Why I Write Mysteries by Cate Conte

Jenn McKinlay: One of the blogs that we Reds love is The Wicked  Wicked Good Mysteries, and I am so pleased that we have one of them here with us today to tell us all about her latest! Please welcome Cate Conte, aka Liz Mugavero.  

 

Cate Conte:

Readers often ask me how I started writing mysteries. I think sometimes the real question they want to ask me is, why are you so obsessed with crime and murder, but regardless, it’s a valid question. 

 

In any event, I never really thought about it much at the beginning. I loved mysteries, had always (to my parents’ chagrin) been fascinated with serial killers and other high profile murders, and that was really as far as it went. But when I started writing the Cat Cafe Mysteries and my protagonist Maddie’s Grandpa Leo was born, I had to rethink that answer. 

 

In the books, Grandpa Leo is the former police chief of Daybreak Harbor, retired for a few years and still unwilling to let go of his job. He’s an integral character from the beginning, and the main reason why Maddie decides to return to her hometown. Through a series of events (some unfortunate) in the first book, Maddie not only ends up returning home but also decided to move into Grandpa Leo’s house, where she actually spent the first few years of her childhood. Her grandpa is her favorite person, she often says. 

 

Readers seemed to really like Leo, and as the series went on it became obvious that he was Maddie’s true sidekick. She has her animal rescue friends, her lifelong best friend, her business partner, her sisters, and some men in her life, but no one is better at looking at the murders that keep popping up in front of her and helping her figure them out than her grandpa. Yeah, his former job has a lot to do with it—not to mention his current job, the PI firm he opened to keep his head in the investigative game—but also it’s the way they each approach things, how well they bounce ideas off one another, get on each others’ nerves, and ultimately come together to put things to rights. 

 

So back to me and my twisted obsessions with murder. At some point on this journey, I realized I didn’t get there on my own. That my love of crime, mysteries and even storytelling is courtesy of my own grandpa. Like Leo, he was a cop at heart - a detective, not a chief - and took great pride in his work. Unlike Leo, he worked days as a mason and nights as a cop. Like Leo, he had a full head of white hair up until the day he died at 85. Also like Leo, he had a particular fondness for his granddaughter (that would be me).

 

 

My grandpa was my favorite person. He was funny, patient, brilliant, modest, hardworking. He loved to watch me practice piano and try out new dance moves - those never made it out of the basement - and he taught me and my brother how to play 45s, a card game that was unique to our particular area of New England. Those card games got pretty lively for sure. He had a great sense of humor and was super loyal to my grandma. They were married for 60 years. 

 

 

But most of all, he was a storyteller. I never thought of it that way until much later, when I’d started writing my own books. I mean, he never wrote anything. But he loved to literally tell stories. Tales from his police beat, tales about the characters he came across in his other life, stories about him and my grandmother from their early years together. He loved to captivate people with his words. Make them laugh. Make them care.

 

I hope all these years later I’ve done him justice in my own storytelling. And these days, when a reader asks where I picked up my crime writing habit, I tell them I got it from my grandpa - the best storyteller in the family. 

 

What about you, Reds and Readers, who was the storyteller in your family?

 

The latest Cat Cafe Mystery, Claws for Alarm, is out on July 27. 

Here’s a blurb:

 

It’s the heart of the busy season, and JJ’s House of Purrs is booming―until a killer is let off the leash.

 

Maddie James has finally given in to her friend Katrina’s pleas to open up her cat cafe to more than ten felines: they’re now up to fifteen purring friends. In fact, JJ’s House of Purrs is making such a splash that she’s getting national attention. The East Coast Animal Rescue League is quite interested in the cafe, and so Maddie accepts a request to meet with Jillian Allen  the executive director. Jillian shows up at the cafe and asks Maddie if they can partner on a fundraiser to support the local rescue efforts―and she offers up her celebrity endorser and her celebrity cat to sweeten the deal. Maddie, caught up in the prospect, offers up her sister Val to help plan the event.

 

But when Val shows up for a site visit at the venue, she finds Jillian strangled with a fancy cat leash―a piece of swag they were intending to use for the fundraiser―leaving Maddie with a lot of questions to answer. Was her death a tragic one-off event, or is there something more sinister going on? Maddie has to figure it out fast, before anyone else in the rescue community is jeopardized.

