Terrie Farley Moran on 'Murder, She Wrote'

LUCY BURDETTE: When I noticed that my Facebook friend Terrie Moran had been chosen to continue the long-running series MURDER SHE WROTE, I figured there was a story the Reds would love to hear. Terrie will be stopping by to answer comments and questions--I know I have some... So welcome Terrie, and take it away!

TERRIE FARLEY MORAN: Nearly twenty years ago, my BFF, who for many years lived less than two miles from my front door in New York City, moved to a tiny town in South Carolina. We visited back and forth and took family vacations together but I still miss walks in the park on weekend mornings filled with gossip and laughter, shopping together for clothes and eating in our favorite places: breakfast in Slims on the service road of the Long Island Expressway, not to mention lunches and dinners in Cara Mia on Hillside Avenue.

So in 2019 when I was asked to participate in a wonderful event called Mystery in the Midlands that was taking place in—wait for it—Columbia, South Carolina, I called my BFF and said, “Want to hang out in Columbia for a few days?”

She, of course, had been to Columbia dozens of times but I was a newby, so we arrived early and roamed. One of the first things that caught my eye was a marquee opposite our hotel. It was a long red banner with gold letters, S. H. KRESS, which immediate launched memories of the Kress five and ten on Fordham Road in The Bronx where I used to buy popcorn on the way to the movies. I was surprised to learn it was actually the Cowboy Brazilian Steak House located in a former Kress five and dime. The entrance to the steak house is on Main Street but they left the side entrance, on Hampton Street, just as it was, banner and all! 

Driving along the next day, we came upon Busted Plug Plaza which boasts the tallest fire hydrant in the world. It stands forty feet tall and weighs more than six hundred thousand pounds. See for yourself. Author Kaye George was kind enough to take a picture of BFF and me standing in front of the hydrant.

I had such a great time on that trip that when I was asked to become the next writer of the Murder She Wrote series, I knew instantly that the first place I wanted Jessica to visit was Columbia, South Carolina. And so she did in Murder, She Wrote Killing in a Koi Pond. 

To celebrate that Murder, She Wrote Killing in a Koi Pond is available for folks to read, I am offering a copy to one commenter. In addition, this year’s Mystery in the Midlands featuring Kathy Reichs of Bones fame along with other talented mystery writers, took place this past weekend. I have a ticket that will access the video of the entire event for a second commenter.

So, if you were writing a Murder, She Wrote novel what location would you chose? (Spoiler alert: the next book Murder, She Wrote Debonair in Death takes place in Cabot Cove.)

Book description: 

After traveling to Bethesda for a mystery writers’ conference, Jessica Fletcher decides she’s earned a vacation and takes a train to Columbia, South Carolina, to visit her old college friend Dolores, who has recently married her third husband, Willis Nickens, a wealthy and cutthroat businessman. They’ve moved into an opulent historic home with plenty of space for guests, and Jessica is ready for a week of shopping, gossiping, and relaxing at the grand estate.

But the morning after she arrives, Jessica discovers Willis facedown in the koi pond, and despite what the police think, she’s sure foul play is involved. She hadn’t known Willis long, but it’s clear to her that he didn’t concern himself with making friends. The question isn’t if her friend’s husband was murdered but by whom.

BIO: Terrie Farley Moran is co-author, along with Jessica Fletcher, of the Murder, She Wrote series. Murder, She Wrote Killing in a Koi Pond (June 2021) will be followed by Murder, She Wrote Debonair in Death (November 2021). She is the author of the beachside Read 'Em and Eat cozy novels, and is co-author of Laura Childs’ scrapbooking mysteries. Her short mystery fiction has been published in numerous venues. Terrie is a recipient of both the Agatha and the Derringer awards. Find her online at www.terriefarleymoran.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/terriefarleymoran/ 

Let's Twist Again

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: So, first. Have you voted? Are you voting? The Reds are relying on it, so do that. And tonight, we'll all be watching the returns, hoping for--good and reassuring news. Knowing  knowing that some where some time there'll be a surprise. In a novel, we'd call it--a twist! 

