Critical praise for Christy!

For "Murder Hooks a Mermaid:"
"Author Christy Fifield creates the kind of characters that stay with you for a long time. Fifield’s new Haunted Souvenir Shop mystery, Murder Hooks a Mermaid has it all: a sunny, relaxed setting, captivating locals, delicious food, and—of course—murder! Delightful amateur sleuth Glory Martine is back with her wisecracking parrot and charming group of friends in this thoroughly entertaining adventure. Don’t miss it."—Julie Hyzy, National Bestselling author of the Manor House Mysteries and the White House Chef Mystery series
"A whodunit with a dose of the supernatural, "Murder Hooks a Mermaid" is a worthy successor to the series opener and showcases Fifield's talents for plotting, characterization and humor." - Richmond Times-Dispatch
"Quirky and unique, a heroine for whom you can't help but root. The story sucks you in." - The Maine Suspect
"With a lovable cast of characters, good conversations and a great setting, this well-written book is a terrific read." -- Dru's Book Musings

For "Murder Buys a T-Shirt:"
A refreshing new sleuth! - Lynne Maxwell, Mystery Scene Magazine
"A fun book that will make the dreariest of days a little brighter! Socrates' great Book Alert" - Socrates' Cozy Cafe
"An entertaining and clever Florida whodunit" - Harriet Klausner
"Hilarious! A great murder mystery with well-written characters" - Paranormal & Romantic Suspense Reviews
For the Georgiana Neverall Series:
"Christy Evans will find legions of fans with this new series" - Sheldon McArthur, Lincoln City News Guard
"Funny and entertaining -- a solid mystery filled with likable characters." - RT Book Reviews"
Cute cozy mystery debute -- wry humor -- adorable dogs" -Publisher's Weekly
"Will have you giggling out loud! Four Stars." - Kathy Fisher, The Romance Readers Connection"The Book is good! Keep them coming, Ms. Evans!" - Mystery Scene
"Evans delivers a fast-paced mystery with admirable finesse!" - Sharon Galligar Chance, FreshFiction.com
"Christy Evans has a hit on her hands" - Harriet Klausner, Bookreview.com
"Christy Evans is aces. I'll be very suprised if Sink Trap isn't an instant hit with cozy readers!" - CozyLibrary.com

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Guest Blogger Irene Radford:Blurring the Lines Between Mystery and Magic

Irene Radford has been writing stories ever since she figured out what a pencil was for. A member of an endangered species, a native Oregonian who lives in Oregon, she and her husband make their home in Welches, Oregon where deer, bears, coyotes, hawks, owls, and woodpeckers feed regularly on their back deck.

A museum trained historian, Irene has spent many hours prowling pioneer cemeteries deepening her connections to the past. Raised in a military family she grew up all over the US and learned early on that books are friends that don’t get left behind with a move. Her interests and reading range from ancient history, to spiritual meditations, to space stations, and a whole lot in between.

Her signal corps brother has launched several communications satellites on the shuttle. Watching those launches got her hooked on the ideal of humans reaching out into the universe.






Reading Science Fiction or fantasy is work – part of my day job as a novelist who deals with dragons¸ magicians, demons, space ships, and ray guns. For fun I read cozy mysteries.

A mystery lies at the core of almost every story. What secret does the romantic hero hide that keeps him from committing to the heroine? Which magician has the power to use the elusive talisman hidden deep in the dragon’s hoard? Who murdered the very wealthy diamond merchant on the 4th floor of a flea bag hotel?
Through the course of writing 22 fantasy and science fiction novels I delved into many mysteries. But I always wanted to write a straightforward cozy, the kind of story I love to read.

Instead of a straight, mundane, mystery, I plotted a murder into the 2nd book of my urban fantasy series: “Moon In The Mirror, a Tess NoncoirĂ© Adventure” by P.R. Frost. (one of my 3 pen names) Magic and paranormal beings abound in this series. Tess and her cohorts discover the truth by use of magic. But this is an urban fantasy set in our modern world. Magic is not evidence in our courts. So other means must be used to prove guilt.