 

 

Cate Conte writes the Cat Cafe Mysteries and the new Full Moon Mysteries. As Liz Mugavero, she writes the Pawsitively Organic Mysteries, the first of which was an Agatha Award nominee for Best First Novel. She lives in Connecticut with her rescue pals.  

Three Authors, Three Milestones @BarbaraRoss @CateConte @maddieday

LUCY BURDETTE: I'm tickled pink to host three wonderful writers today--we've known these ladies since their books were only stars in their eyes and are thrilled with how far they've come as published authors! Take it away Edith/Maddie, Cate/Liz, and Barb!

Edith/Maddie: Thanks so much for hosting us, Roberta/Lucy! You know we love all the Jungle Reds authors, and for me, anyway, it’s the second blog I read every morning (sorry, our Wicked Authors blog comes first).

My blogmates Cate Conte (aka Liz Mugavero), Barbara Ross, and I (wearing my Maddie Day author hat) are delighted to have shared a release date last week. Barb’s Mrs. Darrowfield Professional Busybody is the first in a new series. Cate’s Tell Tail Heart is the third in her Cate Café series. And my Strangled Eggs and Ham is my sixth in the Country Store Mysteries. But Barb and Cate – writing as Liz – have also had sixth books, and we’ve all had more than one first book.

So we thought we’d share with the Jungle Reds and your fabulous blog community some of our thoughts and experiences about the first, third, and sixth book in a series! We would love to give away a special package of a Wicked Authors bag, a Kensington notebook, and each of our new books to a commenter here today.

First

Barb: Since there are seven Maine Clambake Mysteries out in the wild and an eighth back at Kensington in final production, it’s been an interesting journey to get back to book one in a series with Jane Darrowfield, Professional Busbody. So much scene setting to do! So much to learn about the “regular” series characters. Honestly, authors of standalones have my undying admiration. You really go through this every single time?

Maddie/Edith: You mean, like Hallie does? I know the feeling, Barb. In a way it’s fun to set up a brand-new world, as I recently did for my Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, with a cozy mystery book club, a fictional town on Cape Cod, and a bike-shop-owning, neat freak-bordering-on-obsessed amateur sleuth with an African Gray Parrot. But you’re right, there’s so much to keep track of. 

Cate/Liz: I hear you all too well! I’m back to a first book in a new series too with Witch Hunt, the first in the Full Moon Mysteries and it’s got magical components, so it’s kind of building two worlds - one on the human plane and one that’s, well, not. It’s been really challenging. Plus all the character work, like figuring out who has magical powers and what they are. It’s fun, when I’m not feeling like I’ve suddenly lost my ability to be imaginative.

Edith/Maddie: Ugh - I hope that doesn’t happen too often, Liz!

Third

Cate/Liz: And then there’s the whole dilemma of book three. Usually these series come in three-book contracts, so by the time you get to the third book there’s always the question of, Will this continue?And since you likely won’t know until the book is long written and turned in, you have to decide how much to wrap up and how much to leave hanging in the event you’re renewed. How do you guys handle that?

Maddie/Edith: Agree, that is so tricky, Liz. Sometimes book two isn’t even out yet when you’re writing book three, so there’s no way to predict its success. I’ll be coming up to that when I start writing my third Cozy Capers Book Group mystery this winter but at least Murder on Cape Cod, book one, has been doing spectacularly well so far. The way I handled the situation with my fifth Local Foods mystery was to tidy up any series loose ends and bring all the regular characters together at the farm in the last scene. If Kensington didn’t renew my contract, I (and my readers) would be fine, but I didn’t burn any bridges, either. As it turned out, Mulch Ado About Murder was the final book, and I was able to move on without angst.

Barb: I’m laughing because Musseled Out, the third book in the Maine Clambake Mysteries, has two endings, one that brings resolution to everything, and one that opens things up to new stories. My plan was to rip the second one out during copy-edits if the series was ending, though I guess it’s fine if readers imagine the characters going on with their lives after the series has ended.

Sixth

Maddie/Edith: Those of us with long-running series (most of the Reds, for example) start to have other issues and joys by book six, which Strangled Eggs and Ham is in my Country Store Mysteries. For one thing, it becomes clear how important it is to write down everything you know about ongoing characters as you go. By book six you have no effing idea what color the detective’s eyes are or what kind of car her bestie drives. If the series has been renewed for that long, though, you also have a dedicated following, an enthusiastic fan base. Sure, readers might start suggesting the direction they want the protagonist’s love life to go or an exciting new plot, but they Can Not Wait for the next book. And the next and the next. That’s very gratifying.

