Creative Alchemy

Culinary cozies with a touch of the islands.

Catherine Bruns writes in several different series of her own and has also contributed to a multi-author series set in Hawai'i. As with so many authors, including yours truly, Catherine works full-time and squeezes her writing around the edges of that full day.

For the second time in two weeks I'm introduced to a food dish I'd never heard of: Loco Moco. The dish originated in Hilo and consists of rice, a hamburger patty, a fried egg and gravy. Have you ever had it?

Today's show is supported by my patrons at Patreon. Thank you! When you become a patron for as little as $1 a month you receive a short mystery story each and every month. And the rewards for those who love mystery stories go up from there! Learn more and become a part of my community of readers at www.Patreon.com/alexandraamor

This week's mystery author

Catherine Bruns is the USA Today bestselling author of the Cookies & Chance mysteries. She lives in New York with her very patient husband, three sons, and several spoiled pets.

She also writes the Italian Chef mysteries, Cindy York real estate and Carrie Jorgenson (Aloha Lagoon) culinary series. Her book, For Sale by Killer, won the 2019 Daphne du Maurier award for Mainstream Mystery/Suspense.

To learn more about Catherine and all her books visit CatherineBruns.net

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, Android, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, and Spotify.

Excerpt from It Cannoli Be Murder

Willow’s sapphire eyes went wide with shock. “You. You’re Gabby’s cousin from the book signing. Tessa something. The one who made the cannoli. What are you doing in our pantry? Where’s Marta?”

I spoke slowly and methodically, hoping that panic wasn’t evident in my voice. “Oh, hi, Willow. I was hoping to see your mother. Marta’s upstairs vacuuming.” I didn’t mention Gabby and prayed Marta wouldn’t reappear and mention her either. “How’d your father’s signing go today?”

“It was canceled. Daddy had to go to New York City to meet with his agent and a film producer. They’re turning his new book into a movie.” Her jaw tightened. “But I still don’t know why you’re in our kitchen.”

“I couldn’t help checking out your mother’s impressive ingredients. I’m in awe of her talent.

Would you trade Hawai'i for Nebraska?

Kelly Brakenhoff's amateur sleuth, Cassandra Sato, is ambitious: she wants to be a university president one day. So leaving Hawai'i and landing in Nebraska makes sense to her because it will further her career.

Kelly reads to us from the first book in the Cassandra Sato series, Death by Dissertation, and we talk about how creating a character who is a fish out of water can lend itself to interesting plot points and situations.

In the interview, I ask Kelly about her picture book for children called Never Mind. She shares what motivated her to write that book and the important issue the next book in the series addresses. (Hint: it has to do with farts.) :-) Below is the video she mentions where she reads Never Mind and Amy Willman does the signs for it.

https://youtu.be/Qnl9qq99dZc

This week's mystery author

Kelly Brakenhoff writes the Cassandra Sato Mystery series including Death by Dissertation, a 2020 RONE Award Mystery Finalist, and Dead Week, "a diverting whodunit," (Publishers Weekly).

Kelly is an American Sign Language Interpreter whose motivation for learning ASL began in high school when she wanted to converse with her deaf friends. She also writes a popular children's picture book series featuring Duke the Deaf Dog.

To learn more about Kelly and all her books visit KellyBrackenhoff.com

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, Android, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, and Spotify.

Excerpt from Death by Dissertation

Cassandra Sato cradled her palms around her warm Morton College travel mug, hoping the coffee inside would calm the churning in her stomach. Half anticipation, half impatience at wasting her time, uncertainty was the last thing she needed her boss to see at the start of their probationary coaching meeting. She fixed a serene expression on her face, pretending to admire the view from his picture window, while reviewing her mental list of the issues he might raise.

As the youngest person to earn a doctorate in education from the University of Hawai’i at age 28, she had years of practice appearing more mature and confident than she felt. Still, feeling confident in the tropical sunshine of Manoa was much easier than squirming on an antique wooden armchair in Carson, Nebraska—population 8,300—in an office that best resembled a British men’s...

