Maggie Pill Mysteries

  The final book of the Sleuth Sisters series didn't start out to be final, though I was aware that I was tiring of the adventures of Barb, Faye, and Retta. The appeal of a series is that readers eagerly await the next book, and I still have bookstore owners tell me that readers ask when there will be another one. The downside for a writer is that series have the tendency to become formulaic. Everyone knows the characters. We know the basic setting. All that's required is to invent a murder and solve it in the next installment. That can come to a point where it's no longer fun, and that's where I was.  What clinched the end of the series for me was that one of my sisters died. It seems wrong now to write happy tales of the sisters sniping at each other. I chose to move on, though I did finish this one, #7. I moved the setting to Green Bay, Wisconsin, which was fun. I let Retta's undisciplined dog Styx be part of the rescue. And I tied up the loose ends as best I cou...

  Any series that includes dogs is likely to touch on puppy mills at some point. It's a hard topic to deal with in a cozy mystery, because it's such a horrible, sad subject, but the reality is that people need to recognize that such places exist and that they play on animal lovers' naive beliefs. As I write books that include pets, I find myself visiting humane societies all over my area. The people who work there are amazing, from the volunteers who play with the kittens to the managers who puzzle out how they're going to afford to feed the animals in a given month. After seeing the bare bones operation at some places, I joined my local humane society and support their work by getting the word out when I can.    One of the hardest times a local humane society faces is when a site is discovered where animals are abused, such as a puppy mill. They have to rescue and care for animals that are often in bad shape. They have to find homes for them (once the court says the ow...

  Book #3, Murder in the Boonies , is a bit of a tribute to my younger sister, who always wanted to have a farm where horses could retire in their old age. We lived only fifty miles or so from Mackinac Island as kids, and she was a horse lover from the get-go. To help out a friend who supplied the island with horses (and to please his 3 girls), our dad wintered horses from the island, feeding and caring for them until it was time for them to go back to pulling carts around the Victorian-themed dot off Michigan's eastern shore. My sister never got her wish for a horse retirement home, so I made it part of a book about missing parents and fringe-group plots. Writing this book required knowing a bit about reindeer, and here's where being a retired schoolteacher is a great advantage. I can always find a former student or coworker who is an expert on any topic, and I knew that two of our school's former bus drivers raised reindeer. They were generous with their time and willing ...

The second book in the Sleuth Sisters series delves deeper into the characters of Barb, Faye, and Retta. It seemed likely to me that Retta would have a dog. She lives in the country, she's alone, and she just seemed like a "dog person." Faye is the type who is compelled to help anyone in need, so when she finds a dog hurt on the road, she naturally takes it in. So we have 3 sleuths and 2 dogs. All I had to do was write in a murder for them to solve. The fun part of writing this series is the response from readers, who want to tell me which sister they are. "I'm Barb," someone will say. "I'm always correcting people." Or, "I'm Retta. I'm the baby, and I always get my way." People often ask who I am, but that's complicated. Characters in a story become who we writers need them to be, so while one might figure an ex-English teacher would write herself as Barb, correcting grammatical errors on public signs in secret, I agree, ...

Lots of places I go, I hear, "When's the next Sleuth Sisters book coming out?" (I also hear, "Who's Maggie Pill?" but that's a topic for another day.) As to the where, it's in my head, and I'm hoping it's like cheese, getting sharper with age. As to the when, sometime in 2019 if my cheese-head comes together as it should. I say "cheese-head" because the book is set in Green Bay, WI, the home of the Packers and many, many cheese-heads. I've always liked the Packers, a team that's different from all the others in that the fans own it. I was with them in their down years, and there was a time I could probably have named all the starters. The only time my loyalties are tested is when they play Detroit, my home-state team. So the sisters will travel to Green Bay. I know why. I know the crime and the bad guys who must be caught. I know the season and the subplots and where the dogs are going to be. All I don't know is...

