The Case of the Whale Watching Wedding Planner (Buttercup Bend Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Setting – New York
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Next Chapter (April 10, 2024)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 266 pages

Synopsis

Cathy, Nancy, and Mildred are on their way to Long Island to plan a triple wedding. When they try to meet with Georgia Hampton, a wedding planner who leads whale-watching tours, they discover her body upon her boat.

Teaming up again, the trio investigate the crime. Suspects include Georgia’s sister who is a partner in their wedding planning business, an artist who is a naturalist and conducts whale-watching tours, several couples whose relationships ended after consulting with Georgia, and employees of the tour company.

Reuniting with her great aunt after many years, Cathy learns that another suspicious death has occurred at Captain Sharp’s Whale Watching Tours. Can they solve the mystery, or will their efforts sail out to sea?

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Guest Post

Inspiration, Challenges, and Favorite Scenes in The Case of the Whale Watching Wedding Planner

Three questions I often get asked when I publish a new book are how did I come up with the idea for the book, what problems did I encounter writing it, and what scenes did I enjoy writing most? I decided to address these issues in this blog post.

I came up with the theme for The Case of the Whale Watching Wedding Planner the same way I usually come up with the themes for my other novels. I compose a title first. In this case, I knew, based on the previous book of the series, The Case of the Llama Raising Librarian, that Cathy was going to be married in this book. That had me thinking of weddings, so I knew I wanted to put “wedding” in the title. Because the previous titles of the books of the series featured animals and victims with occupations related to those animals, I came up with a whale-watching wedding planner. From there, I designed the plot. However, as a pantster, one who doesn’t follow strict outlines, I let my ideas flow and allowed the characters to lead the story.

The reason I chose Nancy and Mildred to join Cathy for a triple wedding ceremony and in solving the mystery of the wedding planner’s murder was because I thought readers would like the idea of them teaming up again as they did in the previous mystery. While Mildred, as a librarian, is a reluctant sleuth, she has keen insights and actually provides great research into the murder.

In this book, as in the llama mystery, Cathy and her friends also travel away from Buttercup Bend. They go to Long Island, where Cathy’s great aunt lives and where Cathy used to live with her parents before they died in a car accident when she was in college. I didn’t plan to have this mystery take place on Long Island, nor did I intend to introduce Madeline, Florence (Gran’s) sister. The reason I did this is one of the challenges I encountered writing this book.

When I originally began writing the story, I set the wedding planner’s office in Buttercup Bend as well as the whale watching cruise center. But when I researched whale watching cruises by participating in one on Long Island (you can read about my experience in my blog post for Christy’s Cozy Corners), I discovered that whales aren’t seen near the Catskills, where Buttercup Bend is located. I had to redo that whole section I’d already written. But, as I’ve found in the past, sometimes rewriting improves content. I believe the addition of Great Aunt Madeline, who is based on my own Aunt Madeline, the memory of whom the book is dedicated to, is someone readers will enjoy, as is the character of Cathy’s second cousin, Madeline’s daughter Christine.

One scene I particularly liked in the book was the one where Cathy, Nancy, Mildred, their finance’s, Madeline, and Christine go to dinner at a restaurant with old-fashioned village shops, one of which has an ice cream parlor and sells vintage candy. They also go on a carousel. The village is based on the Milleridge Inn, a place I enjoyed visiting on Long Island before I moved to South Carolina. Although there wasn’t a carousel or ice cream parlor at the Milleridge, I added those.

A challenging scene to write was the wedding scene. It was difficult to make sure I included all the guests who would attend the wedding of the three brides and grooms. I needed to make sure the details were perfect and that the brides had their special day even if it wasn’t what they’d originally planned.

As usual in my mysteries, the person behind it all surprised me as did the second murder. That being said, it was a challenge to make sure all the clues added up, the red herrings were explained, the motives made sense, and the ending was justified.

About the Author

Debbie De Louise is an award-winning author and a retired reference librarian. She is a member of Sisters-in-Crime, International Thriller Writers, and the Cat Writers’ Association. She writes two cozy mystery series, the Cobble Cove Mysteries and Buttercup Bend Mysteries. She’s also written a paranormal romance, three standalone mysteries, a time-travel novel, and a collection of cat poems. Her stories and poetry appear in over a dozen anthologies. Debbie also writes articles for cat magazines. She lives on Long Island with her husband, daughter, and two cats.

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