arabian desert, Sara sweeps you across the world. -- Nonfiction your thing? She wrote the companion guide to the ITV series, Victoria, and is currently writing about Scottish women in history. As she herself has been inducted into the Saltire Society's community of Outstanding Women, I think that's highly appropriate.  -- Let's not forget blog posts. Here is one of my favorite of hers, on the anniversary of UK women getting the right to vote. It's on the site of Sara's own Reek Perfume, a company she runs with her daughter, so if you have a weakness for fabulous scent, well, you can thank me later.  Sara is so busy writing, she mentions that she needs to deliberately carve out specific times to read. Go-to favorites are Scottish novelist and screenwriter, Lorna Moon, TC Boyle, Jeremy Levin, Susan Ferrier, and of course Agatha Christie. We also talk about the Windrush generation and the problems they're currently facing; anyone interested in learning more can check out this BBC overview.  Sara and I chat about her most recent novel, The Ice Maiden, and if you're in the UK, you're in luck! Today is the launch date! Yay! Go read. Alas, American listeners will have to be a little more patient; we don't get The Ice Maiden until November, 2018, but you can preorder here.  As always, if you'd prefer to read our chat rather than listen, the transcript is below. Enjoy! -- Laura     ********************************************************************** Laura Brennan: Author Sara Sheridan brings history to life in novels such as On Starlit Seas and her upcoming historical epic set in Antarctica, The Ice Maiden, which will be out in the US this July. It’s a romance and an adventure -- but where there’s life there’s also murder… Her Mirabelle Bevan mysteries, set in post-WWII Brighton, feature a woman whose skills were honed during the war and who finds herself at loose ends now that there's peace. Lucky for us, evil lurks everywhere -- even in Brighton. Sara, thank you for joining me. Sara Sheridan: It's nice to chat to you. LB: So you write the wonderful Mirabelle Bevan historical mystery series, which we're going to talk about, but you also write prolifically in other genres. SS: Yes, I do. I find it really stimulating, actually, to write in other genres. I know some writers find it really confusing, but for me,

Episode 71: Sara Sheridan

If Max Montgomery ever had to commit to monogamy to save his wife's life, she would just have to come back and haunt him from the afterlife. Max rested his forearm on the registration desk as his eyes anxiously crisscrossed the lobby of the Beverly Hills Ritz-Carlton. He watched as people milled about, dressed in tuxedos and evening gowns. He made eye-contact with a short, brown-skinned cutie who sashayed by in dress so tight he could see the faint outline of her thong. Max smiled. She smiled back. Too bad he was already about to get laid. Otherwise, he definitely would have taken the time to follow up on that. -- Every Reasonable Doubt, Pamela Samuels Young My conversation with Pamela Samuels Young spanned so many important issues and so many good books, I wasn't sure which one to give you a taste of. But I went with her first published novel, Every Reasonable Doubt, a legal thriller which opens with Max, as he goes to keep a date he'll never forget.  His last. Pamela writes powerful legal thrillers and protagonists who have complicated, messy relationships. She's been called John Grisham with a female twist -- and, I would argue, a gift for creating characters you want to follow in case after case.  She also delves into difficult and important safety issues, especially if you have a teenager in your life. And she makes it easy (well, easier) for you to address these issues with your children, having adapted two of her own novels for middle school and up: #Abuse of Discretion on the very real legal dangers of sexting, and #Anybody's Daughter on the terrifying world of sex trafficking right here in the United States. Regarding the epidemic of teenagers being prosecuted for sexting (and facing sentences that include both prison and registering as sex offenders), Pamela talks about a recent case in Minnesota. If you want further info, I have the ACLU statement here and the judicial outcome here. Newsweek offers a bleak, and sadly increasingly common story of a teenage boy whose life was devastated because of some ill-considered photos exchanged with his girlfriend.  Pamela has all her legal series in order on her website. Not listed there, but findable on Amazon, is her legal erotic novella, Unlawful Desires. If, you know, you need a change of pace. As always, the transcript is below if you'd rather read than listen. Enjoy! -- Laura ********************************************************************************************* Laura Brennan: Pamela Samuels Young is an attorney, author, and anti-trafficking advocate. Her award-winning thrillers shine a light on important issues like sex trafficking, online safety, and the juvenile justice system and include young adult mysteries, legal thrillers, and even an erotic suspense novella under her pen name, Sassy Sinclair. Pamela, thank you for joining me. Pamela Samuels Young: Thank you for having me. LB: So you don't just write about justice, you work for justice in real life. PSY: I previously did, sort of. I'm now full-time author, I've been retired from the practice of law for two years. I was actually an employment lawyer, employment defense. Discrimination, sexual harassment, cases of those matters. My last job was in house with Toyota. LB: I certainly think discrimination is one of the key aspects of working for justice. PSY: I completely agree. LB: How did you get into that field? Why did you decide to go into law? PSY: I was a journalism major in college, I went to USC. And I was convinced I was going to be the next Woodward and Bernstein. Then I spent a summer while at USC working in DC at a local television station, and that became my passion. So then I went to grad school directly afterwards and got a Master's in broadcasting and began working in TV news. And after about five or six years of TV news, most recently at KCBS in LA, I was completely burned out and decided to go to law school.