Barb: I know, Edith. I thought I’d relax once I had that Dedicated Fan Base, but now I’m more anxious than ever about letting readers down. In some ways, there’s less pressure with the first book. No one is invested in the series or the character yet. Anyway, book six was lucky for me. Stowed Away just won the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction, the first cozy mystery ever to win and the first mass market paperback to win in any category.

Cate/Liz: That’s so awesome, Barb - major congratulations! I feel the same way - I never want a reader to say one of the later books in the series has run out of steam. My sixth book in the Pawsitively Organic Mysteries, Purring Around the Christmas Tree, was definitely one of those books I agonized over. But people seemed to really enjoy it. It was my first Christmas-themed book and it ended up being really fun.

Strangled Eggs and Ham: Tempers run as high as the sticky August heat as a developer’s plans to build a towering luxury resort at one of the most scenic hilltops in Brown County, Indiana infuriate opponents, who concoct protests and road blockades. When tensions boil over and a vocal protester is silenced forever at the resort site, Robbie Jordan ditches the griddle to catch the killer. But if slashed tires are any indication, she’ll need to crack this case before her own aunt gets served something deadly next . . . 

Maddie Day writes the Country Store Mysteries and the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries. As Edith Maxwell, she writes the Quaker Midwife Mysteries, the Local Foods Mysteries, and award-winning short crime fiction. With eighteen novels in print and five more in production, Maxwell has been nominated for an Agatha Award six times. She lives north of Boston with her beau and two elderly cats, and gardens and cooks when she isn’t killing people on the page or wasting time on Facebook. Please find her at edithmaxwell.com, at the Wicked Authors blog, and elsewhere.

Jane Darrowfield, Professional Busybody: Jane Darrowfield is a year into her retirement, and she’s already traveled and planted a garden. She’s organized her photos, her recipes, and her spices. The statistics suggest she has at least a few more decades ahead of her, so she better find something to do . . . Note: Jane Darrowfield is available exclusively in mass market paperback at all brick and mortar Barnes & Nobles and Barnesandnoble.com

Barbara Ross is the author of seven Maine Clambake Mysteries. The eighth, Sealed Off, will be released in December 2019. Barbara’s novellas are included in the anthologies Eggnog Murder, Yule Log Murder, and Haunted House Murder. Jane Darrowfield, Professional Busbody, first in a new series, was released on June 25, 2019. Visit her website at  www.maineclambakemysteries.com and the Wicked Authors blog and Maine Crime Writers blog.

Tell Tail Heart: On Daybreak Island, Maddie James’ grandfather’s house-turned-cat-café is under construction and she’s also scoping out places to open a juice bar on the island. A big-name writer who’s on the island working on a new project winds up floating in the canal on the exact same day an eccentric woman shows up at the cafe claiming Maddie’s cat, JJ, is hers. As the investigation into the dead writer picks up, Maddie realizes that even the neighbors she’s known all her life might be keeping secrets that go deep into the heart of this small seaside town. Meanwhile, a killer remains at-large...and on the prowl.

Cate Conte writes the Cat Cafe Mysteries, which launched in 2017 with Cat About Town, followed by Purrder She Wrote and most recently, Tell Tail Heart. As Liz Mugavero, she writes the Pawsitively Organic Mysteries, the first of which was an Agatha Award nominee for Best First Novel. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and Sisters in Crime New England. She lives in Connecticut with her rescue pals.

Readers: Do you stick with long-running series? Which series have you binge-read (and did you find discontinuities)? What grabs you in a first book?

The Wonderful Reds!

LUCY BURDETTE: Two of our favorite friends and authors are sharing a book tour this week to celebrate ICED UNDER (Barbara Ross) and CUSTOM BAKED MURDER (Liz Mugavero.) They asked if they could visit the blog and we are delighted to have them. Please note that there were no dollars or other favors exchanged for this post! Welcome Barb and Liz!

Barbara Ross and Liz Mugavero are doing their blog tour together for their fifth books in their respective series: Iced Under, a Maine Clambake Mystery, for Barb and Custom Baked Murder, for Liz. Recently, they got together to have a conversation about a favorite topic—the Jungle Reds.

