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Behind the Writing of The Mysterious Case of the Missing Motive

Tell us about the background for the theme, what inspired it or why you wanted to write in this setting, or with play with these tropes?

My first cozy mystery series, The Charlie Kingsley Mysteries, is very much a mystery-forward that’s lighter on the cozy elements (although they’re all there). I wanted to write a cozy mystery series that emphasized more of the cozy elements, hence The Redemption Detective Agency was born. It’s also a spin off from The Charlie Kingsley Mysteries (although you don’t have to have read The Charlie Kingsley Mysteries).

Are any of your characters based on real people you know?

No, at least not consciously (lol)

Tell us about character traits that were fun or hard for you to include in the book.

Emily, the main character, is someone who is happiest when she is organizing something. She is very much a planner and an organizer, and part of her character arc is she needs to learn to loosen up and go with the flow. I’m very much a go with the flow type of person, so I had to keep imagining how someone who was opposite of me would react to a situation.

Create a playlist with 5 to 10 songs with the below in mind:

Emily is a closet romantic, so she wouldn’t want anyone to know she listens to these songs, but a few of her top songs include:

• Nothing Compares to U (Sinead O’Connor)
• Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond)
• Release Me (Wilson Phillips)
  How Am I Supposed to Live Without You (Michael Bolton)
• Everything I Do, I Do For You (Brian Philips)

Were there any alternate endings you considered?

No

Which scene, character or plotline changed the most from first draft to published book?

This book actually came together pretty cleanly. I was actually a little amazed at how easily if flowed.

Which of the side characters would you love to explore more, or turn into a main character in another series?

I’m considering doing more with Ellen, who is Emily’s sister, and maybe Emily’s friend, Deena. Also there’s a librarian character, Vi, we meet in the next book that I’m also considering branching off with her.

What special knowledge or research was required to write this book?

I’m always doing research into Wisconsin law and statues, especially with what would have been around in the 1990s.

What do you hope readers will take away from this story?

Along with wanting to focus more on the cozy part of cozy mysteries, I also wanted this book and series to be a warm, funny escape for readers. I wanted them to feel a part of the found family that Emily finds herself now a part of, and I wanted to give them a place that has nothing to do with reality. It takes place in the 1990s, so there’s no cell phone and no unpleasantness (other than a murder, lol) and it’s just a fun, funny, romantic, cozy mystery with people you wouldn’t mind spending Sunday dinner with.

Share a Recipe to go with the read:

This really isn’t applicable for this series as it’s far more into the pet detectives, senior sleuths, romance than culinary (my other series is better for this). But I do have this, recipe for Homemade Dog Food for Dogs with Kidney Disease. None of the dogs have kidney disease (in my books) but I have had a lot of readers interested in cooking for their dogs and as this is very much a dog/cat cozy mystery series, here’s a recipe you could try if you have an older dog.

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Synopsis:

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Or maybe a gin and tonic.

Emily Hildebrandt has run into a bit of a rough patch. She’s lost her job, her fiance and her apartment. Still, she never expected to be desperate enough to accept an invitation to live with her eccentric Aunt Tilde in Redemption, Wisconsin.

But, beggars can’t be choosers. Even if part of the deal is she has to pretend to work at her aunt’s latest hair-brained scheme, The Redemption Detective Agency.

Seriously, the woman is a retired nurse. Why does she think she’s remotely qualified to run a detective agency, especially in a creepy little town like Redemption?

But, when a strange phone call suddenly thrusts them into an actual case, Emily finds herself hoping her aunt really does know what she’s doing … or an innocent person may be the one to suffer the consequences.

A spin-off from the Charlie Kingsley Mystery series! The Redemption Detective Agency is a funny, twisty, romcom cozy mystery series set in the 1990s featuring silver sleuths solving cold cases, cats, dogs and an opposites attract love triangle. Great for fans of the Thursday Murder Club, Only Murders in the Building, Murder She Wrote, Gilmore Girls (if they were also amateur detectives) and The Golden Girls (if they decided to start solving mysteries).

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