What We’re Reading

LUCY BURDETTE: I’ve been all over the map with reading lately so here’s the run-down. I finally picked up ALL THE LIGHT YOU CANNOT SEE (very late to this party!) because John and I were going to St. Malo (more on that later this week.) Quite fascinating! Then I read CAT AND BIRD by Kyoko Mori–I’ve always been a fan of her books as she gives so much insight into the culture of Japan and her very difficult family. This was a beautiful, quiet book about the author’s intense relationship with her cats, as well as the birds in her life. Of course, much more is revealed about her family and her life along the way. I picked up THE PARIS WIDOW by Kimberly Belle because it won best paperback original at the Edgars. A fast moving story, plus Paris! Next up BACK AFTER THIS by Linda Holmes. Loved the characters, and also loved that the romance trope did not feel at all forced. My favorite of her books so far! On the way home from our trip I finished MRS. ENDICOTT’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE–another captivating standalone from Rhys Bowen! Although this book is less mystery/suspense and more historical fiction crossed with women's fiction, it's a wonderful read. The characters develop beautifully over the course of the story, the bad-ish guys get their comeuppance, the heroes emerge during the brutal years of WW2--all this is presented in an appealing small town coastal setting. Can’t wait for you all to read it in August.

How about you Reds, what are you reading?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Well, I am thrilled to be reading Ruth Ware’s upcoming THE WOMAN IN SUITE 11,  she’s such a genius! And the amazing Shari Lapena’s new one, SHE DIDN’T SEE IT COMING, and then my idol Lisa Jewell’s (I am interviewing her GOH at Bouchercon! Whoo!)  DON’T LET HER IN. And yes, of course Mrs. Endicott, a must read! I also just finished FROM THESE ROOTS by Tamara Lanier, about her quest to get her enslaved relative’s daguerreotypes back from  Harvard. It’s amazing. And I am longing to get to CUE THE SUN, about the history of reality TV. And CARELESS PEOPLE. Talk about scary, both of them!

Oh, and please please do not miss WELCOME TO MURDER WEEK by Karen Dukess. Truly. Trust me. It is a lovely and smart and perfect book. ALL the reds and readers will love it.

RHYS BOWEN: I finally got around to Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club while I was in England. A pleasant easy read so I’ll tackle the subsequent books. I’ve also got to read Louise Penny’s The Grey and Black Wolves as we are being interviewed together for the Book Passsge Mystery Conference in July. Right now I’m reading a non fiction book I have to blurb about a woman becoming a farmer in WWII. Ghosts of the Farm

HALLIE EPHRON: I just finished Nita Prose’s THE MAID which I completely loved. What a great voice and boy howdy did the ending surprise me. And surprise me again. And what a great character, Molly Gray, even if she is yet another on-the-spectrum detective. There’s a reason why the trope works.

And I was riveted by Malcolm Gladwell’s TALKING TO STRANGERS. We’re so sure we understand one another, and yet all the science points otherwise. Got to be a must-read for anyone trying to write police procedure or courtroom drama. So many insights about how we get each other wrong. Counter-programming for the Karen Read trial.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: At a bookstore event for the wonderful Eliza Reid (former first lady of Iceland) and her debut DEATH ON THE ISLAND, I picked up EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS by John Green, author of THE FAULT IN OUR STARS and other YA best sellers. This book, however, is non-fiction, and is so fascinating I could hardly put it down. What an eye-opener!

Then, from another book event, THE DARK MAESTRO, the latest by Brendan Slocumb. Who else could combine a brilliant cellist, comic book heroes, and gangsters? What a fun read! Also, I’ve listened to the entire 15 hours of THE KEEPER OF LOST CAUSES by Jussi Adler-Olsen, the book on which the Netflix series DEPT Q is based. I’m fascinated by how they adapted this long book, what they changed while keeping the bones of the characters and plot.

Now, I’m finally indulging in Natalie Jenner’s charming AUSTEN AT SEA, and I especially love her portrayal of Louisa May Alcott. This one is a much-anticipated gem that I’m stretching out in small doses because I hate for it to end. Coming up soon is the new Damien Boyd, BLUE BLOOD, for those of you who love British procedurals. THEN, in July, the very much anticipated new Ben Aaronovitch, STONE AND SKY. And one more, I just downloaded the Netgalley of THE MANGO MURDERS by our own dear Lucy Burdette and cannot wait to dive in!

