Kaz Delaney stopped by the Tule blog to discuss the fourth book in The Hart of Texas Murder Mysteries series, Murder Below the Mistletoe!
Where did you get the inspiration for Murder Below the Mistletoe?
My favorite mysteries—and probably all stories—are those set during the Holidays and I was itching to write a Christmas cozy, so when the timeline of the Hart Of TexasMystery series naturally wound around to the Holiday season, I couldn’t wait. There’s a wonderful—if that’s the right word—juxtaposition of all the prettiness and joy of the Holiday season set alongside the ugly cold-heartedness of murder. I also love locked-room mysteries, and so having a murder take place in an isolated lodge that’s cut off by blizzards and snow dumps seemed to be a great place to start. I guess we could say this story is inspired by all the classic whodunits of time gone by.
In this story, we see Rosie outside of the Airlie Falls setting. Was it fun to get out of the town you created or were you eager to get back?
I live in a country where the Holiday season is hot and sticky, but also where our season parties are mostly outside under pretty lights, and the day itself is usually spent overindulging on luscious seafood or hot roast dinners (for my family, it’s both), diving into the pool, lounging on a beach or engaged in a hose-water fight with your kids. And while we love it nonetheless, the allure of cozy Christmases spent by a raging fire with snow outside the window and carols playing inside has always held a certain magic, probably because it’s the opposite to what we have here.
Moving Rosie to Colorado for a week or so, allowed me to fulfil my fantasy of a northern Christmas. So, initially I thought it was a great idea, but the first obstacle came when I had to have a legitimate and believable reason for Rosie to leave Airlie Falls at that time of year—which was where the wedding came in. What better idea than to have her invited to be an attendant at a Christmas wedding? Of course, she had misgivings about going, and why not? It was a crazy busy time for her From the Hart baking business, plus, leaving Jonah during the build-up to their first ever Christmas together, was a hard decision to make. However, there was something unsettling about the invitation and that intuition was proved correct when the first body was discovered. Had someone really murdered Santa? Surely not!
When I began writing it though, as much as I loved the mystery, I felt something was missing—and that something was the fun and color the folk of Airlie Falls bring to each story. So, I’m hoping that readers of the series will be delighted when some of the most loved characters manage to—hilariously—get themselves up that isolated lodge just before the whole place is completely cut off.
Was I anxious to get Rosie back to Airlie Falls? Not so much anxious, as contented. The tiny rural town of Airlie Falls is the heart of this series and its community warmth and inclusiveness has connected with readers, many of whom wish they, too, could live there. (Something that makes me cry with joy each time I hear or read that comment – thank you.) So, as beautiful and majestic as Colorado is, and as fun as it was to write about, for Rosie, Airlie Falls is home. And home is where the heart is, right?
If you were stuck in a blizzard like your heroine, what would you do to pass the time?
I love this question – and okay – as this is highly unlikely to ever happen to me, and as I have no experience, please know this is my fantasy answer. To set the scene: I’m in a very well-run private lodge with staff on hand who cannot wait to do my bidding, there are no shortages—food or otherwise—and heat and firewood are in indecent supply. So, what would I do? Easy. I’d read until my eyeballs fell out under protest! Specifically, I’d curl up beside a fire (that I hope someone else was stoking to maintain that cheerful blaze), have choc-topped cappuccinos delivered every hour or so, along with a selection of home baked cookies or cake—and just sink into all the stories currently lined up on my bedside table (and that I coincidentally had packed to take with me) or are on my kindle list. If, for some reason (that I cannot even contemplate) I tired of that, I’d welcome a fireside chat—as long as the person was happy to chat about books, ha!—or even a game of cards. Maybe some other board game, as well. Maybe watch the occasional movie—especially all those I’d intended to go see and missed. This lodge would also somehow have access to an array of fresh seafood and I’d dine like a queen every night before sinking into a feather bed in a bedroom warmed and lit by a log fire. Hey!The more I get into this, the more I really like this fantasy. Or maybe I just need a vacation. It has been a big year… Yep, it’s sounding better by the minute. Who wants to join me?
Do you have any favorite Christmas or holiday traditions?
We’ve practiced many over the years, some of which have evolved as our children have grown and had their own families. Our family tree decorating parties were always a joy, often with many extended family members joining in. Lots of music, and loads of food (that required days of preparation) and much hijinx. Brothers and sisters hiding each other’s ‘name’ baubles, everyone crying foul and immediately planning payback. It’s been heart-warming to see our own children continue these traditions with their own families.