And that makes what Jon Land is thinking about today perfect. We can talk twists!  His new Jessica Fletcher  book MANUSCRIPT FOR MURDER is out today. Yay. It's his  second book since taking over the MURDER, SHE WROTE series, and it features a twist ending. (Jon says I can tell you that.)  Many of his other books do, too.

Are you a fan of the twist? (Stop singing, I can hear you.) Jon thinks his twist-affection was born in his earliest days...and the love of the twist has only gotten stronger.  He's even offering his top twisty movies..see what you think!

A TWIST IN THE TALE

   by Jon Land

Call it the influence of The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents on me when I was growing up. But I’ve long found nothing more satisfying than a jaw dropping reveal that sticks with you long after you first found your heart in your mouth. So in honor of that, and my own stab at such in MANUSCRIPT FOR MURDER, here’s a list of some of the greatest twist endings ever.

((HANK: oh, ed note: spoilers lurk ahead. But you HAVE seen or read all of these, right? If not, start watching (or reading) right after you vote. Okay, Jon, take it away.))  

THE USUAL SUSPECTS: The moment when Chazz Palminteri’s customs agent Dave Kujan drops his coffee cup after studying the back-office wall Kevin Spacey’s Verbal Kint has been facing for much of the movie remains the benchmark against which all other shocking twists will be compared. Outside, as Verbal completes his incredible metamorphosis into Keyser Soze, we realize we’ve been conned; that the metaphorical devil isn’t just real, he’s loose. It was right there in front of us the whole time but, like all great twists, we never saw it coming.

THE SIXTH SENSE:  Everyone seems to have a different moment when they realized Bruce Willis was one of the dead people Haley Joel Osment’s tortured young boy could see, but whenever that might’ve been it’s sure to have sent a chill sliding up your spine. The later the better, of course, because figuring it out too early is like getting the punch line before the joke is finished. M. Night Shyamalan’s brilliant misdirection makes us think we saw things that weren’t there, concealing the twist, for most anyway, until much closer to the end than the beginning.

THE STING: The film’s director George Roy Hill famously said that you can’t make a movie about con men without conning the audience. Well, all great twist endings are cons but this one was wondrously elaborate and a straight kick in the pants to those in the audience convinced they had everything figured out. Making us think the heroes are dead only to reveal they’re not makes for the perfect finish to a perfect film, much imitated but never equaled.

ARLINGTON ROAD: The sleeper in the group. Since relatively few know the movie, so no spoilers here. I’ll just say that the film’s slow, relentlessly suspenseful build makes us think we’re watching one thing when we’re actually watching something else entirely. I saw the film in a crowded theater and the moment in the end when a character says to Jeff Bridges’ tortured terrorism professor, “Michael, the only one who doesn’t belong here is you,” you could feel the audience lose its collective breath. A stunner that sticks with you long after you leave the theater.

THE CHASER: The classic short story by John Collier remains a subtle study in inevitability, all show and no tell since it’s comprised almost entirely of dialogue. A young man who enters a potion shop gets considerably more than he bargains for—at least he will eventually—after purchasing for mere pennies an elixir that will make the woman of his dreams love him. The twist lies in the fact that the price is so low because those who purchase it always come back for the chaser of the title: a much more expensive, and deadly, potion held in a different case. The young man never realizes that, of course, even when the professorial figure behind the counter bids him farewell with “Au revoir.” Until we meet again.

THE GLASS EYE: This installment so typical of Alfred Hitchcock Presents features a penny-pinching, lonely woman who finds herself obsessed with a ravishing ventriloquist for the joy he brings into her life. Wanting to prolong the feeling, she begs to meet her crush, leading to a shattering denouement no one could possibly have seen coming. Ever the master of misdirection in his films, Hitchcock similarly relished leaving us utterly shocked in the short form penned by the likes of Academy Award winner Sterling Silliphant.