JENN McKINLAY: I’ve just gotten back to reading as my deadlines were CRUSHING me. I’ve been on a fantasy bender and devoured EMILY WILDE’S COMPENDIUM OF LOST TALES by Heather Fawcett (you need to read the first two to fully appreciate it), THE TELLER OF SMALL FORTUNES (delightful!) by Julie Leong, and on deck for when I head to Canada, I have an ARC of Rhys’s MRS ENDICOTT’S SPLENDID ADVENTURE, and Hub just handed me ASSASSINS ANONYMOUS by Rob Hart, which he highly recommends! 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I'm splitting my time between mystery, romance/womens fiction, and science fiction, as usual. For the first, I'm about to start THE BACHELORETTE PARTY by Camilla Sten. It's a combo girls-on-a-summer island luxe getaway and Swedish noir thriller. Talk about perfect for summer reading!

For the second, I'm loving Annabel Monaghan's latest, IT'S A LOVE STORY. Also a summer book, set on the beaches in Long Island. If you haven't read her NORA GOES OFF SCRIPT, you absolutely must.

Finally, I'm re-reading Martha Wells THE MURDERBOT DIARIES to go along with the Apple + show Murderbot. Read them! Watch the show! It's the perfect intro for the SF-curious - I promise you don't need a degree in physics to love Murderbot.

What are you reading Reds?

What We're Writing--Debs on Time Anchors

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I've been thinking a lot this week about Hallie's Monday post on anachronisms and frames of reference. I always look up the most popular UK names for the years my characters were born, for instance, and I try to get music right for their time frames.

But because my series is long running and sort of floats in time, it's full of anachromisms for current readers. Many of these are unavoidably technological. I mentioned in a post last month that we've been watching Grey's Anatomy, which debuted in 2005. The show has aged remarkably well because the scope is so limited: the hospital, Meredith's house, the local bar. Oh, and everyone is in scrubs, which pretty much takes fashion out the equation. You may notice that the doctors are using Blackberries (remember those??) in the early seasons, but other than that the show could be set today.

It's not so easy to limit the world in novels, however, and as the first Gemma and Duncan book was published in 1993, there have been a lot of changes (not necessarily progress!) (Duncan has a phone attached to his car in the first book!)

I made a decision with that very first book that while every book would be contemporary, the characters would not age in real time like Ian Rankin's Rebus, who is forty in the first book and has now had to retire! So while three decades have passed in the "real" world, Duncan and Gemma and their family and friends have only aged about six years. (The ages of the children help me keep track of this.)

The snag in this system comes when you bring things into the story that are fixed in real time. I've tried to avoid it, but have goofed up a few times. A good deal of the plot of A FINER END revolves around the Millenium, for instance--ouch. But while I thought when I was writing NO MARK UPON HER that it would be glaringly obvious that Becca was training for the 2012 Olympics in London, now thankfully that seems a little fuzzier.

Despite my efforts (with a few slip ups) to write around things that so obviously date the books, some are unavoidable. Although I've decided that the pandemic (a very specific fixed point in time) didn't exist in my books, l must from now on refer to the King, not the Queen, etc., etc. It's all very tricky and I envy Rhys having control over how her characters fit into their historical framework!

Readers, do you notice these things? Or do they worry me more than than they bother you? 

Cover Reveal: The Rose Arbor by Rhys Bowen

 Okay, Readers, we have a treat for you today. The cover reveal for our Rhys's spectacular new novel THE ROSE ARBOR is here...

Pre-Order NOW

More about the novel: 

An investigation into a girl’s disappearance uncovers a mystery dating back to World War II in a haunting novel of suspense by the bestselling author of The Venice Sketchbook and The Paris Assignment.

London: 1968. Liz Houghton is languishing as an obituary writer at a London newspaper when a young girl’s disappearance captivates the city. If Liz can break the story, it’s her way into the newsroom. She already has a scoop: her best friend, Marisa, is a police officer assigned to the case.