Episode 70: Pamela Samuels Young

Andi Battaglia entered the house and carefully covered her nose and mouth with her handkerchief before proceeding. Cops say once you smell the odor, you know it instantly, an observation that doesn't make the effect any easier to handle. June in Florida with the air conditioning off had turned the house into a vile-smelling sauna. Andi greeted the man and woman who stood near the patrolman, ready to transport the body either to the local mortuary or to the Medical Examiner in Fort Pierce if there was to be an autopsy. Andi hadn't been called, but she'd been in the area when she heard the report on her car radio. If it was a homicide, it would be her first in her new job as a detective, and she'd notified the station that she was going to the scene. No one would argue -- certainly not the other detectives who didn't want any more work than they already had.  Holding her handkerchief tightly over her nose and breathing through her mouth, Andi entered the bedroom... The man's eyes were open, his eyelids drooped half-shut... -- A Reason to Kill, Carole Sojka I have the great pleasure this time of interviewing one of the most lovely and interesting of writers: Carole Sojka. Carole has lived a lifetime of adventures, notably with her husband as one of the first thousand Peace Corps volunteers, and traveling all over the world. She worked, traveled, raised a family, and in retirement, turned her hand to writing. And so a new adventure began. Carole has two books to date and a third on the way in her Andi Battaglia police series, set in Florida. The first, A Reason to Kill, introduces Andi as she tries to break away from her past and start fresh. But of course the past always has a way of sneaking up on you. In her second book, So Many Reasons to Die, it's Andi's partner Greg who finds that the past is hard to lay to rest. Especially when she winds up murdered on your turf.  Carole's third book is a stand-alone, Psychic Damage, about a woman who is addicted to visiting psychics -- right up to the moment one of them is murdered. Oh, and if you're looking for more information about the fascinating House of Refuge which features in A Reason to Kill, you can check it out here. Carole gives a shout-out to author Doug Lyle, who I've had the pleasure of hearing lecture. A terrific writer and a generous spirit, you can learn more about him at his website. If you are a mystery writer, I can't recommend his book, Forensics, highly enough. Carole also mentions one of her favorite writers, Julia Spencer Flemming, whose work inspired Carole to get her detectives out of Florida and into the snow in their next adventure. And finally, Carole gives a shout out to her friend and editor, Candy Somoza. You can see Candy read from her own work here.  Meanwhile, keep tabs on Carole, see her fabulous pics from Somalia, and check out excerpts from her books via her website: http://carolesojka.com/  As usual, if you'd rather read than listen, the transcript is below. Enjoy! -- Laura *************************************************************************************** Transcript of Interview with Carole Sojka Laura Brennan: My guest, Carole Sojka, writes mysteries -- and lives adventures. She and her husband were among the first thousand Peace Corps volunteers and they have traveled to every continent except Antarctica. Her mysteries capture that sense of adventure and romance -- although of course the bodies do tend to pile up.  Carole, thank you for joining me. Carole Sojka: Thank you for having me. LB: You have led a very exciting life. CS: It doesn't seem like that in retrospect, but I guess it was, or it has been. LB: Did it seem like that at the time? When you took off for Africa and the Peace Corps, did it seem like this is the most exciting thing I'll ever do? CS: Yes, it did. I remember that no matter what was going on during our Peace Corps time,