For me, the buildup to Christmas has always held the most magic. The stores all decorated, the music, the carol singing, the cards, the children’s school and or church pageants—the magical anticipation on the faces of the children so dear to me. A hushed church… And the aromas! Those particular smells that so quickly take you those magical moments of the past, and bring with them the promise of more in the future. Fresh tree boughs, scented candles… Puddings steaming; the spicy deliciousness of fruit cake baking in the oven. Sugary, buttery sweetness of shortbread. Many of our traditions still revolve around food—like steaming my mother-in-law’s ultra-delicious Christmas pudding; making my mom’s seafood sauce, her fruitcake recipe and the fruit punch she made for me first when I was a teenager having my first party and which my children, as adults, still associate with Christmas all these years later. It’s watching my wide-eyed grandchildren’s faces when they spy the first Christmas cookies in Nonna’s jar, and baking more with them when they’re all too-soon devoured! And for my husband, ensuring our pool is ready for a heavy workout!
We (or rather my husband!) decorate the exterior of our house each year with hundreds of colored lights and I just adore it. Each year, our neighbors all congregate in our yard under those lights a week before Christmas for our annual neighborhood party. We all bring food to share and in recent years I’ve begun reintroducing foods made from long-forgotten recipes that we all passed across fences in our early years of marriage and loving the memories and stories that has evoked. And we love to see how other people have decorated their houses. We still drive around before Christmas with our youngest grandchildren, sharing their delight at the houses decorated for the season and often sit on our own porch in the evening with a cool drink and wave to families doing the same thing.
This, to me, is what Christmas, or the Holidays, are all about. Family, friends, food, love and laughter and thanksgiving that we’ve all made it through another year.
What are you currently reading?
Being deep in the throes of another Hart of Texas Mystery, I haven’t had as much time for reading as I’d like (hence the fantasy above !!) However, here’s a couple that I’ve really enjoyed over the last month. The first, The Secret Life of Shirley Sullivan by Lisa Ireland, is a thought-provoking story that follows a guilt-ridden wife who wants to fulfil the long-held wish of her dementia-suffering-husband, giving him one last adventure, which means breaking him out of his aged-care facility and going on the run.
Then, if you like romantic suspense, I can also give my tick of approval to Protecting their Destiny by Erin Moira O’Hara. It’s part of the famed Bindarra Creek series, and it’s quite a ride and will keep your heart racing from start to end. Just finished it and loved it.
Right now though, I have just dived into the first few pages of Fortune Whelan’s My Christmas With You and from the start it’s giving me all the right holiday feels! Loving it.
About the Author
Award winning YA & children’s author, Kaz Delaney, and her alter ego, have currently sold 73 titles between them over a 26 year career.
Her books have won many awards, among them the prestigious Aurealis Award for best paranormal and ARRA (Australian Romance Readers Association) awards. Her novel ‘Dead, Actually’ (Allen & Unwin) was nominated for a Davitt Award, (Best crime novel, Sisters In Crime) in the YA section. Dividing her time between teaching and writing, Kaz formerly tutored Creative Writing for CSU’s Enrichment Program as well as teaching and creating courses for the Australian College of Journalism.Having always had a love of cozy mysteries, Kaz is having so much fun writing her Hart of Texas Mystery Series for TULE Publishing, that she worries it’s not legal!With their family grown and gone, Kaz lives with her wonderful husband at beautiful Lake Macquarie, Australia, a place she describes as a strip of land between the ocean and lake. Like Rosie, Kaz loves to bake and grow vegetables and unlike Rosie, manages to make a mess of every crochet task she undertakes.
Geri Krotow stopped by the Tule blog to discuss the first book in the Shop ‘Round the World series, A Santa Stabbing!
Where did you get the inspiration for A Santa Stabbing?
I find inspiration everywhere, and I never know where it’s coming from next. I knew I wanted to write about a woman who’d seen a lot of life but still had so much of it to live and enjoy, no matter what tragedies may have occurred earlier in her life. The town we live in, in Pennsylvania, is a constant source of story ideas for me. Add in my military background, and it seemed a natural progression for Angel Warren to be a retired Navy pilot. This is my very first mystery novel after 30+ romances and I feel right at home in my new genre of cozy (ish) mystery.