Liz follows Marisa to Dorset, where they make another disturbing discovery. Over two decades earlier, three girls disappeared while evacuating from London. One was found murdered in the woods near a train line. The other two were never seen again.

As Liz digs deeper, she finds herself drawn to the village of Tydeham, which was requisitioned by the military during the war and left in ruins. After all these years, what could possibly link the missing girls to this abandoned village? And why does a place Liz has never seen before seem so strangely familiar?

Isn't it just fabulous? A perfect summer read. 

What do you think about cover reveals, Readers? Do they help you get excited for an upcoming release? 

Even more thrilling for me, I received my ARC just in time for a trip to Nevada! Yay! Thank you, Rhys. And, naturally, I had to take a picture of it against my rose bush. 

What's Rhys writing? Too many things. She's confused

 RHYS BOWEN: This year has not been easy for me to focus on writing. John had weeks of radiation, I had surgery on my knee, then bits frozen off by the dermatologist then a tooth extracted an in implant put in. Not fun!! But I managed to finish the next Royal Spyness book, called WE THREE QUEENS, and sent it off last week.

Today I'm celebrating the publication of the paperback of ALL THAT IS HIDDEN, and then we drive to Arizona in time for the launch of IN SUNSHINE OR IN SHADOW.

Oh, and I have already started on next year's stand-alone novel that has the delicious title of MRS. ENDICOTT'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE. Middle aged lady escapes her boring life for the south of France...

Whoever imagines the golden years as sitting in a rocking chair, crocheting, has not met me. I barely have time to breathe. But at least I don't have time to be bored!.

I thought I'd share a snippet from the new Royal Spyness book. You'll have to find out who the three queens are... I'm not telling. But poor Georgie. Guess what's about to happen to her.....

“So what is David going to do?” I asked. “The simplest thing would be to keep her as his mistress. Several of my ancestors have lived quite happily with this arrangement—think of Lily Langtry, Alice Keppel.”

                Darcy gave a grunted chuckle. “The last King Edward had more than his share of mistresses, I agree, but he also had a respectable long suffering wife to be at his side on state occasions. You can’t picture Mrs. Simpson receiving foreign heads of state or sitting on an elephant at a durbar.”

                “What a mess,” I said. “I’m sure he won’t give her up.”

                “He won’t,” Darcy said. “He made that quite clear. He’d rather give up the throne than her.”

“Golly.” I tried to swallow back the word too late. My attempts at curtailing my schoolgirl language were not successful in times of crisis.

“He’s absolutely besotted with her.,” Darcy continued. “ She has him completely under her spell.  When we’d got through a bottle of Scotch he kept saying, “You don’t understand, Darcy, old fellow, she’s the most marvelous woman in the world. I couldn’t live without her.”

                “So what does he plan to do?”

                “Allow the newspapers to spill the beans at the right moment, I gather. They’ve been remarkably obedient so far and kept the news of her from the public. But now he wants the public on his side. They adore him and he’s sure that they’ll want him to marry the woman he loves and thus put pressure on their local MPs. The law will be changed and he’ll live happily ever after.”

                “That isn’t likely to happen, is it?”

                “I don’t think so. If it were just civil law then maybe. But you can’t alter the doctrine of the church and he’s the official head of it.”

                “His poor mother,” I said. I had become quite fond of Queen Mary, who had sent me on various assignments for her. She was a stickler for the rules and felt the royal family should be above reproach. She had done everything she could to get her son’s attention away from “that woman” as she called her, but to no avail. His late father, King George, had been remarkably prophetic. “That boy will be the downfall of the monarchy,” he had said not long before he died.  I just prayed this wasn’t going to turn out to be a true prophesy. We had endured one war between king and parliament in our history and it had ended with the king losing his head.  Someone should remind my cousin of this.

                A thought now struck me. “Darcy, why did he particularly want you to listen to his lament? He has his own group of friends, doesn’t he, and you were never close to him.”

                “Ah.” Darcy gave a deep breath. “It wasn’t exactly me he wanted. It was our house.”

                “What? What do you mean?”