Episode 69: Carole Sojka

     “Carmen’s working on a series about children and the courts,” Francine said. “Kids falling into poverty are a very big problem.”      “I’m aware of the problem, Francine. I’ll skip over the question of what has made Carmen give a good hoot in hell about children all of a sudden. What does any of this have to do with that coke-head Mark?”      “It’s just… she knew Mark fairly well and doesn’t think his death was accidental. She says Mark did drugs too much to do something that stupid.”      “So she thinks he did it on purpose? Is that it? He committed suicide over the predicament of his client and child?”      “Not exactly,” Francine said.      In hindsight I can see clearly how nonchalant she wanted to seem, playing with the gold locket and dropping it inside her sweater, glancing in the direction of the window as if a pretty bird had alighted there. “Carmen thinks Mark was murdered.” -- Weave a Murderous Web, Anne Rothman-Hicks and Ken Hicks They say a writing partnership is like a marriage. In the case of Anne Rothman-Hicks and Ken Hicks, it *is* a marriage. They starting writing together while dating in college and they never looked back. Ken and Anne have written something for everyone. Their books include an international thriller, Theft of the Shroud; books for children and tweens, such as Things Are Not What They Seem (and the sequel they mentioned has been released! It's Remembering Thomas, set during the Revolutionary War); a mainstream adult novel, Kate and the Kid; and their Jane Larson mystery series, which takes place in the legal world they both know well. In chronological order, the Jane Larson books are: Weave a Murderous Web Mind Me, Milady Praise Her, Praise Diana If you'd like to keep track of their many projects, you can go to their website or find their author page on Facebook. Also, I want to give props to their publishers: the Jane Larson series is published by Melange Books, and you can find children and tween books at Muse It Up Publishing. As always, if you'd rather read than listen, a transcript is below. Enjoy! -- Laura *********************************************************************************************** Transcript of Interview with Ken Hicks and Anne Rothman-Hicks Laura Brennan: It is my great pleasure today to have not one, but two guests: the writing team of Ken Hicks and Anne Rothman-Hicks. Ken and Anne have to date written over 20 books, from children's books to mysteries. Ken and Anne, thank you so much for joining me. Ken Hicks: Thank you for having us. Anne Rothman-Hicks: Thank you very much. LB: So let's talk a little bit about you. You are not just a writing partnership, you're an everything partnership. KH: We do a lot of different projects, including photography and jewelry and stone sculpture and that kind of thing. LB: And you're married. ARH: That's a project! KH: And were married. That's an ongoing project. LB: So how did you meet? ARH: We met at a college dance. KH: Anne was at Bryn Mawr College, and I was at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. They're very close and I think were even closer at the time. And we met, and the next year we had a writing project together. LB: That's fantastic. Now did one of you start writing first and draw the other one in, or was this from the beginning something you wanted to do together? ARH: We were both writing individually but joined up together. LB: So were you writing the same type of things or were you each writing in a different genre? ARH: I was writing poetry for a while. LB: Oh, how lovely! KH: Yes, she wrote very nice poetry. But I think what happened was, when we first met, we were both interested in children's books. I was reading a lot of children's books of the time and Anne had her own knowledge of them. In fact, she was doing a Latin translation of Winnie the Pooh. We decided we'd like to try to do a student project together and ...