There was some concern after PERIL, PLOTS, and PUPPIES came out that the Sleuth Sisters series was finished, and to be honest, I wasn't sure myself. I've said many times that I don't want to write the next book just because. I need a story that I want to tell, because it's very hard work to write a book (at least one people will want to read). Sister anecdotes can go on forever, of course. There's always fodder for more humor in the way we interact with each other. Cute animal items are also easy to come up with. The fact that the real-life Styx almost broke my leg last week while trying to tell me he was glad to see me demonstrates that. Setting can become a problem in a series; call it the Cabot Cove Syndrome. How many murders can a small town expect? I felt that if there was a Book 7, it should take place somewhere else. Series writers will admit that after a few books it's also difficult to get all the secondary characters in if the characters remain ...

It's a terrifying thing for an author to say, "I will have this book ready on..." A hundred objections come to mind: what if I hate it? what if the editor hates it? what if, what if, what if? Still, there comes a time, and it's here. Peril, Plots, and Puppies is slated for March 23, and you can pre-order it here: https://www.amazon.com/Peril-Plots-Puppies-Sisters-Mystery-ebook/dp/B078V8X9J6 If you've missed any of the former books, you've got two months to get caught up!

?????????? I know what my fans will say if I ask: Should the Sleuth Sisters series be done? I've already heard it from some: "No! We love them!" I get that. But what is the saturation point for a series? I always thought it was five books, but I've got #6 mostly done, and I like it. The sisters still have issues to work through, and the two cases this book covers are interesting (There are dogs in one; that's always good.) But in my own reading, I tend to lose interest when a series goes on too long. Yes, I've read twenty-three Sue Graftons, but I space them out so I don't get sick of Kinsey. I love Harry Bosch too, but I was pleased to see that Connelly expanded to the Lincoln Lawyer books and is trying out a new character in The Late Show.  I think I'll know if there should be another Sleuth Sisters book. What happens is my brain starts telling me the story when I'm ready to write it down. There's no telling when that will ha...

I sent it for editing on Thursday! Anyone who has every written something for publication knows the feeling: half excitement, half dread. Our fondest dream is that the editor sends it back and says, "It's perfect just the way it is!" but that rarely happens. It's more likely to be, "Can you move Chapter Six to Chapter Eight and then merge Ten with Eleven?" Or worse, "You need to make Character D more outspoken, so look at every single line she speaks and see if you can make them all stronger." Anyway, we're on the road to Book 5, in which the sisters go to a retreat at a winery north of Traverse City, MI, (hence the "eat" and "drink" in the title and get into all kinds of trouble (the "be wary" part). The cover artist said I'd see something in February, so stayed tuned. If all goes well, the release will be in mid-April. I plan to put it up for pre-order soon. And for my audio friends, I'm sorry...

The fourth Sleuth Sisters is out on audio, and I have to tell you, I laughed out loud at times as I listened to the actresses read. They're so perfectly Barb, Faye, and Retta! I'm always thrilled with how well Actors' Audio in Chicago handles my books, and the creation of audio books through Audible.com is pretty stress-less for the author. You submit the book for audition, choose the narrator(s) you like, and send them the MS. It takes a while, since there's a lot of studio time, editing, and such involved, but at some point you get the files, listen to them to make sure you're happy with the product, and then okay it. A week or so later, bob's your uncle! Here are the particulars, and if you'd like a code for a free version of the book, let me know. We love to get reviews on both the story and the audio presentation. SS#4 on Amazon

I told them I won't go. FBI or not, I can't stomach a full weekend of women gushing about spa treatments and this fall's must-have base color. Twaddle, as my Cornish co-worker used to say. If Faye is willing to accompany Retta and chat up this Dina Engel woman, good for her. I've looked into the situation and spoken with the FBI agent in charge. It isn't a dangerous assignment, since the woman's drug king/husband shows little interest in her new career and will remain in Detroit. The agent simply needs a couple of over-fifty women who fit in with Love-able Ladies (yes, they really do add the hyphen), and Lars suggested us. Retta certainly fits the profile of a Love-able Ladies groupie, and Faye will be her chaperone. I don't think they can possibly get into any trouble.

