The Book She'll Never Part With!

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HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:   A Theme! You know how much I love it when Jungle Red has spontaneous unplanned themes—the other day Julia was talking about how to get rid of stuff, and the difficulties of deciding what to keep.

Well our dear pal—the newlyAgatha winning (YAY) and fabulous Shari Randall has solved that mystery-with one book, at least.  And yeah, it’s a step.

Question for you-do you know what “moulage” is? Or maybe: what moulage are?  And then Shari—just returned from Spain!-- has a question for you.

No? Well, read on.

Shari celebrating!

The Book I’ll Never Give Away

By Shari Randall

Many thanks, Hank, for inviting me to visit with you and the Reds – what a treat! It takes my mind off of my ongoing task of dealing with boxes of, well, stuff, that have moved with my family for so many years that I have no idea what’s in them.

Like most booklovers, I’ve found that the hardest part of downsizing is dealing with all of my books. I’ve tried Swedish Death Cleaning, read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and truly believe Less is More. After my last move, I managed the painful process of winnowing my book collection. But there is one book I simply cannot part with, a book I’ve had since I was ten years old.

What is this relic of my mystery reading youth? The Hardy Boys Detective Handbook: Authentic Detective Methods for Solving Mysteries – the 1972 printing of the 1959 original. Why didn’t I have a Nancy Drew Detective Handbook? Did one exist back then? Apologies to fans of Frank and Joe, but I only read the Hardy Boys when I couldn’t get my hands on a Nancy Drew.

Why can’t I bring myself to let go of this book?

Because whenever I crack it open, I go back in time and fall under its spell. Once more I am a ten year old in pigtails who believes it’s entirely possible for two nosy teenagers and their accident prone chum Chet to bring down an international crime syndicate.

What makes this book so irresistible? First, there’s the style. The Handbook crackles with adolescent male energy, tough guy lingo, and a noir sensibility. The Joe Friday approach delivers facts to wannabe detectives like a .45 delivers lead.

Second, what a trove of information! Among the tips it offers are (TSA take notice) directions for pat-downs, schematics for one-, two- and three-man surveillance, a dictionary of legal terminology and criminal slang (“Dive: a place of poor reputation”) and directions for making moulage. If you don’t know moulage, I highly recommend this book.

Though many of the forensic procedures have been rendered obsolete by modern technology, and one must no longer carry change for the phone booth in the corner of the drugstore soda shop, spending just five minutes with The Hardy Boys Detective Handbook makes you feel that you can trail a perp, pat him down, and make the collar with the confidence of a teenage detective.

More than anything, The Handbook connects me with the sheer joy of reading mysteries, a feeling I try to channel while writing my own mystery series.

Happily – or sadly – you can find a copy of The Hardy Boys Detective Handbook on Amazon for $.01 plus $3 for shipping. But the trip down memory lane is priceless.

Readers, is there a book that you simply cannot, and will not, ever give away?

HANK: AH, toughie! All my signed Sue Graftons, that’s for sure. And my childhood Winnie The Pooh. The pre-arc of TRUST ME. Oh, dear, this is a difficult one. How about you, Reds and readers?

And yeah, I had to look up moulage.  And so did you, right?

Okay—your turn.  What’s a must-keep book? Family photo albums don’t count.

Former librarian Shari Randall is the author of the Lobster Shack Mystery series. The native New Englander lives in a midcentury modern money pit not far from a lighthouse and plenty of great lobster shacks. Her debut, Curses, Boiled Again, won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel. You can check out her mermaid obsession on Instagram or Facebook at @sharirandallauthor.

 Drawn and Buttered is the third book in a wonderfully satisfying cozy mystery series set at the Lazy Mermaid Lobster Shack in coastal New England.