                “He knows that the moment the news breaks Mrs. Simpson will be hounded by the press. It could break before he’s ready as the American papers are already full of it. He wants to spare her the unpleasantness that could ensue. He wants her safely far from the public eye…”

                It was gradually dawning on me exactly what he was saying.

                “He wants her to come and stay here?”  I heard my voice rising.  

AHA

And Mrs. Simpson isn't the only person who will be invading Georgie and Darcy's life. It's going to get rather complicated very quickly. But you'll have to wait until November to find out more.

Oh well. Back to work. And don't forget that IN SUNSHINE OR IN SHADOW comes out on March 12, and Clare and I will be holding a launch party at the Poisoned Pen in Phoenix the Saturday before, on March 9. If you'd like a copy signed by both of us do get in touch with the store and they can ship you one.

And don't forget to check out Reds and Readers on March 12 when I'll be going live and giving away a signed copy!

The Cover Fairies

LUCY BURDETTE: In general, I have been very lucky with the book covers developed by my publishers. My agent refers to these as the good book fairies. Though I don’t have final cover approval, my contracts usually include some initial input. (I’ve talked about how the artwork has changed from the ideas I’ve sent here and here.) they’ve not always turned out exactly as I imagined, but I do expect that the publisher people know more about sales and marketing than I do so unless I really hate it, I go with it. This fall I got word that A SCONE OF CONTENTION, and DEATH ON THE MENU had been selected for Harlequin’s book club. I would get a small royalty and they would put out a new addition with a new cover. That all sounded good! last month the publisher sent the cover for SCONE:





Of course I knew what this was: a Heilan coo, a Scottish breed of rustic cattle indigenous to the Scotland Highlands. However, these animals have a very small cameo in Scone—think background wallpaper. This was cute, but I wasn’t sure this artwork would draw new cozy mystery readers. Ps, what has the animal gored? I think it’s supposed to be scones or baked goods, but I hope it wasn’t… The victim.) in this case I did not have any cover consultation rights so all I could do is think that it would make for a great blog!

RHYS BOWEN: These days I have complete cover input and approval. For my big stand-alones, there is a lot of back and forth and haggling between me, who knows what my book is about and marketing (who are all twenty-something computer geeks who only go by algorithms) but in the end we come up with a good compromise. Sometimes it’s brilliant right away. The Tuscan Child we all loved instantly. The upcoming book, The Rose Arbor, has had many title changes and thus covers before we are all satisfied.

In contrast the Royal Spyness series has had the same illustrator since day 1. I know him. He lives in San Francisco. He asks me what I want and voila. There it is. Perfect.





My very first series, Constable Evans, when I had zero clout, was the artist’s impression of Wales and all the covers had sheep or goats on them. Perhaps this is a requirement for a cozy mystery in the UK. Cozy fans love cats, therefore also have a soft spot for sheep, goats and highland cattle!

HALLIE EPHRON: I got sent two possible cover illustrations for two DIFFERENT books that were nearly identical - a massive steam-punk-looking padlock on a field of blue/black. Perfect if I’d written Bluebeard. The first cover sent me for my updated writing books was a murky green forest. (I said to them, it’s a WRITING BOOK!)

“Please, start over.” And they did.

But I confess I do love Highland cows and if they’d sent me a book cover with one of them, even though my books have none, I’d have been tempted to rewrite the book to shoehorn one in.

Rhys’s book covers are a good study in how the different subgenres are telegraphed by the cover styles. Very effective.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, gosh, Lucy, I am still laughing over that creature–which I will admit when I first saw it, I thought: WHY does Lucy have a buffalo on her cover? Okay, I get it now, but I am distressed by its nose. And the things on the horns. I would ONLY (but instantly) buy this if I knew it was YOUR book.








This is the UK cover of TRUST ME. It’s so UK! First, the publisher did not want me to be Hank Phillippi Ryan, and wanted a more instantly female name. Okay, so much to discuss about this, but here it is.

What I am fascinated by is the cut line. “She may be a bad mother, but is she a killer?”

I’m not sure that’s the way I would have gone with it, but I always try to remember that publishing execs in other countries are aiming for THEIR readers, not for me.