Episode 68: Ken Hicks and Anne Rothman-Hicks

The day had gone badly for Raymond Ambler, a bitterly cold, gray, January day not long after New Year's, the wind like a knife, slicing into the cavern cut by 42nd Street between the skyscrapers on either side. The wind stung his face and whipped under his trench coat as he walked the couple of blocks to the library from Grand Central, where he'd gotten off the subway from the courthouse downtown. Banks of piled-up snow, stained and filthy as only snow on a city street can get, hanging on from the storm the day after Christmas, lined the curb, the gutters on at each street corner a half-foot deep in slush and muddy water.  -- Con Lehane, Murder in the Manuscript Room Murder + libraries is always a winner for me, and author Con Lehane gives us a non-cozy suspense series about Raymond Ambler, curator of crime at the 42nd Street Library. Ahem, I mean curator of crime books, of course. ;) Raymond comes across more than his fair share of bodies -- and lucky for us that he does. In his latest, there is a crime from the past reaching its tentacles into the present, as well as family complications and questions of trust and betrayal. This is Con's second series, and it's just as interesting and complex as his first, The Bartender Brian McNulty Mysteries. In fact, McNulty has a cameo in the 42nd Street Library series as well. After all, there's always a good reason to stop in at a bar. I'm all over the cover art for the US edition of the first in that series, Beware the Solitary Drinker, published by Poisoned Pen Press. It was painted by Fritz Scholder; if you're not familiar with the artist, you can check out his official website here.  Con gives a shout-out to Megan Abbott, who has compared him to Ross Macdonald. So many other writers came up in our chat! They include fellow noir(ish) writer Jason Starr; Macdonald's wife, Margaret Millar; and Con's favorite writer, Nelson Algren, who wrote The Man with the Golden Arm. Fellow writers whom Con admires for melding social problems with crackerjack mysteries include George Pelecanos, S.J. Rozan, Laura Lippman, Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, and Walter Mosley. If your TBR list isn't big enough, we also talk about a murder that happened while he was tending bar -- although not in his bar -- and influenced Beware the Solitary Drinker. It was adapted into a novel, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, by Judith Rossner. Finally, one mystery is solved! Con quotes a writer whose name escaped him, but it was, as he thought, the author of The Book of Daniel, E.L. Doctorow. The link takes you to even more of Doctorow's great quotes. Do check out Con's website as well as his Facebook and Twitter feeds if you want to keep tabs on him. Meanwhile, if you'd rather read than listen, as always, a transcript is below. Enjoy! -- Laura ************************************************************************************* Transcript of Interview with Con Lehane Laura Brennan: My guest today is author Con Lehane. Con has been a bartender, labor journalist, union organizer, and college professor. The New York Times has called his Brian McNulty mystery series “cruelly charming” while Megan Abbot dubbed his first Raymond Ambler novel a “masterful tale in the grand tradition of Ross Macdonald.” Con, thank you for joining me. Con Lehane: Well, thank you. LB: Those are some passionate fans, there. CL: Well, I'm very lucky. I've known Megan since her first book. Her first two, three, four were these noir-ish books that were set in the glamorous 40s. Her later books are stand-alones about younger women, girls growing up. I really appreciated her saying that, and I really admire Ross Macdonald. He's sort of my mentor from the past. Maybe I'm too much like him in some ways. LB: I don't think you can be too much like Ross Macdonald, I don't think that's a thing. I think that's good. So, you mentioned noir. There is a very noir feel, especially to your first series.

Episode 67: Con Lehane

Lyle Deming braked his Mustang hard and aimed for the sandy shoulder of the desert road. Luckily, his daughter Sam had been looking down and didn’t see the body. He passed a thicket of creosote and manzanita and pulled onto the dirt as soon as he could. “Stay in the car,” he told Sam in a tone that precluded discussion. He trotted 200 feet back on the road, around the brush, to reach the parked vehicle—and the unmoving, bullet-riddled body he’d seen next to it. -- Mark S. Bacon, Desert Kill Switch Mark S. Bacon is a prolific writer, first as a reporter -- and yes, that included a stint as a police reporter, be still my heart! -- then as a nonfiction writer, and finally in the realm of fiction. You can keep tabs on him (and read sample chapters and even some of his flash fiction stories) on his website, right here. Speaking of flash fiction, Mark gives a shout-out to some practitioners of the genre, including Margaret Atwood and Ernest Hemingway -- that's some pedigree! In fact, if you yourself want to give the genre a try, there is an annual competition in Hemingway's honor presented by Fiction Southeast. Be warned: it's addictive to write as well as to read. If you're looking for more, Mark has an entire book filled with only flash fiction, and in our preferred genre as well: Cops, Crooks & Other Stories in 100 Words.  As always, below you'll find a transcript if you'd rather read than listen. Enjoy! -- Laura ******************************************************************************************************************* Transcript of Interview with Mark S. Bacon Laura Brennan: Mark S. Bacon is no stranger to crime. In addition to writing his Nostalgia City mystery series, Mark worked as a police reporter and is a master of the ultra-short story: his collection Cops, Crooks and Other Stories is full of murder and mayhem, all in 100 words each. Mark, thank you for joining me. Mark S. Bacon: Thanks for having me, Laura. LB: So you have been a writer for a long time. Not necessarily of mysteries, but you have made your whole career as a writer. MB: That's true. I went to journalism school and started working for newspapers, and then I moved into advertising. And I became a copywriter, writing TV commercials, radio ads, that sort of thing. Then I went into marketing and at the same time I started writing nonfiction books and did that for quite a while. I've always been a fan of mysteries, I've always read mysteries from the time I could learn to read virtually. Finally the chance came to start writing mysteries, which is the kind of thing I read all the time and really enjoy that. Some writers say they write to entertain themselves, and I think that's partially true with me. I enjoy getting my characters into tight situations and figuring out how they're going to make it out. LB: You have a journalism background, but the journalists in your novels are not necessarily the easiest people to get along with. MB: Ha! That's an interesting observation. Yes, newspaper and broadcast news people tend to be kind of nosy and they want to find out everything they can. And I was that way when I was a reporter. So, when you're trying to solve a mystery, solve a murder, and in the case of Nostalgia City where there's a lot of issues involved with the public image of this theme park, my characters are kind of at odds with the news media even though one of them was actually a reporter for a short time. Yes, I make my reporters pretty nosy. LB: Yes, you do. Well, when you were a reporter, was that fodder for you? Was that grist for the mill for being a mystery writer? MB: Oh, of course it is. And the biggest part I think was doing police reporting. I showed up at the police department every morning and read reports and talked to cops and went out at crime scenes and learned the lingo of police. I learned what the procedures are and that kind of gave me the background so th...