TO SERVE MAN: The brilliant Rod Serling’s ending is right there in the title of this titular Twilight Zone episode, thanks to the double meaning that nobody sees or gets, not until the moment when the episode’s hero is boarding a space ship bound for a distant planet along with the rest of the world’s top leaders. The title actually refers to a book one of the aliens leaves behind to tempt and taunt the world. And its translation should have been obvious, but wasn’t.

DEMON WITH THE GLASS HAND: The classic Harlan Ellison penned Outer Limits episode features a lone human at war with aliens amid a sprawling warehouse complex while trying to find the missing fingers to complete his glass hand. Each finger brings that computerized appendage closer to explaining who he is and what he’s doing there. But the reveal imparted when the final finger is in place is one we never could have seen coming and is all the more perfect as a result.

THE SWIMMER: The brilliant short story by John Cheever, made into a surreal film by Frank Perry, features a super successful businessman on a shattering odyssey through affluent suburbia, uncovering the truth about his past, and present, through dips in his neighbors’ backyard pools as he makes his way home. It’s a slow burn that ignites in a final flashpoint when the character of Ned Merrill (played brilliantly in the film by Burt Lancaster) finally gets back to his house on the hill.

MEMENTO: Few films have ever come together better in the final moment than Christopher Nolan’s ground-breaking shocker about a man whose short-term memory only extends five or so minutes. He tattoos cue cards all over his body to keep track of his life, which doesn’t stop everyone he meets from conning him. Then, in the final fadeout, he cons himself to the pitch perfect voiceover (for a film that unveils in reverse fashion), “Where was I?”

Those are my choices. What about yours? Leave your suggestion(s) in the comments and I’ll respond with my thoughts!

HANK: Oh! This is SUCH fun. I will never forget that Twilight Zone. And the one with the guy with the glasses. And monsters on maple street. Ah.  And a good twist does not only have to come at the end, right? Clare Mackintosh's wonderful I Let You Go has one, and my Trust Me. More I cannot say. 

 But what do you think, reds and readers? Favorite twist endings, or middles? And do you want to know when a movie or book has a twist? 

Jessica Fletcher investigates a mysterious manuscript with deadly consequences in the latest entry in this USA Todaybestselling series...

Jessica Fletcher has had plenty to worry about over her storied career, both as a bestselling novelist and amateur sleuth. But she never had any reason to worry about her longtime publisher, Lane Barfield, who also happens to be a trusted friend. When mounting evidence of financial malfeasance leads to an FBI investigation of Lane, Jessica can't believe what she's reading.

So when Barfield turns up dead, Jessica takes on the task of proving Barfield's innocence--she can't fathom someone she's known and trusted for so long cheating her. Sure enough, Jessica's lone wolf investigation turns up several oddities and inconsistencies in Barfield's murder. Jessica knows something is being covered up, but what exactly? The trail she takes to answer that question reveals something far more nefarious afoot, involving shadowy characters from the heights of power in Washington. At the heart of Jessica's investigation lies a manuscript Barfield had intended to bring out after all other publishers had turned it down. The problem is that manuscript has disappeared, all traces of its submission and very existence having been wiped off the books.

With her own life now in jeopardy, Jessica refuses to back off and sets her sights on learning the contents of that manuscript and what about it may have led to several murders. Every step she takes brings her closer to the truth of what lies in the pages, as well as the person who penned them.