(I did get a wonderful email from the woman who posed for the cover–which is somewhere in my photos and absolutely unfindable.)

As for my current covers, it’s a wonderful collaboration, and truly fun and rewarding and fascinating, and my publisher’s art department is genius. AND I am allowed to say no. So that’s great.

JENN McKINLAY: I am fortunate that I have never had a bad cover, not one, not ever. Like Rhys, I am fortunate that the publisher asks me what I want and then the art department delivers something that’s so much better than my wildest expectations. Now I am going to burn a candle to the cover gods because I don’t want to jinx myself. LOL.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Lucy, the more I look at your Highland Cow, the more adorable I think it is. (He? Do the girls have those horns, I wonder?) But I'm not sure that I would instantly get that this is a food-themed cozy mystery.

I've had such a checkered career with the Cover Fairies. I had NO say with the first few books. While the first two were charming, they looked like English historical cozies, not contemporary procedurals. But #3, LEAVE THE GRAVE GREEN, was absolutely awful. Where would you say this book was set?





Not in Henley-on-Thames, where a body is found in a lock. Or in the gorgeous green and mysterious Chiltern Hills, or in the world of the English National Opera, where part of the book takes place. Sigh. I feel fortunate that anyone bought it.

I do have cover approval these days, thank goodness, but it's very much a collaborative process. For a while my publisher used my photos, which was great fun, but then they went for a "bigger book" look. I know we always love our most recent books best, but I do think that my latest cover is my absolute favorite of all of my books.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I’ve been blessed by the cover gods in that none of my published books has had a clunker. After the first book, Minotaur settled on a “vaguely foreboding rural scene” theme which has worked well.

However, when ALL MORTAL FLESH was in the process, someone had the bright idea to rebrand the cover to emphasize the obviously popular romance angle, and I got a couple artists’ concept mock-ups that I refer to as “my vampire covers.” One has the face of a beautiful woman in her twenties, staring toward an off-screen sunset, with a gorgeous guy in his thirties, also in profile, right behind her. This, I understood, was to represent Clare, a 36 year old with a “plain face” “all points and angles”, and Russ, a rugged 50 year old with graying hair and glasses. Huh.

The second one was even worse, if you can imagine it: it took the male model away and had the woman’s face, still in profile, hovering over a very pointy church spire, giving the effect of a giantess about to suffer a horrible injury to her soft palate.

Lucy, I swear, I looked everywhere for these pictures; I think I must have deleted them in horror. The cover they eventually used was based on a sketch I did, after a fairly heated discussion, seated at the St. Martin’s booth at the old BEA (How I miss it! Yes, the Javits Center was awful, but still.)

Question of the day: Reds, tell us about your most unusual (or other adjectives) cover.

Readers tell us about a cover that particularly drew you in or repelled you from reading a possible book.

Top Posts of 2023!

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE!!!

 JENN McKINLAY: I'm a big one for end of the year tallies and whatnot. I like to look back, see what was accomplished and what is left to do. In the case of this blog, I like to review what posts of ours resonated with our readers and which ones didn't.

Not for nothing, but according to the stat machine of Blogger, the Jungle Red Writers had 1.7 M views and 26.8 K comments just in the past twelve months. Whoa! 

What a year it was! We covered everything from Barbie to the World Economic Forum to beans! Your comments and the stories you shared with us made our posts even more engaging and we thank you for joining us and bringing your wit and wisdom to the party. 

As we launch our new venture Reds and Readers (click the name to join) TOMORROW on Facebook (it's a new place for giveaways, live chats, etc.), we look forward to even more shenanigans in 2024! Make no mistake, we will never give up our blog, but we do want to be able to chat with our community, our readers, our friends, a little more easily and it's our hope that this group will do that! So come on over and check it out!

And now here are some of our top posts from 2023 to revisit: 

Hallie : CONNECTING WITH THE MURDER VICTIM

Hank: SHOULD WE TALK ABOUT BARBIE?

Rhys: RHYS ON RULES

Lucy: LUCY IS COUNTING BEANS

Debs:  THE ICONIC TOMATO SANDWICH

Julia: DAVOS FOR THE REST OF US

Jenn: WHEN LIFE BECOMES A SITCOM

So, Readers, what were some of your favorite posts from last year? What do you think we should talk about next?

