Jen here. Excited to host Michelle on the blog today! We did a recent panel together, and I’m excited about her debut mystery. A cross-generational sleuthing duo? Yes, please! Michelle has also enjoyed the exciting traveling life of her main character Harry–see her amazing pics below!
Who’d have thought that thirty minutes on a Saturday morning as a kid in front of a TV would influence the rest of your life. But that was me, riveted by the children’s show Big Blue Marble, which featured the lives of kids all over the world. Every episode I was fascinated by how different life could be based on your geography—and yet somehow despite the variations, how many commonalities could be found. It’s what led me to study anthropology and sparked my wanderlust to travel the world.
Decades later, I’ve got a few well-stamped passports and a lifetime of amazing experiences. I’ve worked as a (decent if powered by enough espresso) bilingual secretary in Paris, backpacked around Europe, Central America, and Southern Africa, and helped rebuild communities after war throughout Africa, East Asia, South Asia, and the Pacific. In other words, I’ve accumulated a lot stories: like the time when a witch put a scorpion in my bed, or when a giant vulture feasted on a leftover meal at the table next me at an al fresco dinner, or when I was a guest of the King and Queen of Jordan, or when my team and I got lost in a barren, tumbleweed-ridden wasteland and in order to get to the nearest village, had to follow a man on a corroded bike with a live goat tied to the back of it, with the goat bleating the entire way.
Perhaps this drive to want to live good stories came from my love of reading them. My mom took us to the library every weekend, and I was allowed to check out as many books as I could carry, which despite my small size, was a lot. Ever since, I’ve been addicted to that feeling you get when engrossed in a book that takes you to a new place, a new time, or a new perspective.
So it was hardly a jump for me to want to write and to make one of the main characters an anthropologist; someone who shares my curiosity about this big blue marble we inhabit. In my debut mystery, A Field Guide to Murder, many but not all of Harry Lancaster’s memories and feelings have been inspired by my own. And by telling Harry’s story, I got the chance to go back and revisit some of my adventures again.
Do you have a travel story you cherish? Commenters will be entered to win an audio version of A Field Guide to Murder.
ABOUT MICHELLE
Michelle L. Cullen has lived and traveled all over the world, from working as a bilingual secretary in Paris, to backpacking around Europe, Central America, and Southern Africa, to helping rebuild communities after war throughout Africa, East Asia, South Asia, and the Pacific. She obtained her PhD from the London School of Economics’ Sociology Department and her master’s degree in anthropology from Melbourne University in Australia. She currently lives in Annapolis, Maryland, where she’s either doing yoga, playing outside, or plotting murder.
ABOUT THE BOOK
A cranky widower and his spirited caregiver team up to solve his neighbor’s murder in this charming and original mystery, perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Benjamin Stevenson.
Once a globe-trotting anthropologist, Harry Lancaster is now certain that all his grand adventures are behind him. Recently widowed and suffering from a fractured hip, Harry spends his days and nights behind a pair of binoculars, nose-deep in his neighbors’ affairs. His millennial caregiver, Emma, is determined to get him out of his armchair and back into the world.
Fate intervenes when Harry’s mysterious neighbor, Sue, phones, pleading for help. But instead of rescuing her, Harry and Emma find Sue dead: poisoned, days after a break-in at Sue’s house. Harry resolves to find out what happened, and Emma insists on going along for the ride. Together, they discover motives and suspects abound in Harry’s quaint condominium community—putting them both in the crosshairs of a cold-blooded killer.
Readers of Kristen Perrin and Deanna Raybourn will be charmed by this quirky, cross-generational murder mystery.
Chicks on the Case 