Jon Land

Jon Land is the award-winning, USA Today bestselling author of 45 books, including nine titles in the critically acclaimed Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong series, the most recent of which, STRONG TO THE BONE, won both the 2017 American Book Fest and 2018 International Book Award for Best Mystery. The next title in the series, STRONG AS STEEL, will be published in April. MANUSCRIPT FOR marks his second effort writing as Jessica Fletcher for the MURDER, SHE WROTE series, and he has also teamed with Heather Graham for a new sci-fi series starting with THE RISING. He is a 1979 graduate of Brown University, lives in Providence, Rhode Island and can be reached at jonlandbooks.com  or on Twitter @jondland.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451489306?pf_rd_p=8e0819a9-0ef1-44cd-9544-a7f28374af8b&pf_rd_r=SCFQSGYJNAAKT254Z2NZ

Twitter: @jondland

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JonLandAuthor /

Where Do You Get Your Ideas?--Donald Bain and Renee Paley-Bain

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Don Bain and Renee Paley-Bain, authors of the novelizations of Murder, She Wrote, as Donald Bain and Jessica Fletcher, hardly need any introduction from me.  But I must say that, "Where do you get your ideas?" is as a writer perhaps my favorite question from readers, and I am fascinated, as always, but the daisy-chain of ideas that go into what becomes a book. I only wish I could say I'd written 42 of them!!!! (Or is that 120??)


Here are the Bains to tell us!


Where do you get your ideas?
 
This must be a question that every writer gets (right, Reds?) whether on their first book or forty-first. Our forty-second book in the “Murder, She Wrote” series is just out, Death of a Blue Blood, and while looking back over the twenty-five years of publication we don’t always remember what prompted a particular plot, we do know exactly what inspired this one: “Downton Abbey.”
 
You might find it ironic that a book series based on the characters from a television series includes a book inspired by another television series. But we like irony.

For those of you not familiar with “Downton,” it’s a PBS series about an English aristocratic family caught up in changing times and mores of the post-Edwardian era. It’s one of the superb British costume dramas that show up periodically on public television and inspire a devoted following—including us. Its predecessor in the same vein was “Upstairs Downstairs,” which we also loved and whose 68 episodes chronicled the same social milieu in the 1930s. The fifth season of “Downton Abbey” is currently airing in the still-United Kingdom (Thank you, Scotland!) and will show up on U.S. TV in January 2015.
 
What is it about the lives of England’s advantaged class that so captivates us? After all, we sloughed off the rule of Mad King George 238 years ago—and violently, too. Yet we’re still fascinated by the nobility we rejected, the extravagant behavior of the lords and ladies that repelled us when we were expected to finance it.

Renée’s theory is that these shows are simply grown-up fairy tales with castles and balls, and elegantly dressed men and women waited on by an army of servants—a dream life found in the pages of  “Cinderella,” “Snow White,” “Sleeping Beauty,” et al, that a good many of us were raised up on in nightly stories—at least the females among us, Don adds. Of course each fairy tale had a stumbling block to happiness in the form of an evil stepmother, poison apple, or witch’s curse, just so we wouldn’t think a life of privilege came easily.

In Death of a Blue Blood, Jessica Fletcher is invited to a New Year’s Eve ball at Castorbrook Castle in the Cotswolds (talk about alliteration!). And her “plus one” is the handsome Scotland Yard inspector, George Sutherland, who has been wooing her since the very first book in the series, Gin & Daggers. Readers are divided over who Jessica’s love interest, if any, should be, with many rooting for Dr. Seth Hazlitt, her usual companion on the television show. But George has a pretty good fan base by now, having appeared in at least half a dozen of the books.
 

“Downton” is filmed at the ancestral home of the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, and an enjoyable part of our research was multiple viewings of “Secrets of Highclere Castle,” a DVD visit to the earl’s country home, situated on a 5,000-acre estate. (The current countess also writes a blog on life at Highclere.) Our fictional Castorbook Castle is owned by the Earl and Countess of Norrance, and his lordship has a mother, Lady Honora, with an equally dyspeptic outlook as the “Downton” character, Lady

Violet, played on television by the delightful Maggie Smith.
 

