Mystery tropes: It was a dark and stormy night…

When if comes to mysteries, there are certain elements that get repeated a lot: The alcoholic detective who’s running from his past. The amateur sleuth who has to investigate to clear her name. The suspect who confesses everything at the end of the book for no particular reason other than tying up loose ends. This week, we’ve rounded up some of the usual suspects.

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Inspiration Strikes When You Least Expect It…

Whether it’s a chance meeting in an elevator or an unexpected image as you’re walking down the street, inspiration can strike in the weirdest ways. The Chicks share some of the life moments that created fictional ones.  Kellye Garrett I actually got my idea for Hollywood Homicide from a billboard. At the time I was basically broke and trying to figure out the next stage … Continue reading Inspiration Strikes When You Least Expect It…

Groundhog Day

Happy Groundhog’s Day—again! For some of us, the holiday has much less to do with a furry critter determining the future of our weather patterns as it does an annual celebration of the movie starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. In that spirit, here are our thoughts on do-overs, repeating patterns, and what we would do if we woke up every morning to find that it was, once again, Groundhog Day.

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Our Current Obsessions

It would be easy to assume that, as mystery writers, we spend our days sitting around thinking up dastardly plots, planting clues and framing suspects. But when we’re not killing off characters, we actually have a lively and diverse set of outside interests. What are we obsessed with at the moment? Read on to find out—and tell us what your current obsession is in the comments below!

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Are cozy mysteries modern fairy tales?

For my sixteen-year-old daughter and me, the TV show Once Upon a Time is appointment viewing. (To be honest, we both have a crush on Hook, aka Guyliner. He’s so cute!!!!) As we watched the show a few weeks ago, it occurred to me that cozy mysteries have a lot in common with fairy tales. In both, the hero or heroine’s mission is to  identify … Continue reading Are cozy mysteries modern fairy tales?