Welcome to Tule! Can you share a fun fact about yourself to help us get to know you?
Thank you! I love being a Tule author! I was a Naval Intelligence officer for 9 years, and then was a Navy spouse to my husband who served for 27 years. We moved all over the planet and are now happy to be in the same place.
How do you relate your heroine, Angel, and how do you hope readers will relate to her?
Like Angel, I moved to a small Pennsylvania town after being overseas and out of the mainstream of American life for decades. I totally identify with her empty-nest syndrome, as I went through that after my chicks left the nest (a decade ago now). As for her inquisitiveness, that’s natural for a writer and an intelligence professional!
The Shop ‘Round the World series is your first foray into the cozy mystery genre. What is different about writing mysteries vs romances? Which one do you enjoy more?
What I love about Mystery is the same thing I treasure in Romance; the characters and sense of community. The biggest difference is that I feel I need to write more tightly, to keep the focus on the mystery plot of each particular book. But fleshing out the characters, their strengths as well as foibles, remains the same and as satisfying as ever. I also like that my sense of humor has shown up more in my mysteries.
Do you have any favorite Christmas or holiday traditions?
Decorating for the holidays is always fun for me. I never know what I’ll do year-to-year. I don’t feel as compelled to put out every last decoration as I used to when the kids were tiny. Instead, I go with the flow and try to incorporate some more contemporary trends into our otherwise very eclectically traditional Christmas. I’ve enjoyed decorating for Thanksgiving more and more, too.
What are you currently reading?
I’m in the midst of EverGreen Chase by Juneau Black and I just downloaded A Murder of Crows by Sarah Yarwood-Lovett
About the Author
Geri Krotow is the bestselling author of over 25 novels of romantic suspense, contemporary romance and women’s fiction. A US Naval Academy graduate and Navy veteran, Geri’s strong heroines are reader favorites. Geri’s Shop ‘Round the World series with Tule is her cozy mystery debut.
Welcome to A Mid-Summer Murder, book two in my Shop ‘Round the World series. This often humorous, with a good dose of warm fuzzy, cozy mystery series takes place in fictional Stonebridge, Pennsylvania, and I’m delighted to take you on a mini “tour” of retired Navy helicopter pilot Angel Warren’s hometown today.
Fun author fact: Stonebridge is loosely based on the south central PA town I live in.
Angel hung up her Navy flight suit and moved back to her native town to open a very special international curio shop, where she strives to share some of the joy she’s experienced while living a global Navy lifestyle for over twenty years. Stonebridge is a quaint town that was founded by Jacob Stoner back in the eighteenth century. Here’s a Christmas time shot. You can imagine the fun shops, cafes, and restaurants that occupy each historical building. An added bonus: spectacular sunsets!
Next up, the building that Angel purchased (and um, finds her first dead body in). The main floor is where Shop ’Round the World is located, and the second and third floors are where Angel and her twin daughters live when the girls aren’t away at university. I picture it next to the building with the belltower in the downtown pic above. You can see Angel’s building’s top floors, from across the street in where I imagine Eloise’s yoga studio. It offers a great view for any dead bodies that show up on Main Street. This loft is actually where I had the A Santa Stabbing book release party!
There is no shortage of hiking and outdoor activities in Stonebridge, including a spooky old cemetery.
Perhaps these next two aren’t part of a tour, but they are big parts of the Shop ‘Round the World series. Meet Machiatto aka Mach, Nate the silver fox barista’s big Shiloh Shepherd doggie, and Ralph, Angel’s yellow nape Amazon parrot. Because, what’s a cozy mystery without beloved pets?
Thanks for coming along on this tour with Angel! Please connect with me at my website, where you can sign up for my newsletter and site news. And don’t forget to follow me on Instagram and Bookbub while you’re at it—I have so much fun cozy mystery coming your way in 2023!
Let’s keep the fun quaint town vibe going—what’s your favorite historical town that you’ve ever read about, been to, lived in, or want to visit?
About the Author
Geri Krotow is the bestselling author of over 25 novels of romantic suspense, contemporary romance and women’s fiction. A US Naval Academy graduate and Navy veteran, Geri’s strong heroines are reader favorites. Geri’s Shop ‘Round the World series with Tule is her cozy mystery debut.
