What does the sleuth do for a living?

My most recent mystery "Sea-Born Women" by BJ Mountford has a woman "sleuth" who is really a restaurant owner/volunteer caretaker for the National Park Service. Another recent read has a sleuth that in "real life" was paid as genealogist who got involved in solving the murder. I just think that it is interesting, how all of these people get involved with murders/crimes and use skills from their "real life" to solve the murder before the police.

Miss Marple

I found this picture of a woman who looks so much like me!

Her name is Geraldine McEwan and she plays Miss Marple on PBS (that's where I got the picture)

Two other actresses are famous for having played the lady from St. Mary Mead: Margaret Rutherford and Joan Hickson.

Photos from PBS Mystery site.

Interview with Cheryl Hagedorn

MB: Good morning Cheryl. It is great to have an author on my site this morning. I have read your novel Park Ridge: A Senior Center Murder and really enjoyed it. I understand that you also write poetry and short stories. Have you had any of these works published?

Cheryl: When I was in graduate school at DePaul, I took a class called Narrative Shorts. I submitted one of the stories that I had written for class, "The Color of Cowboys," to Threshold, the DePaul literary magazine, and they published it in the 25th anniversary edition.

Moon Journal, a feminist magazine, published a personal essay on my participation in the Danskin Triathlon. "Mudface", a poem, was published in Off the Rocks, another Chicago-area magazine. Just this month Gaper's Block published "Strangers in Transit," a series of vignettes about riding the subway.

MB: There are flashes of humor throughout your mystery, Park Ridge: A Senior Center Murder. Do you do any humor writings?

Cheryl: I had been out of college for almost twenty years when I decided to get my master's degree. I signed on for some writing classes at Oakton Community College to warm up my slack academic muscles.
Professor David Koenig pushed me a bit to try my hand at humor. I sat down and knocked out a poem I thought was pretty funny:

Entertaining Thoughts of God
By Cheryl Hagedorn

God started his career at a carnival
Working with two dummies and a talking snake
Only to be replaced by a flaming sword act

He did six-week stint at a water show
Swore he’d never do that again

His magic act played the Palace (in Egypt)
Had a long gig in the desert (not Vegas)

Did a Top Ten list long before Letterman
Was host to several game shows:
Truth or Consequences, Jeopardy.

Last I heard was down to do a cooking show

When he got out of fortune-telling
Taught everything he knew to Nostradamus

Subject of several unauthorized biographies
Unauthorized because they couldn’t get the copy right.
Eventually became an icon

While I was still at Oakton, I entered the Skyway Writer's Festival and my humorous short story, "Lanita's Cooking," took 2nd place in the Non-Fiction category. I was pretty psyched since Melanie Rigney, who was then the editor of Writer's Digest Magazine, said:

"Lanita's Cooking" illustrates beautifully the power of the time-honored writing
adage, "Show, Don't Tell." Cheryl doesn't simply say her sister-in-law is a poor
cook--or that she forgot to cook part of the Thanksgiving meal. Cheryl describes
just how bad Lanita is, right down to those marshmallows. She doesn't just say
Lanita is southern--she illustrates her speech patterns. As a personality
profile, this piece of work is first-rate.

MB: Of all that you've written, What is your favorite?

Cheryl: Since we were just talking about "The Color of Cowboys," I guess I would choose that one. I remember clearly getting poor marks on the original AND the second draft. I got angry because I felt the professor just wasn't understanding it at all. So I turned it upside down and inside out. She was right, I think. The last version had a lot more power.

MB: You have a dog and a cat, do you think that they will ever contribute to your books?

Cheryl: Lord, no! Mienne is an overweight Australian Cattle Dog who couldn't stop a bad guy unless he tripped over her accidentally. JeSuis's only awake activity is blinking.

MB: I noticed that you have discussion questions posted on your website, and that you discussed some of the answers to these questions on your blog. Has your book been used for a book discussion group?

Cheryl: The Park Ridge Senior Center -- yes, it's a REAL place -- discussed my book in January. That's the only group that I'm sure of. But if anyone is interested, they can check the website.

MB: What review do you feel best caught the spirit of your novel?

Cheryl: The Blind Bookworm, Alicia Verlager a.k.a. Kestrell, did a super job of "getting" my novel. Can I give you a quote?

"Park Ridge is a very different mystery than the one I was expecting. It is a story full of surprises, but the most notable surprise is that the author chose to create a mystery which goes beyond cardboard cutout characters and instead chose to write a mystery which exposes many of our cultural stereotypes about people over the age of sixty. Park Ridge demonstrates one of the lures of mystery fiction: it's ability to show us how mysterious we can be to one another."

MB: Congratulations! Thanks for stopping by.

Cheryl's book is available from BookLocker or any other online bookstore. It may also be ordered from your local brick-and-mortar.

A reading/gardening vacation

Vacation starts tomorrow. I am taking a week off and get the memorial day holiday tacked on at the end. I am planning on gardening and reading. Maybe I will read some gardening mysteries. Hope to complete a book or two for the mystery challenge. I will have to visit the library to check out some authors I have never read before. (See my blog from yesterday for the mystery challenge link). When the weather cooperates I will be in my garden, when it's raining I will be reading. If I get inspired, I will take a nap or clean house. I bet the nap will win out 2 to 1. Oh, well there is nothing like a week at home to catch up on everything. I am sure it will all go by way two fast.

A mystery reader challenge

Reviewed by Liz (RBL for short) is offering a summer reading challenge for adults. "The goal of this challenge is to read six mysteries by authors whose works you haven’t read before between June 1st and August 31st and to have a place to discuss them with other mystery readers." Check out her site at RBL Summer Mystery Reading Challenge

It looks like fun and you might get some suggestions for your summer reading. I haven't checked out the prizes yet.