Debra Goldstein is a judge AND she's been on the TV show Jeopardy!

How's that for a line item on a CV?

My guest today reads from her brand new book, Three Treats Too Many, and we talk about her long-held desire to write, how publishing proved easy in the beginning and then got a little harder, and what it's like to blank out when trying to answer the final question on Jeopardy.

In the introduction I mention staying up far too late watching the Disney Plus behind-the-scenes documentary about making the animated film Frozen 2 and how I am a sucker for any kind of show or book about what goes on during the making of a creative project.

This week's mystery author

Judge Debra H. Goldstein writes Kensington Books' Sarah Blair mystery series, including recently published Three Treats Too Many, 2020's Silver Falchion finalist Two Bites Too Many and January 2019's Woman's World book of the week, One Taste Too Many.

Debra's short stories have been named as Agatha, Anthony and Derringer finalists. Debra serves on the national board of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and is the President of SEMWA and is past president of SinC's Guppy chapter.

To learn more about Debra and all her books visit DebraHGoldstein.com.

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, Android, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, and Spotify.

Excerpt from Three Treats Too Many

Sarah Blair took a deep breath before entering the main dining room of Jane’s Place. Attending the grand opening of her greatest nemesis’s restaurant was the last thing she wanted to do, but she had no choice. Sarah was there to check out the competition. Her misery was only made worse because the opening of Southwind, the white tablecloth restaurant across the street that she partially owned, was mired in a red-tape delay by Wheaton’s building inspector. 

Looking around Jane’s Place, Sarah didn’t see either of her Southwind partners, but she immediately spotted the bottle-tinted flaming red hair of Jane’s Place’s namesake.

Sarah turned in the opposite direction. 

Peering at the buffet tasting table, Sarah was pleased there were enough other people crammed into the dining room that Sarah could avoid Jane, her late ex-husband’s bimbo, for most, if not all, of the time needed to survey the restaurant.

This is a first for It's a Mystery podcast!

Award-winning mystery author Kellye Garrett reads to us from a work-in-progress, which is a first for this show.

When the publisher of her first two mysteries shuttered their doors, Kellye pivoted and began working on this domestic thriller. You'll hear her read from that book and then we discuss her two Detective By Day books and how they are still impacting readers, the #ownvoices movement, and how writing for the TV show Cold Case helped Kellye when it came to writing fiction.

This week's mystery author

Kellye Garrett’s Hollywood Homicide, about a semi-famous, mega-broke black actress, won the Anthony, Agatha and Lefty for best first novel. It’s also one of BookBub’s “Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time.” The second, Hollywood Ending, was featured on the TODAY show’s Best Summer Reads of 2019 and was nominated for both Anthony and Lefty awards. She serves on Sisters in Crime’s national board and is a co-founder of Crime Writers of Color.

To learn more about Kellye and her books visit KellyeGarrett.com

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, Android, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, and Spotify.

Interview transcript with Kellye Garrett

Alexandra: Kellye Garrett's mystery, Hollywood Homicide, about a semi-famous mega broke Black actress won the Anthony, Agatha and Lefty for best first novel. It's also one of BookBub's top 100 crime novels of all time. The second in the series, Hollywood ending was featured on Today Show's best summer reads of 2019 and was nominated for both the Anthony and lefty awards.

Kelly serves on Sisters In Crime's national board, and is cofounder of Crime Writers of Color.

Welcome to the show. Kellye.

Kellye: Thank you so much for having me, Alexandra.

Alexandra: Oh, it's my pleasure. So you're going to read to us today. This is kind of unusual and I'm so excited. You're going to read to us from a work in progress.

Do you want to set it up for us?

Kellye: Sure. It's a bit more serious than my other books, but it's a stand alone. It's like a Lori Raider day or a Megan Miranda type book. Still very much about a woman, first person narrative, looking into a mystery.

Alexandra: As we mentioned in your bio, you've got two books in the Detective by Day series.