A belated Happy 4th to all my U.S. friends and readers! There’s a reason for mentioning that a month too late – you see, my latest Rosie Hart adventure was set with July 4th as a background. And as I created a fun celebration, I once more so envied that little town of Airlie Falls and their close-knit community. How much fun would it be to live there… Sigh…
So, about this story: I was quite young when I first saw Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder – maybe too young – because it terrified me. Few would argue over Hitchcock’s ability to provide suspense – certainly not me, the proof being the fact that the story has stayed with me for all those years. I can still see Grace Kelly in that low-lit bedroom…
Suspense and terror aside, as I grew older, I came to appreciate the story-line, and it was basically from that idea my own story was born. My series, the Hart of Texas Murder Mysteries, is way more light-hearted than anything Hitch would present, yet right from the start I had a title in my head, my spoof of the original – Dial M for Mud Cake – hoping I could find the story it represented.
It took six books, but in this last, the 6th, I found it – and was enormous fun to create. And every day I opened that manuscript it made me smile. Of course, in the way things should go, my story bears little resemblance to Hitchcock’s story other than a telephone call and an order for murder. Basically, that’s where Hitch and I parted ways. However, it was those two things that led to the creation of a scene I had so much fun with – and will share in a moment.
Despite the fun, it wasn’t all straightforward. I knew I wanted my poor heroine Rosie, to be confused by the strange order for the mud cake. After all, as a baker, that would usually be a straightforward event for her. But that’s also when my usual modus operandi went off script. You see, normally, Rosie would be hunting down a murderer, often trying to clear the name of someone close to her.
This time there was no body, just someone who mistakenly thought Rosie to be a professional assassin who required the words Mud Cake as code for the hit. So, for Rosie – and myself – everything was upside down. Rosie wasn’t, at first, searching for a murderer, but a potential victim. A stranger. Not seeking justice for a dead person but trying to keep someone alive! To make it worse, I added a ticking clock. The deed had to be completed by the 4th of July, or matters would be taken into other hands. Rosie couldn’t let that happen. While ever that customer thought she was the assassin, the victim had a chance of survival.
And all this while helping to plan and execute the town’s extravagant plans for the Independence Day celebrations, try to curb the wild and ridiculous spending of the Fab Four who have discovered the home shopping channels (because surely nonagenarians wouldn’t really need a three-man tent and a bucking bronco – and that was just for starters!), as well as – you guessed it, also trying to prove her suspicion that the murder of an elderly heiress is connected to her own misguided cake order.
But let’s go back to that first phone call. Keep in mind that Rosie thinks this is a regular—if slightly odd—order for a mud cake.
Waving away Miz Lipskie’s warning whisper, I strode into the airy study just off the foyer. The voice on the other end wasn’t what I’d expected. It was low and muffled, and I’d barely said hello before the order came through—just as Miz Lipskie had said.
“I want to order a mud cake.”
“Yes sir, we’d be delighted to help you.” Actually, I was taking Miz Lipskie’s word for it that it was a male because the voice was so stifled it was hard for me to tell the exact gender. Still, she’d spoken to him several times and apparently been barked at, so obviously she knew.
There was a long pause before he replied. “We? I thought you worked alone?”
“Well, I do, but I have an assistant who helps me in the day-to-day running of the business.”
“Sheesh! Everyone’s a corporation these days! Even you people!” I was about to let that pass when he threw in his next comment. “Your number was passed on. What? You got a club or something? What’s with two of you working the same area? I thought you guys were pretty hard to find!”
I accepted the guy’s reference as a gender inclusive description, but frowned over the comment. “Two of us? Two bakers?”
The response was a low chuckle. “Sure, if that’s what you want to call yourselves. No skin off my nose. I just want the job done.”
He had a funny way of expressing himself that I found confusing but I did understand he wanted cake and that was something I could deliver. “I can do that. Now if I could just have some details? I ne—”
“Just the basics, right? I was told you’d only require the basics.”
“Well, I guess if you consider name and address, and your requirements to be basics, then I guess that’s what we do.” What was with this man? “But how about we start with the cake. Like, do you want chocolate mud? Caramel mud? Strawberry mud? White chocolate mud?”
“I thought you’d just do the job! What’s with the twenty questions?” He sighed. “So what? What’s your most popular? Simplest? I want that.”
“Chocolate. Now sir, what about cream? Do you want fresh or—?”