Episode 66: Mark S. Bacon

A thick mist had crept in from the river. It skirled around the man's legs as he picked his way through the foul-smelling mud, drifting up to cloud the twisting turns of the narrow alleyways. He paused for a moment to watch the vapor ghosting through the gloom. A shiver of gooseflesh snaked down his spine. Shifting, he peered into the darkness, trying to spot the wrought-iron arches of Half Moon Gate. But only a shroud of black-on-black shadows lay ahead. -- Andrea Penrose, Murder at Half Moon Gate Author Andrea Penrose writes everything Regency: romances (as Andrea Pickens), steamy romances (as Cara Elliott), and not one but two fabulous Regency mystery series, which you can check out on her website right here. Her first mystery series, the Lady Arianna mysteries, is lighter, with a dash of chocolate, while her Wrexford and Sloane mysteries -- Murder on Black Swan Lane, and the latest, Murder at Half Moon Gate -- are a darker take on the Regency era. Both are brimming with mystery, friendship, and fabulous Regency details. Who knew Napoleon liked chocolate? Well, we all do now. Andrea is herself a fan of Georgette Heyer -- and really, who isn't? We talk about the fabulously evocative language of the Regency, and lo and behold, Ms. Heyer herself, on her website, offers up a dictionary of Regency slang. So if you find yourself becoming befogged, the remedy is within ames-ace.  ;) Here are all of Andrea's mysteries in order: Wrexford & Sloane Mystery Series 1 - Murder on Black Swan Lane 2 - Murder at Half Moon Gate Lady Arianna Regency Mysteries 1 - Sweet Revenge 2 - The Cocoa Conspiracy 3 - Recipe for Treason 4 - Smoke and Lies Novella: The Stolen Letters As always, if you'd rather read than listen, the transcript is below. Enjoy! -- Laura ****************************************************************************************************** Transcript of Interview with Andrea Penrose Laura Brennan: Andrea Penrose is a woman of mystery -- my favorite kind! Her bestselling mysteries are set in Regency England: The Lady Arianna Series, which melds danger, deception, and a dash of chocolate; and her newest series, The Wrexford and Sloane mysteries, in which an artist and a scientist find answers -- and unexpected chemistry -- when they solve cases together. Andrea, thank you for joining me. Andrea Penrose: Well, thank you very much for having me. LB: So you have been writing professionally for a long time now and under many pen names. AP: I have, and don't get me started on why. But it tends to be publishing, if you write for one house, you can't write under that same name for another house. LB: And it also allows people to not pick up a book that is, for example, a mystery when what they're looking for is your steamy Regency romances. AP: That's absolutely correct, too. Andrea Penrose is my mystery nom de plume. LB: So, Regency has been the thread running through a lot of your work, right? Because you went from Regency romances to slightly steamier Regency romances, to Regency mystery. So why Regency? AP: Well, you know, I love the era. I just find it a fabulously interesting time and place. It's a world that's aswirl in the silk and seduction of the Napoleonic wars, but it's also a time when radically new ideas are clashing with the conventional thinking of the past. People were questioning the fundamentals of society, and as a result everything was changing. Politics, art, music, science, social rules. The world was turning upside down. You had -- the romantic movement was really individual expression. You had Beethoven writing these amazingly emotional symphonies, and Byron pending wildly romantic poetry. And you had Mary Wollstonecraft writing the first feminist manifestos. Then the Industrial Revolution, technology is disrupting everyday life. So in many ways, it's the birth of the modern world. And for me,