While there are some similarities given our admitted admiration for “Downton Abbey,” there are many more differences to accommodate both our imaginations and the requirements of our modern story. In the first chapter, Jessica discovers the body of a woman lying on a path in a secret garden, and nearly succumbs herself when she gets locked out in the cold. Here’s a peek at her first introduction to her host and his family:

“Who was she?” I asked George in a low voice.
 

“Apparently she served as lady’s maid to our 

hostess.”

“Lady Norrance?”
 
He nodded. “Her name was Flavia Beckwith. She’d been with the family many years. Drink your tea.”
 
“Didn’t anyone miss her?” I whispered.
 
“With all the hustle and bustle of the staff getting ready for the ball, no one thought to look for her.”
 
I took a sip from the delicate china cup and replaced it in the saucer. I was wrapped in a heavy blanket in a wing chair in a corner of the drawing room near the tall Christmas tree, the branches of which held swags of gold ribbon, gold glass balls, and electric candles. George sat on an ottoman by by my side. There were ten of us gathered for afternoon tea. George and I were the only ones who weren’t members of the family, but a few other guests were expected to arrive at any moment. Our hosts, Lord and Lady Norrance, had fussed over me in my disheveled state, but were understandably far more upset to learn of Mrs. Beckwith’s demise.
 

“What in blazes was she doing in the garden?” Lord Norrance asked, glaring at his wife.
 
Marielle, the countess of Norrance, raised a hand to tuck a loose strand of hair into her chignon. “I asked her find a sprig of holly that I could use for my hair for the ball.” She checked her image in the mirror over the fireplace. “I didn’t ask her to go into the garden.”
 
“Any sensible person knows it’s far too cold to walk outside at this time of year,” said a gravelly voice belonging to the Dowager Countess of Norrance, the earl’s widowed mother. Honora Grant was a slight woman in her seventies, but her delicate appearance belied her tough nature. Earlier, when she had leaned on Nigel’s arm as he escorted her into the room, she had pointed to a seat with her cane. “Put me over there where I can see everyone. Marielle, you know that’s my chair by the fire. Find another place, if you please.”
 
Lady Norrance obligingly vacated her seat so her mother-in-law could take it. Nigel placed a pillow he’d carried in on the chair, and Honora settled herself down. She cast a critical eye on the other occupants of the room. “I hope you’re not planning to cancel the ball because of this unfortunate incident.”
 
“Oh! We hadn’t thought...” the earl’s wife trailed off.
 
“You really should, you know,” said a young woman dressed in jodhpurs and boots. “We’ve had a death in the family.” She released the scarf around her neck and shook out her dark blonde hair.
 
“Nonsense!” the earl said. “This event has been on the social calendar for many months.”
 
“Jemma, must you irritate your father?”
 
“Sorry, mum.”
 
“We could hardly cancel now,” the earl said. “People are already arriving.” He waved an arm in George and my direction.
 
“And very welcome you are,” said Rupert Grant, the earl’s younger son, nodding at us, causing a curl from his carefully gelled hair to flop onto his forehead. He was a boyish looking fellow in his mid-twenties. “Besides, Flavia would not have wanted to discomfort the family in any way.” He leaned forward to pluck a pastry from a silver tray. “Isn’t that right, Mother?”
 
“You’re correct, of course, dear. Please take a plate and napkin. Mrs. Beckwith was dedicated to Castorbrook Castle and our family.”
 
“Wasn’t she a governess once?” the dowager asked.
 
“Yes, Grandmother,” Rupert said, “but she needed another job when the three of us rudely decided to grow up.” He cocked his head at his sister, Jemma, the horsewoman, and their older brother, Kip, who sat across the room and idly paged through a magazine. “And Mother gave the old girl another position.”
 
“Ridiculous! She wasn’t even trained.” Honora thumped her cane on the floor. “Can’t imagine she could have been a proper lady’s maid without training. But then your mother probably doesn’t know the difference.”
 
Marielle flushed and looked to her husband for defense, but he was lost in thought as he stared into the fire.

