Màiri Maguire is a Scots Irish school teacher who works at top schools all over the world, encountering crime everywhere she goes. Fortunately, she solves murders as efficiently as she teaches. In this series, Màiri solves crimes in Paris (France), Istanbul (Turkey), Brussels (Belgium), San Francisco and Las Vegas. In between bringing baddies to justice Màiri frequently returns to her home in Glasgow, Scotland, to eat brandy snaps with her sisters Morag and Katriona, eat ‘talie ice cream with her friends, and play with her nephew Niall
Who is your protagonist’s sidekick?
Màiri Maguire is a mid-30s Glaswegian schoolteacher living in the 1970s. She lives in Glasgow with her widowed sister Katriona and Kat’s son Niall; and teaches in boarding schools abroad. Her adventures are in glamorous cities: Paris, Rome, Istanbul, Brussels and many others.
Her sidekicks are her BFF Lianna and her secret service contact/slow-burn love interest Major Ellis Peverel. The villains are, according to Writers Digest “an intense ride but funny” and Discovery calls the FIS Death in Paris “dark and light-hearted at the same time”.
Màiri cannot have an “official” fury sidekick in the Capital Cities stories because she is not permitted; but fury sidekicks keep on appearing – Destroyer, a part-collie, her live-in nephew’s dog (there’s a whole free story about how Destroyer got his name) Ebony, a chow (a tribute to my own dog, now passed, much loved) Glesgae, a Scottie dog, and others.
Psychology and writing have always vied for number one on Kassandra Lamb’s list of greatest passions. In her youth, she realized writers usually need day jobs in order to eat. Partial to food, she studied psychology. Now retired from a career as a psychotherapist and college professor, she spends most of her time in an alternate universe with her characters. The portal to this universe (i.e., her computer) is located in Florida, where her husband and dog catch occasional glimpses of her. Kassandra also writes the Kate Huntington Mystery Series, Kate on Vacation Mystery Series, the C.o.P. on the Sceen Mysteries, Unintended Consequences Romatic Suspense Series, Innocence Lost Romantice Suspense Series and Non-Fiction Writing Guides.
After an eventful year, service dog trainer Marcia Banks—along with husband Will, her dog Buddy, and baby Noelle—is ready to ring in the New Year. But there’s more than champagne bubbling in Mayfair, Florida. Old hostilities set off New Year’s fireworks, and a shop owner ends up dead. When a friend is arrested, Marcia, et al., set out to uncover the real Grim Reaper.
Who is your protagonist’s sidekick? Marcia Banks trains service dogs for military veterans, and her sidekick in her Black Labrador named Buddy. He is her mentor dog and four-legged best friend. He was the first dog she trained, and the first book in the series, To Kill A Labrador, is the story of how he came back into her possession.
What role does the animal play in the story? Buddy is Marcia’s mentor dog, in that he helps her train other dogs. Often this involves performing the task she’s trying to teach their trainee, hoping that the new dog will imitate his behavior. But one of his favorite tasks is to act like someone’s out-of-control loose pet and try to get the trainee to play with him. This is to see if the new dog will allow themselves to be distracted by other dogs or will they stay on task.
Does your animal help or hinder your sleuth? With regard to the mysteries they solve, Buddy often ends up protecting Marcia and helping her take down the culprit. Her police detective husband, Will, has trained him to do certain tasks that police dogs do, like grabbing someone’s arm when they are wielding a weapon.
Give us 1 example of the interaction between your main character and the Fury Sidekick. In this latest book, Marcia’s one-year-old daughter is very energetic and fearless, and Buddy feels it’s part of his job now to protect her as well. The story opens with little Noelle climbing up a pile of throw pillows on a loveseat to get to a shelf of forbidden knickknacks. Buddy is watching from below, his nose twitching with anxiety, when Marcia scoops the baby up and reassures him all is well. But a few minutes later, he barks to alert Marcia that Noelle has once again escaped her little mesh play yard and is crawling toward the loveseat again.
Is your book part of a series, if so, tell us about the series. There are 8 novels and 5 holiday novellas in the series. The full-length novels revolve around the military veterans that Marcia is helping. Once the dog is trained, she has to train the new owner as well, to show them how to work with their dog. During this human phase of the training, sometimes the veteran ends up in some kind of mess. Sometimes they are suspected of a murder; other times they are the intended victim or they’re being stalked, etc. The novellas are based in the town where Marcia lives, occur around a holiday and focus on her quirky neighbors and friends. The titles are take-offs from classic book, movie or song titles. So we have To Kill a Labrador (note: the dog does not die!), Arsenic and Young Lacy, The Call of the Woof and so on. Book 4 is the first holiday novella, A Mayfair Christmas Carol. Book 6 is The Legend of Sleepy Mayfair set at Halloween, etc. Each book is a stand-alone mystery, but it’s helpful to read the books in order, to see the progression of Marcia’s and Buddy’s development as characters, and her relationship with Will.