The Lazy Mermaid’s business has slowed to a snail’s pace―until a monster lobster claws his way onto the scene…

With high season behind them, ballerina on-the-mend Allie Larkin and Aunt Gully are finally lying low. But then an unexpected guest arrives at the lobster shack: a crustacean so huge he’s dubbed Lobzilla around Mystic Bay and on social media. Soon, with everyone showing up for a peek in their tank, Allie and Aunt Gully have more on their plate than they can handle.

Meanwhile, another local establishment finds itself in hot water. In exclusive Rabb’s Point, a strange burglary breaches the elegant home of Royal Parrish. Allie takes it upon herself to help with the investigation but, before she can get to the bottom of the case, another alarm sounds: the Lazy Mermaid’s Lobzilla has gone missing and is on the loose! And bodies are beginning to pile up. . .

“Delightful…Full of New England coastal charm…and clever sleuthing [that] will keep you turning the pages.”―Krista Davis, New York Times bestselling author of the Domestic Diva mysteries 

To Cozy? Or Too Cozy?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Okay, I’m just gonna step back and let LeslieBudewitz talk. She’s hilarious, brilliant, and a dear pal. She’s the immediate past president of Sisters in Crime—and did an absolutely stellar job. She's a nationally best-selling author who lives in the wilds of Montana, and she’s fearless.

As she proves in this essay.

TO COZY, OR NOT TO COZY?

            By Leslie Budewitz

Ah, the poor cozy. In some circles—and I know you’ll be shocked—it’s fashionable to denigrate the cozy. To dismiss the amateur sleuth as a busy-body who should stick to running her book shop, her catering business, or her spice shop, and leave the down-and-dirty world of investigating murder to the cynical and jaded private investigator or his cousin, the cynical and jaded police detective.

I’m not buying it.

There is a reason we love the amateur sleuths of cozy world, and I’ve got a theory.

It’s not because we love the food they cook or the sweaters they knit. Well, not just because of the food and sweaters.

I’m not going to define the cozy—I could, but that would be another post! Suffice to say, as the late Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said of pornography, we know it when we see it.

But here’s the key, for me. Whether the cozy is set in a small town or a community within a larger city, in the past or the present, whether the amateur sleuth is single or widowed, young or old, whether we like the victim or think she needed killing, the murder is a shock that disrupts the norm. It must be solved—and this is key—to restore a sense of order. Of course, there’s one in every book, so the reader isn’t shocked, but the residents are. They share an underlying belief is that people are basically good, and natural order can be restored.  

Some writers don’t like the term cozy. The great Carolyn Hart, whom I adore, says what’s more uncomfortable than murder in a small town where everyone is affected? I live in a small town, and she’s right. I never want to forget that murder is not just a means to tell a story—it’s real, and it hurts everyone.

But I like the term, because ultimately any book with an amateur sleuth is about community. Our intrepid sleuth steps away from her busy life to investigate because it’s necessary. The job of the professional investigators is to restore external order by making an arrest and bringing the killer into the justice system. But the job of the amateur sleuth is to restore internal order within the community. To restore the social order.

How does she do that? She’s part of the community—sometimes new to it, sometimes a local girl who returns home. Her occupation—running a coffeehouse or a pet-friendly hotel, catering, or midwifery—puts her at the heart of the community. She knows everyone. She understands the dynamics. She can see things the professionals can’t see and ask questions they can’t ask, because she knows what goes on. Often, her expertise gives her an advantage—because she knows the true value of the stolen rare book, beyond its price, she can understand the motivation to take it and identify the killer the police never suspected.

Ultimately, the cozy is about community. The characters and their relationships drive the plot, and the entire novel. And so I find the label “cozy” a positive choice. A hopeful choice.

As I often tell readers, cozies are the comfort food of the mystery world. And don’t we all crave a little mac and cheese now and then?

HANK: That’s such a great way of putting it.  What do you think, Reds and lovely readers? Have you had the “cozy” battle, er, discussion with anyone? Who's your favorite cozy author?