Jessica begins to investigate the background of the dead woman and George, who’s convinced her death was an accident, reluctantly joins in.
 
We had fun tramping around our fictional castle, peeking into the elegant halls on public display and the scruffier ones behind the scenes, and most of all, creating the colorful array of characters led by Lord and Lady Norrance. We hope you enjoy our latest effort.
 
So, Jungle Red Writers and readers: Do you have a favorite fairy tale? Is there a castle in it?

Murder, She Wrote: Death of a Blue Blood, published by the Obsidian imprint of Penguin Group, is bylined by the fictional Jessica Fletcher and the actual Donald Bain. Don’s wife Renée Paley-Bain collaborates with him on the series. 2014 marks the 25th year of “Murder, She Wrote” in print. Don, who has written more than 120 books, is also the author of the “Margaret Truman Capital Crime Series” (Tor/Forge), and, this year, had his first stand-alone thriller published under his own name, Lights Out! (Severn House).

How New Is TOO New?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:    I bought a black leather dress. I WORE it.

Are you surprised? I mean, it's..unpredictable.  You don't think of me in all black leather.  And yet, there I was. We all try new things, right?

But there are some people for whom we will not accept "newness." And those are our beloved characters. You say: "Miss Marple" and I know who she is and what she'll do. And what she won't do. Poirot. Inspector Morse. Kinsey. Reacher.  And Jessica Fletcher.

Ouch. That's exactly the problem the erudite and charming and talented Donald Bain and his fabulous wife (and wriitng partner ) Renee are facing. How do you keep it new--but not--TOO new?

Win Some, Lose Some

By Donald Bain


When writing a long-running series, having a large and devoted fan base is obviously a good thing. Readers eagerly await the publication of the next book, which assures a built-in market. It also encourages the writer to make each succeeding book better than the last one.

But it also carries with it a potential downside. Members of that loyal fan base expect each book to faithfully adhere to the basic elements that mark the series. Running characters mustn’t deviate very far from the characteristics that have endeared them to fans, and each book’s tone must not go far afield from what the readers expect. If the series avoids blood and gore, and romantic interests don’t slip into explicit sexual scenes, to shift gears and include graphic violence and sex is sure to turn off your fan base.

The series with which my wife and collaborator, Renée Paley-Bain, and I’ve been involved, 40 novels in the “Murder, She Wrote” series—and my connection with the 26 Washington-based novels in the Margaret Truman Capital Crimes series—are good cases in-point.

As fans of the “Murder, She Wrote” series know, Jessica Fletcher goes through life solving murders wherever she goes, and does it with grace, charm, humility, and aplomb. The books, while differing in terms of setting and storylines (many, of course, take place in Jessica’s beloved Cabot Cove) maintain a constant “feel.” They fall into the “cozy” genre—Jessica is now referred to by reviewers as “today’s Miss Marple”—and generally avoid subjects that might be considered too dark.

So when Domestic Malice was published last year, a small but vocal number of faithful followers of the series complained that the topic underlying the story, namely the serious problem of domestic violence, was a little too heavy for their taste.

The book itself didn’t deviate from all the books that preceded it, but wrapped into the Cabot Cove-based story was the reality that spousal abuse takes place in the United States at an alarming rate, and this point is made through the actions of the characters. While a few readers might fall by the wayside, newer ones who’d not read the series before but were attracted to Domestic Malice because of this subject filled the gap.

In the case of the Truman series, the latest, Experiment in Murder, published last November, broke the mold of the previous 25 books. It was written as a thriller, pure and simple. In addition, it cast light on the years of government-sponsored experimentation into mind control and its attempt to program the perfect assassin, a subject I did considerable research on years ago when writing the non-fiction The CIA’s Control of Candy Jones. Like a few fans of “Murder, She Wrote,” loyal Margaret Truman readers, used to quieter books that were more Washington-based murder mysteries than thrillers, have expressed their unhappiness with this change in tone and approach. But also like the Jessica Fletcher novels, while losing a few readers is dismaying, the new fans who prefer the new approach more than make up for it.