“Fresh? Hey, hey, stop right there! I don’t want the details, right? That other broad told me you were the best, so I figured you’d just get on with it. Geez—I got a weak stomach.”
This was the craziest order I’d ever taken. He was upset by cream? “Lactose problem?”
The response was a roar of laughter. “Hey, you got a sense of humor! I like that!” The laughter turned into a coughing fit and I waited it through, wondering why I had the feeling it wasn’t genuine. “Just no mess, okay? I don’t like mess. Now, I was told you’d do it for ten. Is that right?”
“Um, I’d usually charge fifteen for a layered cake, there’s a—”
“Fifteen! Where am I supposed to get that kind of money?”
I didn’t actually hear a phone slam down, but I kind of sensed it. One moment he was there, and the next he wasn’t and I was left with a dead line. What in heavens…?
When I turned, Miz Lipskie stood in the doorway, arms folded and wearing an I-told-you-so expression. “Tell me I’m not the only one who thinks that man is a bit strange!”
“No, Miz Lipskie,” I began slowly, my mind whirling, “I don’t think you are.”
I had such fun with this and subsequent scenes with this mysterious caller. And imagine Rosie’s shock when she, later, finally understands that he’s not just quibbling over $5, he thinks it’s an extra $5000. $15,000 for a mud cake? Even she concedes she’s not that good.
I so hope you grab a copy and have fun with this story. It’s a nice tangly mystery coupled with all the fun and color of a fun July 4th celebration.
Now, I began this chat talking about movies – and mystery. Do you have a favorite mystery movie – or even a favorite mystery television series? I’m a sucker for all those wonderful 80s series – Murder She Wrote(I still watch them!) Columbo, Diagnosis Murder, Matlock – and adore all the slightly more current UK series – Vera, Foyle’s War, Silent Witness, Midsomer Murders, Mrs Bradley Mysteries etc. Share with us your favorite – or if you’re not a mystery fan – your fave movie or TV show
About the author.
Award winning YA & children’s author, Kaz Delaney, and her alter ego, have currently sold 73 titles between them over a 26 year career.
Her books have won many awards, among them the prestigious Aurealis Award for best paranormal and ARRA (Australian Romance Readers Association) awards. Her novel ‘Dead, Actually’ (Allen & Unwin) was nominated for a Davitt Award, (Best crime novel, Sisters In Crime) in the YA section. Dividing her time between teaching and writing, Kaz formerly tutored Creative Writing for CSU’s Enrichment Program as well as teaching and creating courses for the Australian College of Journalism.
Having always had a love of cozy mysteries, Kaz is having so much fun writing her Hart of Texas Mystery Series for TULE Publishing, that she worries it’s not legal!
With their family grown and gone, Kaz lives with her wonderful husband at beautiful Lake Macquarie, Australia, a place she describes as a strip of land between the ocean and lake. Like Rosie, Kaz loves to bake and grow vegetables and unlike Rosie, manages to make a mess of every crochet task she undertakes.
Delicious recipes straight from the kitchens of your favorite Tule authors.
Tess Harrison is a secondary character in my Wedding Bell Mysteries cozy mystery series. She owns the Briar Patch Bakery, which is across the street from (main character) Maddie Bell’s Blissful Beginnings Bridal Boutique. Every morning before Maddie opens the shop, she goes to the Briar Patch Bakery and writes two pages in her Aubrey Christiansen cozy mystery series and then has a cup of coffee with Hemlock, North Carolina’s hunky police chief Jackson Bradley. Maddie claims the chief is helping her with police procedures for her books, but people are starting to suspect that Tess’s Famous Seven Layer Cookies aren’t the only sweet the chief craves.
In real life, my grandma made Seven Layer Cookies every Christmas. I would always look forward to that wax-paper-lined holiday tin that was filled to the brim with these delicious treats. Now, I carry on this tradition and make them for my family during the holidays.
Enjoy!
– Nancy Robards Thompson
The Briar Patch’s Famous Seven-Layer Cookies
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup butter melted
1 (14-ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch-flavored chips
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
1 cup chopped nuts or for a festive look add holiday-colored sprinkles.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (325 degrees F for glass baking pan). In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and butter; mix well. Press the crumb mixture firmly in the bottom of a 13×9-inch baking pan.
Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over the crumb/crust mixture. Layer evenly with remaining ingredients; press down firmly with a fork.
Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Chill if desired. Cut into bars or diamonds. Store covered at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