 

ABOUT KILLING THYME:

In Seattle's Pike Place Market, Spice Shop owner Pepper Reece is savoring her business success, but soon finds her plans disrupted by a killer in the latest from the national bestselling author of Guilty as Cinnamon.

Pepper Reece's to-do list is longer than the shopping list for a five-course dinner, as she conjures up spice blends bursting with seasonal flavor, soothes nervous brides fretting over the gift registry, and crosses her fingers for a rave review from a sharp-tongued food critic. Add to the mix a welcome visit from her mother, Lena, and she's got the perfect recipe for a busy summer garnished with a dash of fun.

While browsing in the artists' stalls, Pepper and Lena drool over stunning pottery made by a Market newcomer. But when Lena recognizes the potter, Bonnie Clay, as an old friend who disappeared years ago, the afternoon turns sour. To Pepper's surprise, Bonnie seems intimately connected to her family's past. After Bonnie is murdered only days later, Pepper is determined to uncover the truth. But as Pepper roots out long-buried secrets, will she be digging her own grave?

ABOUT LESLIE:

Leslie Budewitz blends her passion for food, great mysteries, and the Northwest in two cozy mystery series. KILLING THYME, her third Spice Shop Mystery, set in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, is due on October 4. DEATH AL DENTE, first in the Food Lovers' Village Mysteries, set in Jewel Bay, Montana, won the 2013 Agatha Award for Best First Novel. The immediate past president of Sisters in Crime, she lives and cooks in NW Montana.

Find Leslie and excerpts from her books on her website, and chat with her on Facebook.

What We're Writing--Hank's adventures in the past

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Everything old is new again? Well, kind of.

When my publisher asked me to take a fresh-eyed look at my Charlotte McNally books in preparation for their re-issue—my first series in all new editions with gorgeous new covers!—I knew that could be a…shall we say, fascinating experience. I could change things if I wanted. Yay. 

But I would also see—in unassailable black and white--what needed to be changed. Would that be the good news or the bad news?

So with much delight and little trepidation, I opened the pages of the four books in my first series, and read all the way through.  PRIME TIME came out in February, and I am so happy Charlotte McNally is making friends with lots of new readers.

 FACE TIME is coming next week.  So today my “what we’re writing”

today is about “what we’ve written.”  

And then written again.

First, the fabulous news. Were you hooked on Serial, or Making A Murderer, as I was? It turns out that the Serial and Making A Murder theme is what FACE TIME is all about! So that was a treat to discover.

However. It was quite the education to see what needed to be changed in the books. It’s like watching a movie from 9 years ago. Things that seemed so timely and hip become…well, not so relevant. 

Or just—wrong.

First, in AIR TIME (coming in June) I had to change the announcement flight attendants make before takeoff. You don’t have to completely turn off your phones any more, right? You can keep them in airplane mode.  That almost ruined a plot point—it was very nice to be able to have the flight attendant yell at Charlotte to power down.

I also almost hit plot-disaster with beepers. You remember beepers, right? Those little gizmos everyone had? Especially reporters, who were not allowed to leave the station without them. Now, almost no one has a beeper. But um, rut-roh. I really needed them in the plot of one of the books.  I finessed.  Instead of Charlotte reassuring herself: “Everyone gets beeped!”  She now thinks: “It’s okay, people still get beeped.”

n PRIME TIME, someone’s computer proclaims “You’ve got mail!” Uh, hmm.  When was the last time you heard that once-constant refrain? So now I made their email ping. But a person still says “You’ve got mail.” The “you’ve got mail” reference is critical later in the book, so I couldn’t ignore it altogether.

There’s a reference, sigh, to Puff Daddy.  Charlie’s producer Franklin, corrects the speaker, reminding him it’s now P. Diddy. (Are you with me here? Of course not. And if you are, I love you madly.)

But because a suspect wears an item from his Sean John clothing line and that leads to his identification, it was a real key to the story. (You’ll understand when you read AIR TIME. It works.)   So I had to keep it—but how?