Maybe I will give up my excuses. Since I read about 8 a month I should be able to make the goal of reading six by August 31. I will just have to expand my author list.

Excuses

I haven't posted anything lately. I want to blame it on work. Work has been crazy but I don't read at work and don't blog at work so I really have no excuse. It would be nice if I did. Probably I am just being lazy and who want to admit to that. Oh, well. Since I don't have any excuse except that I haven't read anything worth writing about (another excuse), I guess I will get back to reading.

Dead as a Scone

Still haven't finished this one, but I am getting a little tired of tea and tea related items. I would like a receipe for the scones but there isn't one. The book does a little preaching about church and I noticed that the dedication is to their friends at the "New Spirit Community Church." Should have been a "dead give away". Oh well, as long the the preaching isn't too obnoxious and fits into the story line, I can live with that.

Mysteries with Food in the Title

I am currently reading "Dead as a Scone" by Ron and Janet Benrey. It revolves around a British tea museum (yes, a museum dedicated to tea and tea antiques - the authors assure the reader that this a totally fictional museum). I haven't learned much about scones so far but have learned a lot about tea. Other mysteries with food in the title have included cookies, chili, wine, cupcakes, but in my reading there seems to be a lot of baked goods. Do you think that is because baked goods are easier to poison?

Many of the mysteries with food in the title also include receipes. I don't generally read a mystery to find a receipe but I did find one scone receipe that was very good. The sad part is that I checked the book out of the library. I lost the receipe and don't remember the name of the book. Maybe some day I will find it again.

Name that character

I am currently reading Three Dirty Women and the Garden of Death by Julie Wray Herman. Because this is a gardening mystery, I am enjoying the read. My problem is that the characters easily become confusing.

JJ, Janey, Sarah Jane, Jett, Juanita June and Jimmy. By the time I get all the "J" names in the mix, I still have to go back to the characters list to remember if Sarah Jane is the gossip or Juanita June. Does JJ stand for Juanita June? (No, JJ is male and married to Janey). A little more variety with character names is always helpful to this reader.

Dog Star

I read an interview with Susan Waller Miccio this morning on Cheryl Hagedorn's blog. Miccio has written a book that features two Tibetan Spaniels. Like the interviewer, I don't think I've read any mysteries with dogs -- lots of cats, yes -- but dogs?

Miccio mentioned some other mystery writers who have dogs in their books: Susan Conant, Carol Lea Benjamin, and Laurien Berenson. Can anybody tell me anything about their books?

Miccio's book is called Dog Star. No, it's not about Sirius, the god/dog star. It's about dogs who are competing to be spokesperson, make that spokesdog, hence a "star."

Savoring Peter King

I just brought home Dying on the Vine from the library. The Gourmet Detective is one of my favorite sleuths. The food descriptions tantalize -- who cares about the murders and if they get solved?

For those who haven't read any of them, start at the beginning. I think the second book, Spiced to Death was King's best. When you get to number 8, skip it. I didn't care much for Dine and Die on the Danube Express. The writing struck me as rough, the story hurried along unnecessarily.

Passport to Peril

If you haven't read Maddy Hunter's books in the Passport to Peril series, do. Senior Iowans tour the world with murder in their wake. Some of the funniest books I've read in quite a while.

In order: Alpine for You - Switzerland; Top o' the Mournin' - Ireland; Pasta Imperfect - Italy; Hula Done It? - Hawaii. I haven't read her newest, G'Day to Die - Australia.

By the way, even the artwork on Maddy's site is outrageous.
 

Grafton's S is for Silence

I thought for a bit that it was just me, but no, reviewers found S is for Silence by Sue Grafton as difficult to deal with as I did.

I don't have a problem with writers trying something new, but isn't it a bit late in the series? The technique in question is the alternating points of view. One minute you're in the present, the next chapter you're back in 1953 looking through someone else's eyes! You really have to pay attention to chapter headings. Even chapter headings in fiction is a tad weird. But you can understand why Grafton used them - even having those clues as to time and person change, I still didn't always know where I was.

The Short Story Mystery

I've been reading "The Best American Mystery Stories 2004" Nelson DeMille, editor.

This particular collection has been something of a disappointment. Maybe it is just me, but there seems to be very little "mystery" involved. Good characterizations, and good story telling but no clues, no crime to solve, no detectives for the most part. Just a story. I guess I expect more when I see the word "mystery."

A mystery is a mystery

Did you ever consider how much reading mysteries helps in day to day life?

As I go about my daily work (answering help line calls), I find that I ask questions to help clarify the problem, and follow any and all clues to help resolve the issue. Does this sound like many of the detectives in mysteries or what?

Of course, this procedure also applies outside of work. It seems like there are always problems in our lives where we need to ask the right questions and follow the clues to get to the right answer.

Oh, well, maybe this is all just an excuse to keep doing what I like to do - read mysteries.

Bell, Book and Scandal

Bell, Book and Scandal by Jill Churchill is a fun read for anyone who has been to a murder mystery convention such as Murder in the Grove or Love is Murder.

Her sleuth, aspiring author Jane Jeffry, attends sessions, networks with other writers, even pitches her novel to editors and agents. The only real surprise was that there were no dead bodies in the book.

Cheryl Hagedorn's Virtual Book Tour

I know, I know. It's been a while since I blogged. But how's this for exciting -- mystery author Cheryl Hagedorn will be stopping the Mystery Buff's blog on her virtual book tour!

Book clubs! Hagedorn's book, PARK RIDGE: A Senior Center Murder, comes with discussion questions. To read excerpts. Hagedorn also has a blog called Senior Center Murders.

The date for her visit is Friday, May 18. Be sure to come back then so you can chat with a live author.