Melrose McFadden

https://www.instagram.com/melrosecozies/

https://melrosemcfadden.com/

It’s December 1986 and where does everyone go to finish up their Christmas shopping? The mall. To make things even more crowded and complicated, the big Show Your Face modeling competition is in town, bringing with it dozens of aspiring beauties and even a few celebrities. When one of the beautiful people turns up dead in a shop window, Tiffany Soan, officer Spencer, a punk kid named Zero, and a large cast of colorful characters must hunt down the killer and wrap up the mystery before another mall goer gets more than they bargained for.

Where/when is your book set?
Bag Your Face is set in 1986 in the fictional seaside town of Wahoo Beach, Florida.

Who is your main character?
Tiffany Sloan is the 30-something owner of the Putts & Stuff arcade and mini-golf complex on the Wahoo Beach boardwalk. While she really wants to repair the old Skee-ball machines, jam out to Bananarama on her boombox, catch some waves, and play some softball with her rec team, The Pac-Maniacs, there always seems to be something — or someone — getting in the way.

Why is Christmas so important to the story or you?
This story takes place mostly at the shopping mall just outside of town, where residents are finishing up their Christmas shopping at Waldenbooks, Sam Goody, KB Toy & Hobby, and Gadzooks! stores. Even though shopping malls can be frustratingly crowded places during the holidays, I still love to go see the decorations, twinkle lights, festive trees, and Christmas displays everywhere, and hear the carols playing in each store. Even now, it reminds me vividly of Christmas shopping in the 1980s, something I’ve tried to recreate in Bag Your Face (along with a little mall-based murder, of course).