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Behind the Writing of Collecting Can Be Murder

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 background is that of an art historian currently living in the Netherlands. My first foray into writing was a crime fiction mystery series about a museum researcher turned amateur sleuth. It was too gritty for the cozy audience, but was a storyline close to my heart. Which is how the Carmen De Luca Art Sleuth Mystery series was born! I wanted to share my love of art and collectibles with a wider, cozier audience. I hope readers learn a little bit about art history while they read, but that is by no means the focus of these books!

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

Unfortunately, none of these are. I would love to have a glass of merlot with Carmen. I tried to make her the cool and collected art sleuth that I knew I never could be, but wish I was. The Baroness and her snooty friends are creates based on a comglomorate of characters that could have appeared in old Grace Kelly movies, such as To Catch A Thief, or the more modern Glass Onion, for example. I don’t run in the right circles to know anyone royal!

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

That would be Rhonda Rhodes, Carmen’s best friend who is briefly mentioned in Collecting Can Be Murder. While writing it, I thought it would be a kick to have Rhonda come over to Europe and tape one of her shows. With that as goal, I decided to make Rhonda a main character in last three books in the series.

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Synopsis:

Coming out of retirement can be deadly…

After tragedy struck three years earlier, art sleuth Carmen De Luca vowed to never work in the field again. But fifty is too young to fill her days with water aerobics and bingo, so when her former partner calls and begs for her help, Carmen gladly agrees.

Yet after their first assignment – the recovery of a rare medieval prayer book from an eccentric collector living in rural France – goes horribly wrong, Carmen ends up in the crosshairs of both the local police and a murderer!

With her target dead and the stolen book missing, she and her partner will have to pull out all of the stops to sleuth out the true killer’s identity – before their stay in France becomes permanent.

Introducing Carmen De Luca, an art sleuth with a nose for mystery and the job of locating valuable artwork stolen from museums around the world. If you love strong and resourceful heroines, puzzling mysteries, and a dash of art history, pick up Collecting Can Be Murder now!

Carmen De Luca Art Sleuth Mysteries:
Collecting Can Be Murder
A Statue To Die For
Forgeries and Fatalities
A Killer Inheritance

These mysteries contain no graphic violence, sex, or strong language.

*** Chosen by ManyBooks’s readers as Best Mystery & Thriller of September 2023 ***

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