Tell us why you've switched to do this book about different characters.

Kellye: For two reasons. First, my publisher closed, Midnight Ink, before my third book came out. And they still have the rights for the first two. So, for right now I can't write any more of those books.

And although I've always loved cozies,

Attention dog lovers who also love mysteries. (Or mystery lovers who also love dogs.)

A few years ago, a dear friend read my romantic mystery and said she liked it, although she got tired of hearing about the dog in the story, which made me laugh. I LOVE DOGS! In fact, I've even got a series of children's middle grade novels where the main character is a dog. So it should be fairly obvious that I'm crazy for dogs and they're going to crop up in my writing. ;-)

ACF Bookens and I are cut from the same cloth that way. She loves dogs too, has one of her own, and in the excerpt from Publishable by Death, the first book in the St. Marin's cozy series that she reads to us, there are no less than four dogs mentioned. A writer after my own heart.

In the intro I also mention another podcast you might like called Mysteryrat's Maze. Episodes consist of mystery short stories, and first chapters of mystery novels, read by local actors. To listen to the episodes, and subscribe to the podcast, you can go to mysteryratsmaze.podbean.com, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and more. 

This week's mystery author

ACF Bookens lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with her dog Meander (the fictional Mayhem's inspiration) and her young son. She loves books almost more than people, and when she's not chasing a toddler or writing, she appreciates a good cross-stitch pattern and a British murder mystery on TV.

To learn more about ACF Bookens and all her books, visit her website.

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, Android, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, and Spotify.

Excerpt from Publishable by Death

It was a brisk March morning as I walked away from the cove toward Main Street in St. Marin’s, Maryland. In the shadow of the buildings, I was just beginning to see the tops of daffodils poking up their heads, but today, I tugged the hood of my long sweater up higher on my head and pulled the collar of my peacoat closed. Short hair was perfect for the warmer days – and for owning my ever-graying locks – but in these cold months, I sometimes missed my long ponytail. Spring was coming, but it didn’t feel much like it today. We’d had ice overnight, and while the temperature had gone above freezing already, the roads were still wet and ice clung to the edge of puddles.

Still, I practically skipped down the sidewalk, even though skipping isn’t always that flattering on a slightly plump forty-four-ye...

100 podcast episodes. Nearly 100 amazing mystery authors.

Welcome to episode 100 of It's a Mystery Podcast. I'm thrilled that we've made it to this milestone. :-)

To celebrate, this week I'm reading from one of my own books, Horse With No Name, a historical mystery set in 1890 in British Columbia. In the intro I discuss what it is about this era that draws me to write about it and where the idea for amateur sleuth and schooleacher Julia Thom came from.

It is a thrill and an honour for me each week to host this show and I plan to continue for a long as I can. I have loved meeting all the authors who have been on the show and it is my distinct pleasure to introduce you to some books you might not have otherwise heard of.

I personally am so grateful to every author who takes the risk of putting their heart and ideas on the page and sharing those things with the world.

Here's to another 100 episodes!

This week's mystery author

Alexandra Amor writes mystery novels about love, friendship and the search for truth.

At the moment, she is working on the next book in her Freddie Lark mystery series.

Alexandra began her writing career with an Amazon best-selling, award-winning memoir about ten years she spent in a cult in the 1990s. She has written four animal adventures for middle-grade readers, set on a fictional island in the Salish Sea, several historical mysteries set in 1890 in frontier British Columbia, and a cozy romantic mystery.

To learn more about Alexandra and all her books, visit AlexandraAmor.com

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, Android, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, and Spotify.

Chapter One from Horse With No Name

Millie Jones’ hand was like a vice around Constable Jack Merrick’s wrist. Julia understood how he felt; her own wrist was being crushed by Millie’s other claw.

The schoolhouse where Julia worked was doubling as a dance hall this evening because it was the only building in town that could hold most of the inhabitants at once.

The brand new Sean Stranahan mystery is here!