“How do you even know about P. Diddy?” someone now asks.

 “Oh, Franklin’s big on fashion history,” Charlie now says. “He knows all that vintage stuff.”

Another oops?  Someone bought a home “a few years ago in 2005.”  Now it’s simply “a few years ago.”

The crazy-crowded Cape Cod rotary is now gone. Luckily Charlie doesn’t have to use another route to be caught in the traffic jam. The toll booth on the Mass Pike are now mostly unstaffed E-Z pass automatic machines—happily for me, not ALL of them.

My editor back then yanked out all the current cultural references, much to my chagrin at the time. I remember telling her: “Jane Pauley will ALWAYS be on the Today Show!”  Okay, the editor was right. Big lesson learned.

Some things I just left the way they were—I mean, Charlie is 46, and her mental rolodex would be that of a person that age.  So she refers to the Beatles, and Ed Sullivan, and having had a collection of VHS tapes twenty years ago.

And from the “need I say more” department, here are two more snippets from the “change” list I sent for AIR TIME :

p 217  2^nd line from bottom

change

“Josh is getting cable,” I say.

To

“Josh is upgrading his cable,” I say.

P 226  Line 12-13

Change

Time to hit the pay phone.

To

Happily, Logan still has one pay phone.

And now, here’s a bit from the about to be re-issued FACE TIME, a BookSense Notable Book (see? They’re called Indie Next Picks now!), about which Sara Paretsky (hurray!) said: “A gripping fast-paced thriller with an important story line and an engaging and unusual heroine.”

In this scene: our heroine, reporter Charlotte McNally, is not only facing a last-minute TV live shot about a new political candidate, but a disaster only possible to people of a certain age.

FACE TIME

 “Just read the news release,” Franklin instructs. “It’s got the whole drill, law and order, convictions out the wazoo, death to infidels, all that. Y’all know the lowdown on this guy, right?”

I do, in fact. Oscar “Oz” Ortega: recruitment poster for the

prosecution—cool, hot, and politically connected. Known for his

outrageous neckties and outrageous legal talent. Scholarship to

Boston College. Scholarship to Yale Law. Could cross-examine

blood out of a turnip. And, some predict, he’ll step out of the attorney

general’s office, percolate for a term or two on Beacon Hill,

then head for the Oval Office at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

“Thanks, Franko,” I say, taking the release. Less than a minute

to go. I’ll read it through quickly, then use it to sum up when Oz is

finished. Done it a million times. Like riding a bike. “No problem.”

Wrong.

I can’t see the words. I mean, I can see that there are words, but

they’re a complete blur. I glance over at Franklin, ready to ask if

there’s a problem with the copy he’s offered. I can easily see the

crease in his predictably impeccable jeans, the tiny polo pony on

his pink knit shirt, even how the ten- o’clock stubble on his face

darkens his coffee skin to espresso.

Clearly, what’s wrong is me. Without my reading glasses, this is

going to be impossible. And even if I could get to my glasses,

tucked in my red leather tote bag and back in the van, I couldn’t

go on the air wearing them.

“Thirty seconds,” I hear in my ear.

I can’t read this news release, but I have to. Tucking the paper

under one arm, I use a finger to pull back my left eyelid and pop

out my contact lens. With a brief wince of regret and one flip of a

finger, I discard the contact onto the parking lot pavement, and try

again to read Oz’s formal announcement.

 “Four. Three.” I hear the countdown in my ear. “Two. Go.”

HANK: SO excited about this! And soon I will have fabulous other news. And—soon--there’ll be the brand new SAY NO MORE, about which you will hear, um, relentlessly. I'm working on the updates to DRIVE TIME now…and I will keep you posted.

But let’s talk about change. If  you had a do-over—about anything—would you?  Or how about this: Would you mind if I’d mentioned the Cape Cod rotary or Jane Pauley?

 And—a copy of the all new PRIME TIME to one lucky commenter!