Liz, Barb, and Lucy in Key West

Barb: Hi Liz. It’s so great to be back with the Jungle Reds. Not just because we love the blog, but also because the Reds have had such profound effects on our writing lives. On our personal lives as well. So many writers talk about the Reds’ generosity, but today we thought we’d get into specifics. Let’s start with Lucy. Liz, you and Lucy share a home state, Connecticut. Tell me about one interaction with Lucy and what it meant.

The marvelous Seascape class of 2009

Liz: I’m so happy to be back here! I have to go back to the first time I met Lucy, at the Seascape Writers Retreat. A wonderful weekend on the water in Madison where I met fabulous people, worked at my craft, and learned a ton (from Hallie as well!). I think that weekend was the first time, after the encouragement I received, that I realized if I just kept working hard at my writing that I’d be published. It happened, and so much credit goes to these ladies. What about you? Who was the first Red you interacted with and what happened?

Liz, Hank, Barb, and Julia

Barb: The first Red I met was Hank, but we didn’t even realize we were meeting. Years ago (like 20) we were in a class for beginning mystery writers at the Boston Center for Adult Education. Neither of us were published or even had a finished a manuscript. In the last class (I think there were four) we each read our opening scene. Cut to years later. I’m embarrassed to admit how many, but more than a decade. Hank is well published and we re-meet through Sisters in Crime New England. I ask her to blurb my first book, The Death of an Ambitious Woman. Hank recognizes my opening scene! She says, “Were you ever in a class at the Boston Center for Adult Education?” So funny. You mentioned Hallie. Can you recall a piece of advice Hallie gave you that was meaningful?

Lucy, Hallie, and Barb

Liz: You know, it wasn’t so much a piece of advice as it was…confidence. She had confidence in me and my writing that I wasn’t sure I had myself yet. I remember her saying to me at Seascape that I’d do it - I’d get published. Because I had the talent but more importantly, the drive. And that always stuck with me. That someone like Hallie Ephron had that much faith in me!

I do remember her also having no patience for weak characters, be it men or women. She would be the first to point out any displays of wussiness. I definitely carried that reminder with me as I created Stan. I wanted her to be able to stand on her own two feet, be financially stable, and most of all, smart. Do you know any other Reds personally?

Barb: Yes! Julia Spencer-Fleming. Since I spend the summer in Maine, and Julia lives in Maine, I get to see her on the Maine writers’ circuit. In fact, we both read at a pub in Portland a few weeks ago. Both Julia and her husband, Ross, have been wonderfully supportive of me as a newcomer. And I am a huge, huge (like buy it in hardcover the first day level) fan. Julia, Hank and I (along with Gin Malliet) all had our books nominated for the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary novel in 2014.

I don’t really “know” any of the non-New England Reds, except what I read here. I have long been a huge fan of Deb Crombie’s. I think she and I shared an agent years ago and I called her for a reference. (Or maybe I dreamed it. It was that long ago, back with the book that Hank…) I’ve met Rhys at conferences and am always a little tongue-tied. She’s such an amazing writer. But now that I’ve made the muffin tin-sized mince pies she wrote about on the blog a few weeks ago, I’ll have something to say to her. What about you Liz? Non-New England Reds?

Liz: But I don’t “know” any either, I’m afraid - we’re going to have to do something about that!

Thanks so much to all you ladies for having us. It’s always a blast!

Readers: Do you have a story about an interaction with a Red, either virtual or in the real world that you’d like to share?

(PS, note from Lucy, we love these ladies and their books, so add them to your piles please!)

Barbara Ross is the author of the Maine Clambake Mysteries, including the Agatha-nominated Best Contemporary Novel Clammed Up, as well as Boiled Over, Musseled Out, Fogged Inn, and Iced Under. Her story “Nogged Off” appears in the holiday novella collection Eggnog Murder along with stories by Leslie Meier and Lee Hollis. Barbara blogs with the Wicked Cozy Authors and Maine Crime Writers. In the summer, she writes on her big front porch overlooking the water in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. You can visit her website at http://www.maineclambakemysteries.com

Liz Mugavero is the author of the Agatha Award-nominated Pawsitively Organic Mysteries Kneading to Die, A Biscuit, A Casket, The Icing on the Corpse and Murder Most Finicky. Custom-Baked Murder, the fifth in the series, will be released in December 2016. As you can imagine, her canine and feline rescues demand the best organic food and treats around. She is a member of Sisters in Crime National, Sisters in Crime New England, Mystery Writers of America, and the Cat Writers’ Association. She currently lives in Connecticut.