Give the readers a hint of what’s to come for your character in future books. I have had so much fun writing this series! But the time has come to wind it down with this last story. I am really going to miss Marcia and her friends, and especially Buddy.
I’ve started a new series of police procedurals (2 books out so far), and I’m having fun with that as well. I like the variety of working in different subgenres of the mystery world.
Hillari DeSchane writes the delightful Cats of Christmas Regency Holiday Mysteries series. She also writes the Grim Haven Canine Cozy Mysteries, and the first book is now available. CWA Muse Medallion winner for best mystery, Hillari DeSchane’s fatally fun, family friendly cozies combine her favorite things: mystery, humor, and animals. Hillari lives in California with her ‘FurRensics Team:’ her Black Labrador Jocko and her Siamese Ambrose.
Other Books by Hillari
The Cats of Christmas Series; Christmas in Regency England—tis the season for making merry—and murder! The fur really flies as these curious cats hunt down who’s been nice, who’s been naughty—and who’s been positively deadly. Curl up with the Cats of Christmas series’ fatally fun, family friendly tales of mystery, told with warmth and humor, celebrating the human-animal bond that brings out the hero in both.
A Christmas Tail: A mute child’s bond with a unique Siamese cat uncovers an old tragedy–and rouses a murderous ghost. Can young Thomas and his feline friends stop the ghost of the Tarn Widow from taking her murderous revenge and prevent an innocent man from hanging?
Who is my protagonist’s sidekick? Quincy is the large-hearted and lavishly-fluffy black and white tuxedo cat who came out of the cold and into Damaris Trent’s hospice for old soldiers. Quincy has a talent for healing broken hearts, an outsize appetite for his favorite foods—which are pretty much anything he can get his paws on—and—a nose for sniffing out murder. But can he also scratch up the clues to lead Damaris and his other human friends to the killer, before his feline curiosity proves fatal to them all?
What role does the animal play in the story? Quincy is a major mover in both the mystery plot and the character arcs. Using his natural animal senses and abilities, especially the innate feline gifts of curiosity, persistence, hunting, and stalking, he locates evidence, brings clues to light, assesses human moods and motives, and guides, pushes, and pesters his humans toward the solution of the murder—and the restoration of their broken relationships. Damaris and the secondary protagonist, Owen Vaughan, are animal lovers, and are uniquely sensitive and attentive to Quincy’s charm, his therapeutic presence—and his proclivity for sleuthing. Other people in the household also respond strongly to Quincy, but not always positively, because of his talent for seeking out hurting, grieving, desperate people. The murderer and his accomplice each react with alarm to Quincy’s instinctive knowing of their negative motives, and fear his ability to communicate with those who pay attention to him. Quincy’s loving, patient personality makes him an instant favorite and informal feline confessor to the lonely, hurting people at the hospice: Damaris, raising a fatherless child and guarding a tragic secret at the cost of her own happiness; Lionel Trent, Damaris’s brother, hiding an old guilt that’s slowly killing him; Owen Vaughan, Damaris’s fiancé long presumed dead, now returned only to discover his dreams of a happy-ever-after have been dashed; Lydia Trent Crowley, Damaris’s and Lionel’s sister, who seems to have everything she wants—except happiness; Rosemary Trent, Damaris’s two-year-old daughter, innocent of the private sin and the public scandal she represents. Just a few days before Christmas, Quincy arrives on Damaris’s doorstep in the company of Owen In the teeth of a rising blizzard, the rest of Damaris and Lionel’s estranged family arrives, called together by their father, General Fredric Trent, the man who manipulated and mangled their dreams on another Christmas five years ago. Then General Trent is found murdered, with Quincy the only witness. Now they’re snowed in with the killer—and each other. Quincy is quickly on the hunt, with Damaris right on his tail, determined to unmask the killer before he—or she—kills again. But as clever Quincy digs deep and the evidence brings fresh heartbreak, Damaris finds there’s something even more frightening than knowing there’s a murderer in their midst. It’s discovering the murderer might be someone she loves. Old lies and deadly secrets changed their lives on another Christmas long ago. Now they’re reunited for one last Christmas that will either resurrect their hopes, or bring them to a deadly end.
