Gown With the Wind (A Wedding Planner Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Kensington (December 18, 2018)
Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages

Synopsis

Professional wedding planner Mallory Shepard knows her job is challenging under any circumstances. But when the groom is your ex and someone invites murder, there may never be another tomorrow . . .

Mallory’s fine—really—handling the wedding arrangements for her ex, Keith. But his fiancée, Becca, has at the last minute decided to switch from a Japanese-cherry-blossom theme to a Gone with the Wind theme. She wants to honor her ailing grandmother, who owns an impressive collection of GWTW memorabilia—and who is fiercely at odds with the groom’s mother over the nuptial plans.

But among other complications, Becca gets into a fight with an old childhood rival over a replica Scarlett O’Hara wedding gown. She wins the dress—but soon becomes a murder suspect when the other woman is found dead in Becca’s swimming pool. And it’s up to Mallory to solve the mystery behind this unhappy occasion, before a different kind of civil war breaks out . . .

Guest Post

“World Building in Cozy Mysteries”

One of my favorite things about writing cozy mysteries is world building. World building is usually discussed in the context of genres that require elaborate, new backdrops with complicated histories, like science fiction and fantasy. But cozy mysteries require quite a bit of thought too. Cozies benefit from details lovingly crafted to make fictional towns come to life. They help a novel ring of authenticity and provide a rich environment for your characters. I adore reading cozies for the arm-chair opportunity to travel to small towns, learn their secrets and idiosyncrasies, and to get a healthy dose of charm.

I love spending time in the fictional town featured in my series, Port Quincy, Pennsylvania. I almost think of Port Quincy as being its own character. It’s an amalgamation of some real places I lived in and worked in back in Western Pennsylvania. When I close my eyes and take a stroll down the streets of Port Quincy with my characters, I feel the echoes of Canonsburg and Washington, PA. Little details that resonated me from my time growing up in Pennsylvania pop up in the books, like resurfaced memories. I always loved traveling on the yellow brick roads that compose some streets in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. The bricks made a steady, pleasing thrum as cars drove over them. The gorgeous, Pepto-Bismol pink colored courthouse featured in my novels is an echo of the grand courthouse at the heart of Washington, Pennsylvania. And I imagine my character Mallory’s bed and breakfast to resemble none other than Henry Clay Frick’s own mansion, Clayton, located in Pittsburgh’s East End.

But more important perhaps than the physical trappings of the small town in my books, whether rooted in some real detail from my memories or created out of whole cloth, is the spirit and character of the place. I wanted Port Quincy to exemplify the close-knit feel and camaraderie I’ve enjoyed in the small towns and neighborhoods I’ve lived in. Port Quincy is a place where neighbors pull together, citizens share in their triumphs and tragedies, and everyone is connected. I now live in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, nestled on the banks of the Mississippi River. It always brings a smile to my face to run into a friend or acquaintance out and about during my errands. There is a strong sense of community and friendliness that I try to weave into my fictional town. Though my protagonist Mallory often involves herself in high stakes situations and risky cases, the heart of her existence in Port Quincy is forming connections with her family, friends, and the denizens of the town. I love exploring her evolving relationships and friendships with the people of Port Quincy. As many details as I lovingly craft about the physical space, the real beating heart of my fictional town is its people.

About the Author

A native Pittsburgher, Stephanie Blackmoore now lives in Missouri, with her husband, son and two-spirited cats. She was an attorney in Pittsburgh and a librarian in Florida before becoming a writer. Stephanie is a fan of everything black-and-yellow. She is hard at work on her next Wedding Planner mystery. Connect with Stephanie at the links below.

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