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND HAPPY READING, EVERYONE!!!

Bring it, 2024 -- And by "it" I mean BOOKS!

JENN MCKINLAY: It’s that time again, Reds, to tabulate the total of our bookstore gift cards received during the holiday season (woo hoo!) and plan our purchases for 2024! So, what are your most anticipated reads (excluding the Reds because of course we’re on the top of each other’s lists) for the coming year?

I’ll go first:

ONCE UPON A MURDER by Samantha Larsen

I absolutely loved, loved, loved the first in this new series - A NOVEL DISGUISE - An impoverished woman masquerades as a male librarian to an earl to keep the roof over her head, set in 1754. Brilliant!

ONE OF US KNOWS by Alyssa Cole

I really enjoyed WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING and am eager to see what this author does next for a suspense/thriller read.

JUST FOR THE SUMMER by Abby Jimenez

I've read all of Abby's books - she is fantastically funny, poignant, and delightful. I will read anything she writes, even her grocery list.

All right, Reds, your turn! What titles are you most looking forward to? 

HALLIE EPHRON: Top of my list: I’m looking forward to reading a book that slipped by me this year, a memoir by Patrick Bringley, All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me. 

It’s Bringley’s first book. In it he tells the story of how, after his younger brother died, grief-stricken and lost, Bringley quit his job in publishing and took a job at the Met as a guard–where  he found the time and space (and the beauty of the works of art) that he needed to grieve and heal.

I love the Met. Spent untold hours there when I was an undergrad and an art history minor at Barnard. I’ve become intimately acquainted with grief in the last two years. I don’t know how I missed this book when it came out but I’ll be making up for that in January. 

RHYS BOWEN:  with various health concerns looming over us, including a new knee for me sometime soon I need good suggestions for comfort reads!

But I am looking forward to Jackie Winspear’s last Maisie Dobbs novel. That will be bitter-sweet reading as I’ve enjoyed Maisie’s journey.

LUCY BURDETTE: Rhys, have you tried the Lane Winslow series set in western Canada? I just finished the first, A KILLER IN KING’S COVE. After a slow start, I loved the book.

I’m also hoping Santa brings me Richard Osman’s THE LAST DEVIL TO DIE, and François-Régis Gaudry’s LET’S EAT PARIS. And I’m finally going to read ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE, which is already waiting on my nightstand.

JENN: I loved ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE but haven't watched the Netflix version - afraid they'll ruin it. Anyone see it?

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I'm looking forward to Deborah Harkness's THE BLACKBIRD ORACLE, the long-awaited fifth book in her All Soul's series, but that's not out until July. A little sooner is Natalie Jenner's, EVERY TIME WE SAY GOODBYE, out in May. And I am hoping there will be a new Ben Aaronovitch Rivers of London novel in 2024, although I haven't seen anything about a release yet. 

In the meantime, maybe I will get to the copy of ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE on MY nightstand!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I am about to devour my idol Lisa Scottoline’s THE TRUTH ABOUT THE DEVLINS, which I know will be fabulous. Oh, what else–Soon I’m going to interview Elizabeth Gonzalez James about her new THE BULLET SWALLOWER, which is billed as a magical realism Western. What?  Yup. It is fabulous so far!   SWIFT RIVER by Essie Chambers, so looking forward to it. And the wonderful Mary Kubica’s new SHE’S NOT SORRY. One more? Michael Koryta, one of my favorite authors ever, has a new novel which he’s written as Scott Carson called LOST MAN’S LANE. Cannot wait! 

(Don't you love how our choices are different?)

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Hank, I didn’t know about the Michael Koryta book - he’s one of my faves, so thank you or the heads up!

As one of our resident SF fans, top of my list is THE MERCY OF GODS by James S.A. Corey, the pen name for the writing duo that brought us the brilliant Expanse series. Humans become the captive and unwilling helpers of their alien conquerors as the latter attempts to dominate the galaxy. No one does realistic political space opera like these guys, so I’m already pre-ordered, and the book doesn’t come out until August.