Retta told you about the case on the Leelanau Peninsula. We're looking into the possibility of turning a drug lord's wife into an FBI informant. It seemed odd to me at first, since the woman has been married to the guy for decades, but the agent in charge says she seems to have changed over the last year or so. She's starting a fashion design business, and for the first time ever, appearing in public on her own. He thinks it means she's sick of the thug life. I guess that could be true, but my theory is that in this world of opportunism, the publicity would be a huge help in launching her business. Either way, we're going to attend the retreat where she will do a "mini-reveal" (I know, who cares?) of her new line of clothing for "mature" women. My comment on that? If your husband doesn't love you with lumps, he never really loved you in the first place.

I'm here to give you a taste of the fifth Sleuth Sisters mystery, and it's so much fun! We take on a case for the FBI, and it involves a weekend at a winery/inn on the Leelanau Peninsula north of Traverse City, Michigan. I've always wanted to stay over there, and St. Millicent's is the newest, chicest (if that's a word) property in northern Michigan. The retreat celebrates the joys of being a mature woman, so there will be inspirational speakers, products and practices geared to women, PLUS food, fashion and wine! Hosted by Love-able Ladies, the retreat is all about why women should be happy to be women, whatever their age and body type. Of course Barbara Ann is going to hate every minute of it. I wonder if there's some way I could leave her home...

The title reference is to a Shel Silverstein poem, but it applies to books sometimes, too. An author I read and enjoy, Tim Hallinan, explained in a recent book that he'd killed off a bunch of characters because there were just too many for readers (and Tim) to keep track of. Well, that's nice for him, but he doesn't write cozies. You can't just kill off people readers know well in a cozy. It isn't done. Consider the Sleuth Sisters. There are the sisters, of course: Barb, Faye, and Retta. Each has a love interest: Barb has police chief Rory Neuencamp, Faye has husband Dale, and Retta has recently been seen with FBI agent Lars Johannsen. Two sisters have pets: Faye has Buddy and Retta has Styx, and they really are characters. Then there's Faye's irascible mother-in-law, Harriet. There's Gabe, the lovable lunk who thinks he's a detective, and his girlfriend Mindy. And in the last book readers met two of Faye's sons, Cramer and Bill (who's...

That's how many days to the Kindle release of MURDER IN THE BOONIES! It's pre-orderable for Kindle right now, and if you're sneaky, you'll find out it's available in print on Amazon already. (They're the big dog and they do as they like.) Ingram is dragging its feet (if a book company can have feet), but it will happen, and then you'll be able to order the book in stores as well as online. Here's Retta's take on the release: Our third adventure, MURDER IN THE BOONIES, is pretty exciting. Not only do we foil the bad guys, I also make headway on my plan to truly become part of my sisters' detective agency. It's no walk in the woods--although there is plenty of walking in the woods involved. You see, the renters who'd been living on our family farm left unexpectedly. It really upset me, but Faye came up with an idea she thought would help out. Barbara got suspicious about the disappearance and started looking for the renters, a guy n...

I'm working through the final edits of Sleuth Sisters Mystery #3 (MURDER IN THE BOONIES). I enjoy writing the series, and people have been really nice about letting me know they're waiting for the next one. Writing a popular series means I have characters I already know (which makes them a little easier to write), a guaranteed audience (which translates to income, so I'm not writing solely for my own enjoyment), and a following that spreads the word about the books much farther than I could do on my own. The down side comes with promotion, and while it isn't a big deal, it's interesting. Selling a series means you start with Book #1. Very few people want to start reading a series in the middle. While it's possible to jump in midstream at times, it's usually best to get to know the characters from the first. So when I go to events like author fairs and book signings, I sell a ton of THE SLEUTH SISTERS (and usually run out) but fewer of 3 SLEUTHS, 2 DOGS,...