Murder Between the Pages (The Nina Foster Mystery Series)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
The Wild Rose Press, Inc. (Crimson Rose) (December 19, 2018)
Paperback: 264 pages
Digital Print Length: 190 pages

Synopsis

It’s a sad day for librarian Nina Foster when she discovers her good friend, bookstore owner Wildeen Bergman, dead on her office floor. Worse yet, another friend, romance writer Zelma Duke, becomes the police’s prime suspect. Nina knows Wildeen had something on Zelma. Was it enough to warrant murder? Handsome Stephen Kraslow, owner of the local newspaper, joins forces with Nina to find out the truth. The quest takes them on a dangerous journey of twists and turns before they reach the final outcome.

Guest Post

Small Town Settings

I’ve always favored small towns as settings for my stories. Now that I’ve started a cozy mystery series, I can continue to follow that pattern.

How do I pick the small town settings? Most of my traveling is done by car, which provides a good opportunity to experience small towns firsthand. When adding a small town to my “collection,” I stay there to get to know the place and absorb the ambiance. As I explore the town, I look for characteristics that make it special and that I might use in a story. What does the town have that might contribute to a plot?

I once visited a town in eastern Washington known for its outdoor wall murals. They definitely characterized the town. How could murals be incorporated into a story that takes place here? I asked myself. Eventually, a plot was revealed: Suppose an artist was commissioned to restore some of the murals? And what if in the process she discovered the murals held secrets? What should she do? The answer to that question became Tell Me No Lies.

When visiting a town, I always add the museum to my list of places to explore. Museums can certainly tell you a lot about a place and can often yield story ideas. One town was experiencing conflict between developers and those who preferred the status quo, a conflict often familiar to small towns. In the story I wrote, Yesterday’s Promises, the museum played a prominent role, not only because the heroine was the curator but also because the museum displayed aspects of the past that were important to the town’s character and that should be preserved.

Murder Between the Pages features Richmond, a small town located north of Seattle. What setting details characterize this town? Richmond is very “artsy,” with an arts center, various bookstores, art galleries, and craft shops. As the town’s librarian, Nina Foster finds herself fully immersed in this culture and uses these resources to solve the crime.

Here is another way in which a setting might be used in a cozy. Take a close look at the word itself. The dictionary defines “cozy” as “giving a feeling of comfort, warmth, and relaxation.” But a cozy mystery deals with murder or some other crime, doesn’t it? How can comfort, warmth and relaxation coexist with the tension and upheaval a crime creates?  In two ways. First, the cozy setting may provide a contrast. For example, after a close call with the murderer, the sleuth finds refuge in the protected garden of a sympathetic town resident. The cozy setting and warmth of the friendly resident wrap around her, offering safety and security.

Or, the cozy setting could work in the opposite way. The sleuth could believe in the innocence of the setting and its owner but later discovers both are a lie, and that the cozy garden hides evil. In both scenarios, the setting is of supreme importance.

In constructing settings, I am very careful about fictionalizing. Although I might use a real town as inspiration, I give the town a fictitious name. Of course, certain geographical characteristics must be left with their true names, but everything else is from my imagination.

About the Author

Linda Hope Lee had written contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and mysteries. Other pursuits include watercolor painting, photography, collecting children’s books and anything to do with wire-haired fox terriers. She makes her home in the Pacific Northwest.

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