And my most anticipated “haven’t read it yet but will in 2024” is YELLOWFACE by R.F. Kuang. I think Jenn has read this? It’s gotten major attention since it came out at the beginning of last summer, but of course, I’m always reading a year behind or a year ahead…

JENN: Yes, I did read Yellowface. Let me just say, it is a wild ride. There is some very cutting observations made about publishing that I enjoyed tremendously.

All right, Readers, your turn. What are you most eager to read in 2024?

Left Coast Crime: A Wrap Up by Jenn McKinlay

 Jenn McKinlay: Not gonna lie, in a post Covid world, I've had a hard time getting back into the flow. Conferences seem like breeding grounds for the plague (watching The Last of Us did not help) and the travel expenses and time away didn't seem worth it. But then Left Coast Crime decided to hold their conference in my home state of Arizona. Well, how could I not go to a conference I'd enjoyed for years when it was just two hours away? Obviously, I had to go.

On deadline, I arrived late (still didn't meet that pesky deadline but whatever). Hub came with me - his first conference as we're empty nesters now - and within hours I was back in conference mode. As we walked through the fabulous El Conquistador hotel and I saw readers and writers I hadn't seen in a couple of years, I would swerve into  people's conversations, invade their lunches, and jump over short walls to catch them as they walked by for fear I would miss them if I didn't. As Hub observed, "Conference you is rather terrifying." My defense, "I have very little time and a lot of people to hug."

One of those people is Dru Ann Love of Dru's Book Musing, a fabulous book blog, who happened to be the Fan Guest of Honor this year. I've known Dru since I don't even know when but she does more for writers than most publishers do and she is a treasure. Seriously, we must protect her at all cost! 

Well, when Dru gave her acceptance speech, she took me out at the knees. She talked about her very first Left Coast Crime in Phoenix in 2016 where she found herself sitting in the lobby, alone, wondering about her place in things. She then said (and I'm paraphrasing because I have the memory of a turnip), "And then who came shooting across the lobby and plopped down next to me? Jenn McKinlay. We talked for sixty minutes." She spotted me across the room in the banquet crowd and asked, "Do you remember what we talked about?" I didn't so I shook my head. And she said, "The Hooligans." 

LOL, well, of course we did! Dru Ann then went on to say that that interaction was what conferences and Left Coast Crime were all about -- finding your people, being accepted, and forging lifelong friendships. She was 100 percent correct...and she made me cry. 

Dru Ann accepting her award.

The Hub and me and our table mates, applauding Dru.
(Photos by Christina Estes) 

There were so many wonderful moments like this throughout the conference. Hub, who is a bigger reader than I am -- frankly, he is the most well read person I've ever known -- had read most of the authors in attendance and was delighted to meet Naomi Hirahara (he was stunned when I told him, "She's my friend") and Ed Lin who I was lucky enough to be on a panel with alongside Leslie Karst, Leslie Budewitz, and Emmeline Duncan. 

And of course, I got to see our Rhys, which was wonderful, as always.

Rhys and Jenn

I also attended Rhys's panel - How to Keep a Series Fresh - and her response to how to end it when the series was definitively over was, "Well, when Clare and I are tired of Molly, we're only a few years away from the Titanic." Which, of course, sent the packed crowd into peals of laughter. 

There were so many more memories made and special moments shared but I don't want to hold you hostage, so I'll close with the list of nominees and winners of this year's Lefty. 

My takeaway was this: livestreams and zooms and all of that are lovely but nothing beats being with your people in person to share the tears and the laughter and the hugs. 

Now how about you, Reds and Readers, what in person events have you been attending and how are you feeling about it? 

Susan Shea--Murder Visits a French Village

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Are you practicing your French? Because we have more of wonderful France for you today, as well as a lovely tribute to our own Rhys Bowen!

Susan Shea's French village novels are so charming they make me want to pack up my bags and move to France, or at least pour some red wine and make boeuf bourguignon. When I finished MURDER VISITS A FRENCH VILLAGE I hoped that I could at least book a room in the renovated French chateau!

Welcome, Susan!

