Chick Chat: Characters can surprise you!

We Chicks have created – and continue to create – a vast array of characters. We think we know them pretty well. But sometimes a character is more fun to write than we thought they’d be. Today we share the characters we didn’t expect to enjoy writing as much as we do. Lisa Q. Mathews I think I knew as soon as Gladys Rumway appeared … Continue reading Chick Chat: Characters can surprise you!

Happy Book Birthday to “Waters of Destruction”!

Happy book birthday to Leslie Karst—for today her second Orchid Isle Mystery, Waters of Destruction, spouts into the world! Here’s the synopsis: After a vacation of a lifetime in Hilo, Hawai‘i, retired caterer Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen have decided to move permanently to the beautiful – if storm-prone – Big Island. The couple are having fun furnishing their new house, exploring their new … Continue reading Happy Book Birthday to “Waters of Destruction”!

Lefty Award Nominees-Rocky Mountain High Jinks

Today the Chicks are pleased to host the 2025 nominees for the Lefty Awards, mostly in the Best Humorous Mystery category (to be awarded at Left Coast Crime: Mountain High Jinks in Denver), with a special guest nominated for Best Mystery Novel. Hurrah that we have three nominees who are part of Chicks on the Case! We’ve asked each nominee to share a little bit … Continue reading Lefty Award Nominees-Rocky Mountain High Jinks

Happy Ho-Ho-Holidays!

Season’s greetings, beloved readers! We hope you enjoy the yearly sharing of our holiday baby Chicks cards.  We’re very sad this will be our last Christmas card post with our dear pal Kathy Valenti. We’ll miss you, Kathy! We’re taking a break for the holidays, but we’ll be back on January 6th. Until then, we wish you and yours the happiest of happy seasons and … Continue reading Happy Ho-Ho-Holidays!

Greetings from Bouchercon! (Although I’ll be home when you read this)

Hi, Ellen here, writing from my hotel room. I know Lisa gave you a taste of Bouchercon Nashville. I’m here to give you the whole meal today. I thought I’d do this day by day but honestly, it’s hard to keep the days straight at a con, so there will be some guesswork involved. Here goes nuthin’! WEDNESDAY: I kicked off the day by meeting … Continue reading Greetings from Bouchercon! (Although I’ll be home when you read this)

Lefty Award Nominees–Best Humorous Mystery

Today the Chicks are pleased to host the 2024 nominees for the Lefty Award for Best Humorous Mystery (to be awarded on April 13 at Left Coast Crime: Seattle Shakedown), two of whom just happen to be members of Chicks on the Case! Since the award is for books that are on the light side and/or humorous, we’ve asked each nominee to provide a short … Continue reading Lefty Award Nominees–Best Humorous Mystery

Chicks Celebration: Launch of “MOLTEN DEATH”!

Welcome to “Chicks Celebration,” our fun new Chicks on the Case feature! Join us as we Chicks share what we’re currently celebrating (book release, new idea, recent read…). 1. Which Chick is celebrating? Leslie 2. The reason for the celebration? The launch of the first book in my new Orchid Isle mystery series, Molten Death, which releases this coming Tuesday, April 2. (Buy link here.) 3. What have … Continue reading Chicks Celebration: Launch of “MOLTEN DEATH”!

Happy Ho-Ho-Holidays!

Season’s greetings, beloved readers! We hope you enjoy the yearly sharing of our holiday baby Chicks cards.   We’re taking a break for the holidays, but we’ll be back on January 5th. Until then, we wish you and yours the happiest of happy seasons and a bright New Year! Ellen Byron Lisa Q. Mathews Vickie Fee Cynthia Kuhn Kathleen Valenti Becky Clark Jennifer J. Chow … Continue reading Happy Ho-Ho-Holidays!

A Very Hilo Holiday

Inspired by Lisa’s enchanting post last Monday about decorating for the holidays and her adorable Christmasville village-turning-into-a-metropolis, I thought it would be fun to give you all a glimpse of what the holiday season looks like across the continent—as well as half the Pacific Ocean—from New Hampshire, in my little Hilo Town on the Island of Hawai‘i. Like our fellow Americans five hours ahead of … Continue reading A Very Hilo Holiday

Happy Book Birthday to Leslie!

Today is the release day of A Sense for Murder, the sixth book in the Sally Solari culinary mystery series–huzzah! It’s the height of tourist season in Santa Cruz, California, and Sally Solari has her hands full, both juggling crowds of hungry diners at her French-Polynesian restaurant Gauguin, as well as appeasing her father, who’s distressed at the number of homeless people camped out in … Continue reading Happy Book Birthday to Leslie!

A New Sally Solari Adventure–and a Recipe!

Tomorrow marks the release day of my sixth Sally Solari mystery, A Sense for Murder. Just wow. When I set fingers to keyboard to begin composing what would end up being the first in the series, Dying for a Taste, I had no idea I’d be lucky enough to publish six books about the intrepid, stubborn, snarky, bourbon- and Giants baseball-loving, restaurateur Sally. But here … Continue reading A New Sally Solari Adventure–and a Recipe!