The first of our Agatha-nominees for Best First Novel is G.M. Malliet. Here G.M. tells us about her debut mystery, Death of a Cozy Writer:
A reclusive old mystery writer, a dubious wedding invitation, and an inheritance up for grabs—at this family reunion in the English countryside, murder is all relative.
Death of a Cozy Writer is the story of a British crime writer who is anything but cozy. Sir Adrian is, in fact, a cantankerous, capricious, and spiteful man. To keep his family of four dysfunctional children in line, he frequently changes his will, disinheriting one after another in turn. It’s a dangerous game, not unlike Russian roulette. Then one day he announces his plans to remarry, and the panic really sets in. Not surprisingly, someone ends up dead, and DCI St. Just and Sergeant Fear of the Cambridgeshire Constabulary are dispatched to investigate.
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Nancy Pearl of National Public Radio has called Death of a Cozy Writer “a delightful homage to the great novels of Britain's Golden Age of Mysteries.” It was completed with the aid of the Malice Domestic Grant (now the William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grants Program for Unpublished Writers) and chosen by Kirkus Reviews as one of the Best Books of 2008.
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Thank you, Killer Hobbiests and Joanna, for inviting me to tell you a little about my book. And by the way, St. Just’s hobbies are skiing and drawing. (There’s more about the latter hobby in the second book in the series, Death and the Lit Chick.)
Please visit me at http://GMMalliet.com for more information.
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Next week, our guest will be Sheila Connolly, aka Sarah Atwell, author of Through a Glass Deadly.
** Clue word: Skiing
Remember--Submit all five "clue words" and I'll draw a name from the group on Monday, May 11. The winner will receive an autographed set of all five of the Agatha-nominated Best First Novels. That would be G.M. Malliet's Death of a Cozy Writer, "Sarah Atwell's" Through a Glass, Deadly, Rosemary Harris' Pushing Up Daisies, Krista Davis' The Diva Runs Out of Thyme, and Joanna Campbell Slan's Paper, Scissors, Death.
