Episode #43: A Conversation with Radha Vatsal (July 31, 2025) Radha’s talk about her novel “No. 10 Doyers Street” impressed many readers at I Scream for Mysteries, so we brought her on the show to talk about what New York’s Chinatown community was like in the early 1900s, the character of Chinese gangster Mock Duck, what newspaper reporting was like in that time, and the presence of Indian women in America.

Episode #42: Conversation with Tj O’Connor (June 26, 2025). A popular guest at Mechanicsburg Mystery events, Tj joins us to talk about “The Whisper Legacy,” the first book in his Pappa Legacy thriller series, and “Dying for the Past” from his Dead Detective Casefiles series. We also talk about how the paranormal Dead Detective series was republished, why he writes flawed heroes, and the care he takes in capturing accurately how his characters react in stressful situations.

Episode #41: A Conversation with Elizabeth C. Bunce (June 4, 2025). The author of the Myrtle Hardcastle middle-grade series talks about the malaprop that helped inspire the five-book series. We also talk about visiting a woolen mill near Kansas City for research, the fun footnotes that she inserts in the Myrtle story, her crafting hobby, and one fan’s wonderful gift to her.

Episode #40: A Conversation with Libby Klein (April 28, 2025). The author of the Poppy McAllister cozy mystery series is moving into women’s fiction (with mystery overtones) with her new novel “Vice and Virtue.” We talk about Layla Virtue, the recovering alcoholic ex-cop musician., her struggles to stay offthe bottle, and her desire to avoid being drawn into a murder investigation. We also talk about the novel’s comical elements, and the black Lab that plays a role in it.

Episode #39: A Conversation with S.J. Bennett (April 9, 2025) Sophia Bennett talks about her best-selling series featuringQueen Elizabeth II as an amateur sleuth. We talk in-depth about the fourth book in the series, “A Death in Diamonds,” and discuss whether it’s focus on women’s relationships with men and each other makes it a feminist novel. Sophia also talks about her father’s encounters with the queen, whether she would write about other royal families, and the unique role the monarchy plays.

Episode #38: A Conversation with Rosanne Limoncelli (Feb. 21, 2025) Rosanne has taught writing and filmmaking for more than three decades, and on March 11 she’ll make her mystery author debut. We talk with Rosanne about “The FourQueens of Crime,” her historical novel featuring Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham, and Naigo Marsh. We talk about the inspiration for creating this detecting supergroup, why she set it during the run-up to WorldWar II, her work teaching filmmaking and the difference between writing for screen and the page.

Episode #37: A Conversation with Heather Weidner(February 7, 2025) Heather is a prolific mystery author with 12 books in four series. We talk with Heather about being the daughter of a police officer and how it influenced her writing, growing up in Virginia Beach, and the debut of her Pearly Girls series in March which she described as “Veronica Mars meets the Golden Girls.” 

Episode #36: A Conversation with Kemper Donovan (January 9, 2025) Kemper is an Agatha Christie fan whose podcast "All About Agatha" is a must hear for her fans. He has turned the lessons learned from the Queen of Crime to write mysteries. The second book in his Ghostwriter series, “Loose Lips,” drops in January 2025, so we sat down with him to talk about his journey from agent to lawyer to writer, why he started writing

Episode #35: A Conversation with Wendy Neugent (October 21, 2024) Wendy spent a decade seeing the world from the deck of cruise ships, and she used those experiences in her Olivia Morgan Cruise Ship mystery series. Neugent talks with host Bill Peschel about life on board a cruise ship, the perils of performing a magic act, the most beautiful places she saw, and how she transitioned into motherhood and mystery writer.

Episode #34: A Conversation with Katherine Ramsland (July 30, 2024) Where do you begin with the author of more than 70 books including thrillers, serial killer memoirs, biographies, and self-help? Ramsland talks with host Bill Peschel about “Dead Handed,” her upcoming third book featuring forensic psychologist Annie Hunter. She also describes writing “Confession of a Serial Killer” based on interviews with the BTK Killer, and “The Serial Killer’s Apprentice” about a teen’s coerced participation in several murders in Houston in the early 1970s.