Does my animal help or hinder my sleuth? Quincy is usually an active help to Damaris, and the secondary protagonist Owen. Quincy is intuitive and clever, and highly attuned to the humans and their emotions. However, he is still a cat through-and-through, with his own motives, including an endless appetite (all foods are his ‘favorite’ foods) and complete confidence he knows what is best for everyone in the house. He also operates on his own catly schedule, which includes normal feline activities like napping and mouse hunting. And while he is gifted at communicating with his human friends, (especially his needs and orders) he can also be frustratingly enigmatic when he chooses to be.
Is the book part of a series, if so, tell us about the series: Christmas Stalkings is the second of five cat-themed, family-friendly, thrilling and heartwarming Regency Holiday Mystery novellas. The series began with 2018’s award-winning A Christmas Tail. Each novella centers around a different intriguing crime, entangling a fresh cast of compelling characters, against the background of some of Regency-era England’s most historic and atmospheric cities.
Give the readers a hint of what’s to come for characters in future books: 2024/Christmas Holly Buries: At Brighton, the Prince Regent’s favorite seaside resort, the fashionable patients are suddenly flocking to Clarabelle Calvert’s discreetly unfashionable hotel—but they don’t seem to be checking out. Then the first body is found, in most indiscreet circumstances. Now the Prince Regent is booked for a stay, and Clarabelle and her Angora cat Constance must sniff out the killer before their royal guest arrives, or face execution for treason if anything happens to the heir to the throne. 2025/Christmas Slay Bells: Newly widowed herbalist Nessa MacTeague arrives from the highlands as Edinburgh is recovering from the Burke and Hare serial murders. Encouraged by her surgeon employer, Nessa throws herself into her work, even taking her Scottish Fold cat Magnus along on house calls as companion and comforter to her patients in the grim tenements. But when she follows Magnus down a forbidden alley and finds a body, it appears another killer has begun stalking Edinburgh’s streets. Then Magnus begins stalking her employer, and Nessa must wonder: did Burke and Hare have an accomplice—and is she working for him?
Ellen Jacobson is a writer, cat lover & obsessed with chocolate. She writes cozy mysteries and romantic comedies, including the Mollie McGhie Mysteries and the Smitten with Travel Rom-Coms.
Murder at the Marina Blurb: When Mollie’s husband gets her a boat for their anniversary, she discovers it comes with an extra surprise: a dead body. Docked at a close-knit marina community, can Mollie find the killer before she winds up dead in the water?
Who is your protagonist’s sidekick Mrs. Moto is an adorable Japanese bobtail cat.
What role does the animal play in the story? Besides looking adorable, Mrs. Moto helps Mollie McGhie find clues and solve the mysteries. Let’s face it, Mollie (like most humans) would be lost if she didn’t have a cat telling her what to do.
Does your animal help or hinder your sleuth? Mrs. Moto always helps Mollie McGhie. Well, except for the fact that she regularly hacks up hairballs on the pillows. That’s perhaps not so helpful.
Give us 1 example of the interaction between your main character and the Fury Sidekick. This is an excerpt from Murder Aboard the Mistletoe. Mollie’s husband, Scooter, has been making outfits for Mrs. Moto to wear on her popular YouTube channel. When I walked up onto the deck of our boat, Scooter turned to me. “Doesn’t Mrs. Moto look adorable in her elf outfit?” I have to admit, she did look pretty cute. That’s how cats get away with things. They can spit up a hairball on your pillow, then give you an adoring look and, like magic, all is forgiven. Scooter and I watched our cat strutting back and forth like a runway model. When she reached the bow of the boat, she paused to scratch behind one of her ears, almost knocking her red and green felt hat off. “You’re getting very proficient with the sewing machine,” I said to Scooter as we watched our calico pad back toward us. “I know we bought it to repair our sails, but it’s turning out to be pretty handy for making cat costumes,” he said. “You should see how many new followers Mrs. Moto has on YouTube. People love seeing videos of her wearing her latest outfits.” As I scooped Mrs. Moto up, Scooter added, “One of her fans suggested I make a mermaid costume next.” “That’d be cute,” I said. Mrs. Moto meowed in agreement, then squirmed out of my arms.
Is your book part of a series, if so, tell us about the series. After Mollie’s husband, Scooter, presents her with a dilapidated sailboat for their wedding anniversary, she quickly learns more about boats, sailing, and murder than she would like. The Mollie McGhie Cozy Sailing Mysteries are set at a marina in a small town on the Florida coast, where a surprising amount of people end up dead.