Domestic Malice did not deviate dramatically from all the previous books. Jessica Fletcher and her band of loyal, loving friends in Cabot Cove continue to live and function as readers expect them to. In Experiment in Murder politics continues to be at the core of the novel, and the series favorite couple, Mac and Annabel Smith (who’ve become fan favorites as the new Nick & Nora Charles), play a role, although not as major a one as some loyal readers would prefer. I treasure every reader, and wince at the thought of losing even one. Fortunately, these defections are few and far between. And I suspect that even those who are disgruntled will not abandon either series and will be on-hand at the bookstore or online when the next novel is published.

But these two examples point to a problem that every writer of long-standing series faces—how to keep a series fresh and inject new storylines—while not disappointing those diehard fans who resist any change with their favorite books and characters. What we’ve done most often is change locations so we have new settings to explore, different cultures to discover. Or we’ll take a peek into the hobbies, passions and interests of others. We try to weave in issues we confront either in the news or in our lives.

 Books in the “Murder, She Wrote” series have touched on the dangers of diet drugs, art forgery in Italy, a runaway teenager, hunting truffles in France, plus looks behind the scenes in a theater, on a movie set, and in competitive figure skating. The Truman books address public concerns, too, as well as weave American history into each story. If a topic intrigues us, we hope it will engage our readers. But every now and then we’ll hit on something that raises hackles.

My answer? Follow your instincts, have faith in readers’ willingness to experience something slightly new, and forge ahead with the next book. It’s a challenge, but one that keeps writers on their toes.

HANK: So, Reds? Are you flexible with your faves? If Kinsey Millhone suddenly went off on a sex-crazed weekend...if Jack Reacher got a new bespoke suit ...if  Sookie Stackhouse realized she wanted to go get her MBA.  If Lisbeth Salander--well, what would be unpredictable? Would you embrace the new? Or would you think--whoa. I'm done?  How new is too new?
And to a lucky commenter--we'll award Donald's newest--EXPERIMENT IN MURDER!

We Need a Little Christmas

ROSEMARY HARRIS: A little bird told me that later on this week the JRs will be talking about holiday music. For it or against it? I'm going to show my hand just a little bit today. No, not the full-blown Holly Jolly or Feliz Navidad, but a song from Mame - We Need a Little Christmas.I haven't seen the movie in years (must Netflix) but something terrible had just happened - stock market crash? - and Auntie Mame's reaction was to "haul out the holly" because she needed a little Christmas. Whether it was December or July.

I've needed a little Christmas in the past few weeks, as have so many others, particularly in my area of the country. Those still recovering from Hurricane Sandy. Those of us still reeling from the horrific attack in Sandy Hook. And those for whom the holiday season may not be a joyous one, whether it's because of financial difficulties, personal loss or the feelings of sadness and depression that seem so common at this time of year. We ALL need a little Christmas (or Hanukah...or Kwanzaa, you get the picture) and the feelings of warmth, compassion and optimism it brings.

 I'm haulin' out the holly. In the last two days I've forced myself to shop. And bake. Watch dvds instead of the news. And not cry every time I see a school bus. Or a child in the supermarket.

For most of us life will go on and things will get back to normal. Like they do after every tragic event. And even Christmas will come.
Good. We need it.

Here's Jessica Fletcher..I mean Angela Lansbury, haulin' out the holly.


http://youtu.be/0i14Yb1QMXY

It Takes A Village

“The lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.”
Sherlock Holmes, ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES

“Do you know what Sherlock Holmes said about the countryside?”
“No.”
“’The lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.’ The Adventure of the Copper Beeches.”
“The great detective never came to Trafalgar, sir. I think he’d find it peaceful here. Most of the time.”
“I’m not interested in what happens here most of the time.”
Sergeant Dick Madison and Constable Molly Smith, NEGATIVE IMAGE


HANK: Where do you live? Could there be murderer next door? A long-term, seething hatred at the fish-mongers (Okay, the Stop and Shop)? A murderous secret-revenge plot hatching at the patisserie? (Okay, the Burger King.)