SUSAN SHEA: Thank you, Debs and Jungle Red Writers for inviting me today. It’s a privilege to join you and your readers for conversation. Now that the new book is out, I can share what was a bit of a secret: MURDER VISITS A FRENCH VILLAGE is dedicated to a dear friend, and a JRW author – Rhys Bowen! Rhys is a gem, someone who pulls other writers along with encouragement and real help. In fact, Rhys is where the idea for a series based on restoring a château came from. Merci beaucoup!

 A lot of what I love about France comes from my travel experiences there. Traveling within France is an adventure in itself, though. I’ve been there six times since my reunion with the country in 2001. Yes, December 2001, with everyone still jittery. We spent two weeks in Paris, where my partner (who spoke street French) had to confront two Arab guards in the new Arab Institute art gallery who didn’t think any of the tourists waiting in line understood the dirty slang and insults they were lobbing. One Sunday, we visited the Porte de Vavnes flea market in the 14^th Arr., where he murmured to me, “Don’t turn around. There’s a woman with a machine gun standing right behind you.” Of course I turned around! It was a petite gendarme, armed to the teeth and ready for trouble, one of a score of cops with guns we could see. Why? That stupid man responsible for decades of the rest of us having to remove our shoes had just set off his shoe bomb in a plane at Charles de Gaulle airport.  That Sunday was also the last weekend French francs were accepted as currency and people had come out in droves to spend them. I still have some souvenir notes.

One year, my friends in different parts of the country all wanted me to stay, generous invitations that led me to leasing a car online in advance and picking it up in Marseille from a car dealership where no one spoke a word of English. My limited French, charades, and the papers, which were written in English, bien sûr, finally got me a huge SUV I hadn’t ordered. But, okay, it was wheels, and with them I traveled to St. Rémy and other must-see sites in Provence, to Burgundy, Avignon, the wild Camargue and culture-rich Arles, where the GPS voice in crisp British tones insisted over and over that I should drive into the Rhone River instead of to my friend’s house.

French fast trains are a marvel. I love them. Paris to Burgundy in about 80 minutes, clean, almost luxe seating if you go first class. Last time I visited my ex-pat friend in Burgundy, the inspiration for Katherine Goff in my first two French village mysteries and a presence in the brand new MURDER VISITS A FRENCH VILLAGE, it was quite a journey. After a 16-hour flight and a wait, I took the TGV (the fast train) from Charles de Gaulle to its first stop, which is in Burgundy. Waited on platform at 11 p.m. for the local train to a town sort of near Noyers-sur-Serein. Driver recruited by my friend picked me up at midnight and drove me the last 20 kilometers to her house in Noyers-sur-Serein, where I staggered in and was too tired to do more than exchange the traditional bis and fall into bed.

Not everything I experience traveling in France winds up in a novel, just as Debs’ books can’t include everything she drinks deeply of in her beloved London, but there is an attitude, an approach to everyday life, an energy we pick up that permeates our writing.  I’m headed back to Paris in September, taking classes now to improve my pitiful conversational ability, and eager to inhale some of that je ne sais quoi for the fourth French village mystery, due out in 2024.

Do you love international travel, even if long lines diminish the joy, and, if so, where do you like best to go?

Ariel Shepard is devastated by the sudden loss of her husband, but nothing could have prepared her for inheriting the rundown French château they’d visited on their honeymoon four years ago. Ariel hires an historian to help her uncover the legacy of her beautiful ruin. Christiane, the scholar, is found dead in the moat and Ariel is determined to find justice for the victim. With plenty of workmen – and errant tools – at the château, she realizes many people had the means, but who had the motive? Ariel begins to suspect that her French village life will be anything but peaceful.

Susan C. Shea is a member of Norcal’s Sisters in Crime, a former member of the SinC national board, and a member of MWA. She’s the author of two series, the French village mysteries, and the Dani O’Rourke Mysteries. She’s on the faculty of the Book Passage Mystery Writers Conference and blogs on 7 Criminal Minds. Visit Susan at susancshea.com. 

DEBS: I'll answer Susan's question. London, obviously, even with queues, but I would really like to get back to Paris, and I'd love to go to Burgundy, which I've never visited! READERS, what place tops your list?