Give the readers a hint of what’s to come for your character in future books. This series is now complete, but who knows Mollie, Scooter, and Mrs. Moto may turn up in a spin-off series in the future.
Dianne writes the Century Cottage Cozy Mysteries series. There are currently two novels and three novellas (including the prequel novella, Out of Options) published in the series. A Timeless Celebration is the first novel, followed by The Heritage Heist. This autumn she’ll release The Snow Job, the third novel in the series and Mistletoe and Murder, a Christmas novella. Dianne is a Canadian writing who lives in Britain and also writes a historical Series The Yankee Years. Her Historical series is set in Ireland and her Cozy Mystery series is set in rural Canada.
The Century Cottage Cozy Mysteries feature heartwarming mysteries set in a fictional Canadian town. The main character, widow Lois Stone and her two calico cats have moved from the big city, and Lois is trying to adjust to her new life in an historic stone ‘century cottage’. As she settles in, her tranquility is often rocked by adventures and mysteries, and her best friend Marge makes sure they are always in the thick of whatever is happening.
Who are your protagonist’s sidekicks?
Lois Stone’s two calico cats, Ribbons and Raggs, are her cherished companions. The cats are based on my own tortoiseshell cats, Snooks and Rocky. The ‘real’ cats live with us on our farm and keep a close eye on me, especially at meal times. Take a look at the cats on the book covers – they are images of my own cats. The one that has more white in her coat is Rocky and the fictional Ribbons.
What role do the animals play in the story?
Lois Stone adores Ribbons and Raggs but she doesn’t realize how clever they are. They are loyal companions and, although they can’t talk or communicate directly with Lois or the reader, the reader can see that they are more perceptive than the average cat. Raggs is a good judge of character and is aware of what’s going on around her but she likes her comforts, and prefers sleeping and eating to most other activities. Ribbons is the one who takes her responsibility to Lois seriously. She is especially protective towards her human companion and this often leads her to help solve the mysteries Lois becomes entangled in.
Does your animal help or hinder your sleuth?
Lois thinks she is doing the investigating but she would miss half the clues without the help of her cats– especially Ribbons. Raggs can be rather lazy at times and prefers napping to sleuthing. But when Ribbons meows there’s always a good reason. She makes her wants known as well as helping Lois when she misses an important bit of information. She is also a very good judge of character and tries to warn Lois when her human hangs out with the wrong people. It’s a shame that Lois doesn’t always pay attention to her warnings.
Give us 1 example of the interaction between your main character and the Fury Sidekick.
A Timeless Celebration: Excerpt from Chapter 18 –
“As far as she could see, the room was empty except for Ribbons standing on the kitchen table, her tail straight up in the air and twitching furiously, as the cat stared past her owner. Lois was starting to turn her head in the direction in which the cat was looking when she felt her shoulder shoved roughly. Knocked off balance, she toppled onto the floor in the middle of the room, twisting onto her back and bumping her head against one of the legs of a chair as she fell. She heard loud bangs near her but was too dazed to focus on what was happening. The noise quickly stopped, and she lay dazed and winded for a few moments until she remembered the intruder. Where is he? Is he still here? She pushed herself onto her elbow, halfway to a sitting position on the floor, her eyes trained on the back door. There was no one there and the phantom was hovering beside the screen door, not attempting to block the exit any longer. Lois glanced around the room. No sign of the intruder. He must have rushed out of the back door right after he shoved her. But not before the phantom confronted him; she just knew that was the noise she had heard. She hoped it had done some damage to him. Lois let out a loud sigh. After all this, she didn’t have any description of the intruder except that it was a man and he was dressed in black. That wasn’t very much. It probably described most burglars. She looked at the grey shape that seemed to be watching over her. “Thanks, Beldie. You are Beldie, aren’t you?” Lois watched the phantom. Its wide-set eyes had a knowing look and it seemed to glow brighter for a moment. Maybe that was a response to her question. “Too bad you or Ribbons couldn’t talk and tell me what he looked like or who he was.” Lois rubbed the back of her head as she pulled her legs to one side and rolled onto her knees in preparation for standing up. She shuffled across the floor on her knees and placed her hands on the seat of the chair to push herself to her feet. Ribbons appeared from under the table and wove around her legs. Lois gingerly bent to pat the cat, rubbing the back of her own head with her other hand. “I’m glad you’re okay. I guess you had the sense to stay away from whoever that was. Not like me storming in here. You probably got a better look at him too. If only you could tell me what you saw.” Ribbons meowed and flicked her tail back and forth across Lois’s leg, then marched toward the back door. Lois’s gaze followed the cat as the animal moved. At