Elise M. Stone is an author who deeply considers her readers when she's writing.

She recognized early on that most cozy mystery readers are older women. Wisely, she is writing a series for exactly those readers. Her amateur sleuth in the African Violet Mysteries, Lilliana Wentworth, is an older widow living in a retirement community, somewhat against her will. ;-)

Elise also has a trilogy of faith based mysteries, which was the first series she wrote. As you'll hear, these books stray a little bit outside the Christian mystery genre conventions, which makes them unique. My author brain loved this part of my conversation with Elise because it's such an interesting subject - a little bit of inside baseball for mystery authors.

As readers, we often want stories that are unique, but we also want them to meet our expectations. For an author, it's sometimes difficult to balance those two things, especially if we are writing from our heart and/or writing to explore issues dear to us.

This episode of It's a Mystery Podcast is sponsored by the first full-length Town Called Horse novel, Horse With No Name. A historical mystery that readers have said has exquisite character development, intrigue, and complexity.

Would you risk your life simply to be yourself?

Julia Thom is new to the small town of Horse, but she's not new to trouble. When reclusive watchmaker James Hunter is beaten, but has no memory of the event, Julia vows to find the culprits. Even if Hunter hadn't saved Julia herself from being assaulted, she would still be on the case; meddling helps keep her focus off her own complicated life. Julia is fast becoming a thorn in Police Constable Jack Merrick's side and he flounders as he tries to figure out how to deal with such a headstrong woman.

Click here to download your copy for free.

You can find out more about today's guest, Elise M. Stone, and all her books on her website EliseMStone.com. You can also find her on Twitter @EliseMStone.

Click on any of the book covers to go to Elise's books on Amazon.

Press play (above) to listen to the show, or read the transcript below. Remember you can also subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts. And listen on Stitcher.

You can also click here to watch the interview on YouTube.

Transcription of Interview with Elise Stone

Alexandra: Hi, mystery readers, this "It's a Mystery" podcast. I'm Alexandra Amor, and I'm here today with, Elise M. Stone. Hi, Elise.

Elise: Hi.

Alexandra: How are you doing today?

Elise: I'm doing good.

Alexandra: How are things in Arizona?

Elise: Warm. It's supposed to be that 76 degrees today. I was actually going to wear something a little festive, but a long-sleeved black shirt with a felt vest wasn't going to work today. So wearing short sleeves, which is typical for Arizona.

Alexandra: Yes,