I had other problems in organizing this book as well. One of my first readers informed me that he knew who had done the dirty deed as soon as they found the body. There was only one disposable character in the entire cast. A cast that grew with every draft. In fantasy this wouldn’t be a problem. The protagonist can kill a bad guy in order to save the planet. Or one of the regulars can do prison time for manslaughter and show up in the next book emotionally scarred. Not so much in cozies.

How to divert attention away from the culprit while dropping clues at the same time?

I’d entered an entirely new world of writing and had to add a new layer of thinking. Time to read more cozies. Research. Honestly. I read 7 books in 2 weeks for research. Research. Honestly.

Among those I read were several paranormal mysteries where magic, witchcraft, and ghosts featured heavily, including “Hex Marks The Spot” by Madelyn Alt, “The Remains Of The Dead” by Wendy Roberts, and “Ghost of a Chance” by Kate Marsh (Katie Macalister). In every one, the paranormal aspects had to remain hidden, and if the evidence gained by paranormal means could not be presented in a way mundane courts could accept, then a different justice had to be sought. That justice had to look like an accident. Always the mundane explanation had to rule. But we, the readers know a different truth.

Oh, yeah I could deal with that.

I’m not going to go into specifics, because I don’t want to spoil the stories for you if you haven’t read them yet. But I learned a lot about how to write a mystery.

But most of all I learned that if a mystery writer is going to introduce paranormal elements, they have to figure in the problem, the solution, or both. Otherwise, they are just a gimmick. One of the first lessons I learned when I decided to take my writing seriously was that a gimmick had to earn its keep. The rescued Great Dane with retinopathy who wears goofy sunglasses has to be instrumental in bringing the hero and heroine together in the romance (I honestly read this story 20+ years ago). He can’t just prove the heroine is kind to animals. The same goes for the ghosts and telepathy I tried putting into some of my earliest novel efforts that never saw print.

So I dove back into “Mirror” with new enthusiasm and insight to the structure of a cozy mystery. I hope I succeeded.

Chris has arranged a free autographed copy in a contest.

In between other projects I worked on a cozy mystery of my own. I developed a setting and a cast that I could love: a spooky old hotel with as much character as any of the people that try to run it, a spunky heroine with a passion for the creaky building, a love interest who has secrets, and wacky friends with off-kilter views of the world. I fell in love with Whistling River Lodge and wish I could prowl the back hallways, secret rooms, and hints of ghostly guests in this fictional place. Yeah, I had to get something paranormal in there somehow. But it’s only hints and questions, nothing overt.

“Lacing Up For Murder” by Irene Radford is currently serialized for free on the Book View CafĂ©, http://www.bookviewcafe.com. A new chapter every Thursday¸ or if you don’t want to wait 32 weeks to find out who done it, you can download the full novel for $4.99 in a variety of e-­book formats.
Paranormal romances and mysteries are plentiful on bookshelves these days, as are urban fantasies and paranormal historicals, but the structure of the story, the rules if you want, remains the same. The extra elements have to be woven into the story and become an integral part of it. You cannot separate one from the other or you lose the essence of the story.

That’s what we read the book for, the story; the story of the characters, the story of the spooky old hotel, the story of the mystery, the magic of well crafted fiction.

Phyllis Irene Radford
aka Irene Radford
aka P.R. Frost
aka C.F. Bentley


Don't forget, Irene has promised a signed copy of "Moon In the Mirror," so leave a comment and get in the drawing for your very own copy!

3 comments:

  1. I agree any good book (no matter the genre) has an element of mystery in it. Life is a mystery- it plays into every thing we do so it has to play into every book that is written.

    All for my western romance books have a mystery in them.

    Good post!

    www.patyjager.blogspot.com

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  2. Fun stuff. I can just picture that old hotel! And the insight on the crafting of a mystery is superb. Thanks for sharing!!

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