I have been a fan of Keith McCafferty's since his first book, The Royal Wulff Murders (each mystery in the series is named after a fly fishing tie), so it is a huge thrill for me to have him on the show. We had a great chat about Montana, six-toed cats, mountain lions, book research and more.

If you haven't read Keith's Sean Stranahan books, you're in for a treat! The Bangtail Ghost is book eight in the series and is released on 18 August 2020. The books are all beautifully written, with rich, compelling characters, interesting settings and mysteries.

In the interview, Keith and I mention his son Tom who is a painter and who inspired Sean Stranahan's work as an artist. You can see Tom's incredible paintings here on his website and also here at the Cole Gallery in Seattle.

This week's mystery author

Keith McCafferty is the Survival and Outdoor Skills editor of Field & Stream and the author of eight novels in the Sean Stranahan mystery series, published by Viking/Penguin Books. He is the recipient of the Will Rogers Gold Medallion Award and the Western Writers of America Spur Award for Best Novel, among many other awards. Two of his novels were chosen as Best Reads by Oprah Winfrey's "O" magazine.  

Keith is a two-time National Magazine Award finalist and the recipient of the Robert Traver Award for angling literature. For years he made a living with his flyrod, writing stories for Field & Stream. A wild bird rescue volunteer, Keith lives with his wife and family, and various feathered friends, in Montana.

To learn more about Keith and all his books visit KeithMcCafferty.com

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, Android, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, and Spotify.

Keith McCafferty interview transcript

Alexandra Amor: The previous book, A Death in Eden, was inspired by controversy about copper mining.

Keith McCafferty: The Black Copper mine proposed for the summit for the SmithGroup. Yeah. 

Alexandra Amor: So what inspired this one, The Bangtail Ghost?

Keith McCafferty: I think it's the power of nature and...

Oh how I love a rag-tag bunch of characters!

In this episode Catriona McPherson reads to us from Scot on the Rocks, the third book in her Last Ditch mysteries. She and I share a love of stories with a rag-tag bunch of characters. (Examples that spring to mind for me are the TV shows Firefly and Parks and Recreation, and the movie Saving Grace, to name a few.)

This is not something you find every day in mystery novels because sleuths tend to work alone or with one partner and the characters change with each book because the mystery changes. But Catriona explains how, in the case of these books, the characters moved in and stayed, much to her delight.

This Week's Mystery Author

Catriona McPherson is the national best-selling and multiple award-winning author of 27 novels. She writes a historical detective series in the tradition of the British Golden Age, contemporary standalone psychological thrillers, and has recently begun as series of comic mysteries about a fish-out-of-water Scot in California “fighting crime and kale”.

In an amazing case of life imitating art, Catriona is Scottish but immigrated to northern California in 2010.

To learn more about Catriona McPherson and all her books visit CatrionaMcPherson.com

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, Android, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, and Spotify.

Excerpt from Scot on the Rocks

“It’s the most lud-i-crous taaaaiiiiime of the year!” I sang to myself as I traipsed through the streets of downtown Cuento en route to the Yummy Parlor Szechuan Restaurant and Takeaway.

When I was a kid, back in Dundee – or Dundee, Scotland, as they call it here – St Valentine’s Day meant a card if someone fancied you, knew your address, and had a stamp; a bunch of flowers if you had a boyfriend who hadn’t worked off whatever he did at the New Year’s Eve Party; or a white furry teddy bear with a red satin chest if you were really slow on the uptake and the kind of sickening Christmas present you get from someone who’d buy a teddy bear for Valentine’s Day hadn’t made you dump him in time. Maybe some wives put love notes in the lunch boxes of some husbands. Maybe some husbands put chocolates on the pillows of some wives. My dad bought my mum a card once. She opened it at the breakfast bar, frowned, said “For crying out loud, Keith” and ripped the front off to use for a shopping list. 

She would keel over in her tartan slippers and hit the ground stone dead if she could see Cuento tonight. Every shop window had a mammoth eruption of bright red and bright pink – two colours that newsflash do not go – and it didn’t matter whether the ...

