It’s long been my belief that coming together at mealtimes to sip some wine, swap stories, and learn what’s been going on in each others’ lives, is an essential part of what it is that makes us human. From the time of the stone age, early Homo Sapiens would gather about the communal fire each night for safety, stories, and food. And although this now … Continue reading Dinner in a Time of Pandemic
Leslie Karst here. Today we welcome Grace Topping, author of the wonderful Laura Bishop home staging mysteries, the newest of which, STAGING WARS, releases this coming Tuesday! Read on, to learn how she came up with the idea for her Agatha-nominated series. I Only Play a Home Stager Often when people learn that I write about a character who is a home stager, they begin … Continue reading Guest Chick: Grace Topping
We are delighted to have award-winning author and lawyer Stephanie Kane visiting us today! Read on for a lively discussion between Stephanie and her heroine Lily Sparks. In between murders, I thought it’d be nice to touch base with my heroine, Denver Art Museum’s Conservator of Paintings, Lily Sparks. Lily solves art-based crimes by using her so-called perfect eye, a talent her widowed dad cultivated … Continue reading Guest Chick: Stephanie Kane
The other day I read a piece in the LA Times in which the writer advocated dressing up to Work From Home. Actually, he used the acronym WFH, which stumped me for a moment a two. (I kept reading it as WTH, which is something else entirely, also not to be confused with WTF). Anyway, he was outfit-shaming people for not looking “professional” enough for … Continue reading We’re Gonna Zoom, Zoom, Zoom-a, ZOOM!
A couple of years ago, I was in a doctor’s office waiting room doing what I usually do: reading the true crime section of People, perusing Us Weekly to see if stars really are just like me, and considering what height I should claim to be. I was taking a reading pit-stop, thumbing through a piece about the royal family, when I heard the nurse … Continue reading Where the Armenians Are
The Chicks are so happy to welcome Jennifer J. Chow and help her celebrate Mimi Gets a Clue, the first book in her super-entertaining new Sassy Cat Mystery series. Even if you’re a dog person, you’ll love her post on “Cat-titude!” Thoughts on Cat-titude As a kid, I had a complicated relationship with cats…ever since my brother’s friend threw a cat onto my lap (and … Continue reading Guest Chick: Jennifer J. Chow
So my husband has been working from home because of the COVID 19 shelter in place measures. Since I already work from home, it hasn’t been a huge change for me, for the most part. But, I was struck by how much technology has changed our lives. The other day, I was in the office/guest room on a video conference call at the exact same … Continue reading The tech that dreams are made of
We asked the Agatha Award nominees in the Best Short Story Category the following question: what can you tell us about your title? Art Taylor: “Better Days,” which appeared in the May/June 2019 issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, is the sequel to another story, “A Drowning at Snow’s Cut,” published in EQMM in 2011 and inspired by a boat trip that my dad and … Continue reading Agatha Best Short Story Nominees
Kathleen here, and I’m so pleased and honored to welcome Gabriel Valjan today. Gabriel is not only a wonderful, Agatha (and other!) award-nominated author, but also one of the biggest champions of the writing and reading community, continually promoting, encouraging, and cheering on his crime fiction brethren. But enough fan-girling from me. Let’s get into what Gabriel has to say about comedy and crime. Crimes … Continue reading Comedy is Crime Plus A Cat
Social distancing mode may continue for awhile–and while it’s admittedly difficult, it may be the perfect time to develop some new hobbies. For those of us working from home (especially with added homeschooling duties) who may find ourselves with far less time than we had before, these are decidedly not the kinds of wonderful projects that others may have time to engage in, like planting … Continue reading Tiny Hobbies for Social Distancing
The Chicks are thrilled to welcome back renowned mystery author Edith Maxwell (aka/Maddie Day) and help her celebrate a momentous achievement: her twentieth published book! WOW. It’s the second in “Maddie’s” fab Cozy Capers Book Group series, and to mark the occasion, Edith is giving away not one but two books: a copy of book one in the series, Murder on Cape Cod and a … Continue reading Guest Chick: Edith Maxwell and #giveaway
Please help us welcome Nupur Tustin, author of the Joseph Haydn Mystery Series, to Chicks on the Case! We are so delighted that she’s here today with a special sneak peek–an introduction to her forthcoming series featuring Celine Skye. Two Chicks; One Deadly Secret Pssst . . . Can you keep a secret? I’ve had this on my chest for nearly a year now, … Continue reading Guest Chick: Nupur Tustin
Chicks on the Case 