Episode 65: Andrea Penrose

The deputies were excited but quiet about it, out of respect for Peach. Unexplained death was uncommon, even with the aging residents that made up much of the population of the town. Violent death was even rarer in the scattered villages that lined the one road in and out of the mountain towns, and news about it would spread quickly. Meth, heroin, domestic abuse, identity theft, yes. At this point, though, murder seemed unlikely. Holly got Peach settled with a cup of chamomile tea and a plate of Fig Newtons along with a promise to stay put. It was hard to ignore the blood that stained her black-and-white cotton top. "I know this is tough, Peach. Try to be patient." Peach hugged herself, rocking back and forth in one of the chairs in a corner of the big kitchen... -- Mar Preston, The Most Dangerous Species It's my birthday! Well, not mine per se, but that of Destination Mystery. I launched the podcast two years ago, and in honor of that momentous event, I give you a bonus interview this month. My dear friend and wonderful mystery writer, Mar Preston, chats with me about her terrific police series, one set in Santa Monica, the other in a mountain village -- proving that crime is everywhere. Mar puts her all into researching, and she talks about several of the programs she's gone through for writers looking to get it right. She gives shout-outs to Lee Lofland's Writers Police Academy -- which a number of writers I know have taken and loved -- and the Public Safety Writers Association, which hosts an annual conference in Las Vegas. She also recommends the first mystery writer to delve into the mean streets of her home turf of Santa Monica: Raymond Chandler. Since The Long Goodbye is one of my all-time favorite mystery novels, I am happy that Santa Monica has inspired so many crime stories.  ;-)  Mar also writes books for beginning mystery writers, and you can get the first one for free, just by visiting her website and scrolling down.  Here are Mar's mysteries, in order: Detective Dave Mason: 1 - No Dice 2 - Rip-Off 3 - On Behalf of the Family 4 - A Very Private High School Detective Dex Stafford: 1 - Payback 2 - The Most Dangerous Species And her How-To Books: 1 - Writing Your First Mystery 2 - Plotting Your First Mystery 3 - Creating Killer Characters 4 - Finishing Your First Mystery 5 - Writing Backstory in Your Mystery Writing Your First Mystery Boxed Set (Books 1-4) As always, if you'd rather read than listen, there's a transcript below. Enjoy!  And happy birthday to all of us!  -- Laura ************************************************************************************ Transcript of Interview with Mar Preston Laura Brennan: My guest today writes police procedurals set in idyllic towns -- proving that even in paradise, murder is not unknown. Her Dave Mason mysteries take place in Santa Monica, where sun and sand are no match for greed and ambition, while her Dex Stafford series is set in a mountain resort community suspiciously like the one she currently calls home. Mar, thank you for joining me. Mar Preston: It's a pleasure. I enjoy talking to you when I see you at mystery conferences. This is a treat! LB: It is! It is. I've known you for years I've loved your writing all that time. MP: Aw, thanks Laura. LB: So let's talk a little bit about how you got into writing. When you started, you weren't writing mysteries, you are writing something else, right? MP: Well, I've always been a wordsmith. And I thought because it came easily to me that anybody could write if they just put their mind to it. It wasn't a skill that I thought had much value. And because I worked in academic research, and numbers and charts and graphs -- that was what was important. And then, after a long illness, as they say, my husband died and I'd been involved in taking care of him for a long while. When he died, there was this great gap of time.

Episode 64: Mar Preston

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