Amateur sleuth Kendra Clayton has enough on her plate without adding murder to the mix.

Author and librarian Angela Henry introduces us to her Kendra Clayton series, reading from the first book in the series, The Company You Keep.

If you'd like to try more of Angela's work, she's bundled together excerpts from the first three books in this series and you can sign up to receive them here.

In the introduction, I go a little inside baseball about book covers, how impressed I am with Angela's (and the fact that she designs them herself!) and the multiple jobs a book cover has to do to attract a reader's attention.

In the interview portion of the show, Angela and I talk about how important it is for young readers to see representation of themselves in literature, including Black authors like Angela and characters like Kendra.

This week's mystery author

Angela Henry is a librarian and the author of six mysteries featuring amateur sleuth, Kendra Clayton, as well as the Xavier Knight Urban fantasy series, and the thriller The Paris Secret. She also writes middle grade fantasy adventure under the pen name Angie Kelly. 

When she's not working or writing, she loves to travel, is connoisseur of B horror movies, and a functioning anime addict. She lives in Ohio and is currently hard at work trying to meet her next deadline.

To learn more about Angela and all her books visit AngelaHenry.com

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, Android, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, and Spotify.

Excerpt from The Company You Keep

I drove back to Archer Street. My mind was racing. Could Jordan really be dead? Then it dawned on me: Bernie hadn't said anything about Vanessa. Was she dead as well? 

By now the rain had stopped and the streets were enveloped in fog. I turned onto Archer Street. Was the fog heavier on this street than any of the others I'd driven down? Given the circumstances, I was probably just being paranoid. I mentally kicked myself for watching so many scary movies. I made my way slowly down the street. When I came upon Bernie's car, I pulled up alongside and looked in. Bernie was sitting behind the wheel with her head in her hands. Her head jerked up when I honked my horn. I parked in front of her and got out.

"Thank God!" she said as she jumped out of her car and ran up to me. We both stood staring at the house for what seemed like a long time.

"Did you call nine-one-one?" I asked finally.

If you're a fan of Grantchester, I think you'll enjoy meeting Father Tom.

JR Mathis' character, Father Tom Greer, is living with the fallout from a painful past. In The Penitent Priest, the father will be thrown back into the events that lead him to becoming a priest and with have to confront some painful truths.

In the introduction I mention that I've had an abundance of mystery novels to read lately, including Elly Griffiths brand new Ruth Galloway mystery, The Lantern Men, and also book four in Jo Bannister's Best and Ash series, Other Countries.

This week's mystery author

James Mathis writes The Father Tom Mysteries as J. R. Mathis. A fifth-generation Florida man, he has lived in Maryland for the past 21 years. He currently works for the Federal Government.

When not writing, James spends time with his wife and Alpha reader Susan and his grandchildren. He enjoys reading mysteries and books on writing, auto racing, and  baking.

To learn more about JR Mathis and his books visit JRMathisMysteries.com

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, Android, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, and Spotify.

Excerpt from The Penitent Priest

“I can’t believe this,” Nate said as he looked through the emails. “This is great! You see this, Father?”

When I called Nate and told him I’d do an interview, he was happy. When I told him about what I had found and Helen’s response, he was practically speechless. Meeting him at The Perfect Cup the next day and showing him copies of the emails, he was jumping up and down in his chair like a little boy on Christmas morning.

“Don’t you see, now this has everything. It’s not just a cold case of a senseless murder,” Nate went on, holding up the emails. “This is a cold case of a planned murder. She was stalked, and whoever was stalking her killed her--”

 “Now really we don’t know that,” I interrupted.

“--and we have the police doing nothing when new evidence is shown to them.” He inhaled and exhaled. “Now we have a story.”

“I thought you had a story before?”

“We did,” he answered. “It’s a better story now. And you’ll do an interview on camera?”

“Yes,” I said, “but who’s we?”

“We,” Rodriguez repeated. “My partner and I.”

“What partner?”