It happens in Cabot Cove, right? And St. Mary Mead? So we went to our resident residence expert, Vicki Delany--to let us in on

The Continuing Appeal of the Village Mystery

Since the time of Agatha Christie, the village setting has been a staple of a certain type of mystery novel. A novel that is as much about the personal and family life of the protagonists as their jobs, that is more about human relationships and love and loss than international terrorism or guns-for-hire, thrives in the small town environment.

There are plenty of advantages to setting a crime novel in a small town.

People really do know each other in a small town, and they know each other’s business. Not good if you’re wanting to keep a secret.

And secrets, criminal as well as personal, are the life blood of the mystery novel.

I write the Constable Molly Smith series from Poisoned Pen Press (among other books). The Molly Smith books are police procedural novels, meaning that police officers are the protagonists of the books and they solve crimes in the context of doing their jobs. In these books I want to explore the personalities and families and relationships of the two protagonists as well as the nature of their job and the solving (or failing to solve) of crimes that are committed there.

The small town setting allows the characters’ families and friends – and enemies – to be involved in the drama without having to employ unbelievable coincidence.

The plot of AMONG THE DEPARTED, the fourth book in the series, revolves around what happens when human remains are found in the British Columbia wilderness by a police dog out searching for a lost child. Because it is a small town, and a close-knit community, it is not too much of a stretch that the police dog handler should be Constable Molly Smith’s boyfriend, and thus she is with him when he gets the call, or that the bones are discovered to be those of one Brian Nowak who disappeared without a trace fifteen years earlier. The last person to see Nowak, other than his family, was a young girl by the name of Moonlight Smith., best friend of Nowak’s daughter who had spent the previous night at a sleep-over and joined the family for breakfast the next morning.

In my novels, the small town setting has the added advantage of allowing me to give the main protagonist of the series, Molly Smith, a young, keen, somewhat naive new police officer, a role in criminal investigation. In a big city she would be directing traffic and issuing speeding tickets, but a small town force does with what it has. The 20-member Trafalgar City Police department allows her to become more involved in major crimes, plus the fact that she’s a local and Detective Sergeant John Winters is a newcomer, means he sometimes has to rely on her for local knowledge.

It isn’t always easy for Constable Smith, trying to be a police officer in a town where, as she thinks in the first book in the series, IN THE SHADOW OF THE GLACIER: It was hard, sometimes, to be a cop in a town where a substantial number of the residents had seen you performing as Number Two Wise Man in the Grade Three Christmas pageant.

The problems Smith runs into while policing in a town where everyone knows her so well, and where her mother is a prominent rabble-rouser and political troublemaker, is part of her appeal, I believe.

The town of Trafalgar is based, not at all loosely, on the real town of Nelson, British Columbia, population 9,000. But Trafalgar is not Nelson, and sometimes, of course, real-life has to take a back seat to the interests of a good story. No one in Nelson can quite remember when the last murder was. In Trafalgar, there are rather a lot.

As Sherlock Holmes pointed out, countryside does not always mean peaceful.

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Do you believe such treachery can exist in a small town? Authors, do you fear that too many bad things are happening in your series town? Readers, do you wonder how so many murders can happen in just one little village? Or do you shrug and say--it's only a story!

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Among the Departed was released by Poisoned Pen Press on May 3nd. If you’d like to read the first two chapters, please go to: www.vickidelany.com. Most of Vicki’s books are available in Kindle and other electronic formats as well as hardcover and trade paperback, large print and audio. Find Vicki on Facebook: www.facebook.com/vicki.delany and Twitter @vickidelany