the screen door the cat stopped. Lois noticed a rectangular white object was lying on the floor next to the spot where the cat was standing. She peered at the object and one of her eyebrows quirked upward as she recognised it. Why was the packet of photographs lying on the floor? Had Ribbons batted it off the table earlier? Lois drew her eyebrows into a frown as she thought. No, she couldn’t have. Lois was certain that she had put the photographs into her purse when she got home from town this afternoon. She wanted to be sure that she took them with her in the morning so she could give Marge the set and drop the negatives into the drugstore on her way to the Highland Games to get the copies made for Ken. Had the intruder deliberately taken the photographs from her purse and left her purse on the dining room table? That didn’t make sense. Why would he take them? He must have taken her wallet and grabbed the photographs with it by mistake. Maybe he noticed that they were just photographs and threw them away as he made his retreat. But how had he gained entry to the house this time? Lois looked at the kitchen window. It was closed and the window locks were on. She knew the front door was locked and so were all the windows in the house. Maybe he had broken in through the back door. She never locked the screen door, just the inside door when she went to bed. Lois sat down on the nearest kitchen chair as she tried to think. Her head ached, which made it difficult. Something was bothering her about the back door. In her mind, she ran through her preparations before she went to bed. Standing in the middle of the kitchen, she had looked at the window to be sure the window lock was secure, then she went to close and lock the back door and turned off the kitchen light before she left the room just like she had always done in her old home. She shook her head. No, that wasn’t right. She hadn’t closed the inside back door tonight. Raggs had been fussing around her as she checked the kitchen. The cat had always seemed to be able to tell time and got very agitated if she stayed up past her normal bedtime but she had been even more fussy about her routine since they moved to Fenwater. Maybe after moving to a new home, keeping to her daily routine reassured the animal. Lois had told the cat she wouldn’t be long. After she looked at the window, she had patted the cat to silence her huffing noises and followed her out of the room, flipping the light switch off as she left. She hadn’t gone near the back door. She had completely forgotten it. The outer screen door was closed, but she hadn’t even locked it and the inside door was lying wide open. She raised her hand to her forehead and massaged it. Her stomach churned. How could she have been so careless? She might as well have invited the intruder in. Well, she more or less had, hadn’t she? She shook her head. She would have to report the break-in to the police. But was it a break-in when she had left the door open? And she would phone Marge. She didn’t want to be alone to face the lecture she was sure the police officer would give her about carelessness.”
Is your book part of a series, if so, tell us about the series. After writing historical fiction for several years, I decided to have a change of pace and write something that didn’t require in-depth historical research. And so, the Century Cottage Cozy Mysteries series was born. Cozy mysteries appeal to me because they allow me to explore the place as well as the mystery at the heart of the story. I had an idea for my mystery series and I knew a small town in Canada that would be the perfect setting for Fenwater, my fictional town. The Century Cottage Cozy Mysteries series features main character, middle-aged widow Lois Stone, who has moved from the big city and is trying to adjust to life on her own in an historical “century cottage”. As she and her two calico cats settle into their new life, her tranquility is often rocked by adventures and mysteries that she can’t ignore. There are currently two novels and three novellas (including the prequel novella to the series, Out of Options) published. This year I will release The Snow Job, the third novel in the series and Mistletoe and Murder, a Christmas novella. A couple of the novellas are set in Lois’s home city, Toronto. The rest of the books are set in Fenwater, my fictional Canadian town. The seeds that sow the ideas for my cozy mysteries come from many different places: incidents that happen to me, random thoughts that cross my mind and bits of trivia that catch my attention So far in this series, each story has been linked to a beautiful, cherished historic object: a watch that survived the sinking of the Titanic, a rare Haida Indian carving, a cameo brooch, and an antique quilt.
Give the readers a hint of what’s to come for your character in future books. I’m currently revising The Snow Job, the third novel in the series. The tale revolves around the Burns Night Supper, a very Scottish celebration held each January in the town where Lois lives, and what happens when one of the organizers of the event is killed a few days before it. Lois has no intention of taking any risks this time. She definitely won’t get involved in hunting for the murderer. But her best friend Marge has other ideas. The victim was a colleague of hers and she convinces Lois to help her ask a few questions around the town. How dangerous could that be? What could possibly go wrong?
Pen In Hand, Words on Page 